A surprisingly funny look at a subject readers may think is anything but.
Kasey Morgan is 12 and has received the worst possible news.
She has found out that she has a bacterial infection in her bones and will have to stay in the hospital for an entire month over, wait for it, summer vacation! On top of that, she is the only child staying in the geriatric ward, which is full of scary old people, and she’s permanently attached to her IV unit, which she dubs Ivy, “which is prettier and friendlier.” Slowly, Kasey’s perspective on her fellow patients changes as she becomes accustomed to their quirks and even befriends 94-year-old Missy Wong, the unit’s oldest patient. The book is written in the form of letters to her friend in the outside world, Nina. Kasey’s observational humor and snarky attitude will have readers chuckling. Hughes (Hit the Ground Running, 2017, etc.) reveals in her acknowledgments that she spent a month in a hospital as a child, and she translates that effortlessly for readers, communicating Kasey’s fear and vulnerability as well as that sense that she must put on a brave front for the sake of the adults around her. While only Kasey really comes to life in three dimensions, and the possibly Chinese Missy Wong is the only nonwhite character, the book nevertheless effectively explains geriatric illness for an audience that has probably never considered it, and the glimpses of the lives of older people that generate empathy in Kasey may do so for readers as well.
A surprisingly funny look at a subject readers may think is anything but. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: March 20, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4598-1574-2
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
A warm bundle of holiday cheer.
In a funny, feel-good tale, 12-year-old twins separated at birth meet by chance and try to pull off a family switch during the December holidays.
The girls, who are cued white, agree that it would be a delicious prank, but each has a personal motive, too: Aviva Davis, who was adopted by a culturally Jewish mom and a Black dad who was raised Christian, wonders what it’s like to celebrate Christmas. Budding author Holly Martin, who was adopted by a white-presenting single mom, sees a golden opportunity to gather experiences for a school writing assignment about facing her fears. In a plot as sweet as a Hanukkah jelly doughnut and twisty as a Christmas cinnamon roll, the pair just manages to bail one another out of a string of sticky situations—both hilarious and otherwise. They both learn something of the customs and meaning of the two holidays while working through tears and laughter—not to mention conflicts sparked by their very different personalities. Everything culminates in a holiday performance at a local senior center that will have readers rising up to cheer them on. Though their history remains tantalizingly mysterious, for the protagonists, who narrate alternating chapters, it’s mission accomplished and more: Aviva emerges feeling more secure in her Jewish identity, while anxious Holly discovers unexpected depths of courage.
A warm bundle of holiday cheer. (song lyrics) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 29, 2024
ISBN: 9781250360670
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
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