An endearing, plucky girl endures and overcomes in this absorbing quick read.
A young girl braves daily hurdles and unwelcome life changes in Pollack’s middle-grade novel and series launch.
It’s not always easy for Jillian “Jelly Bean” Kramer to get noticed. The fourth-grader is the youngest of four children in her New Jersey household, but it’s her three brothers who hog their parents’ attention. While that’s long been the situation with her family, things aren’t going so great at school, either. Jelly Bean has a spectacularly bad day when she misses a chance at a speaking part in the upcoming Thanksgiving play simply for being tardy (her brothers’ fault, of course) and winds up in the principal’s office after allegedly disrupting the class. But that’s only a taste of how terribly everything has been going—her best friend, Taylor Alpert, has very recently turned mean in her attempts to cozy up to the most popular girl in their grade. Once Jelly Bean is “banished” from her regular lunchtime seat, she gets the sense that she has no friends. At least she’s got her fun-loving Uncle Jack at home, but he’s starting to spend more time with his fiancé, who isn’t an especially nice person. “All these new things keep happening,” Jelly Bean laments. “I liked everything better the old way. I can’t get used to everything new!” Now she’s a lonely girl who honestly feels that most people don’t like her and that no one at all cares about her. What she can do, however, is face each day and stay true to herself; maybe her life will show signs of perking up.
Pollack’s titular hero shines; she’s likable and relatable, an even blend of relatable worries and drama-queen moments. She cries when her beloved dog, Roger-Over, sprints out the front door, but she also schemes to get out of rehearsals by declaring she’s going to faint (“Your own daughter is about to pass out, and you don’t even act upset”). As frequently as she points out all that’s wrong in her life, Jelly Bean proves surprisingly resilient; she accepts people for who they are, even if an individual takes out their frustrations on her. While several characters are as mean-spirited as Jelly Bean claims, the narrative boasts an equal number of bright spots. Most notable is the scene-stealing Roger-Over, who’s pure joy in a furry package. The author breathes life into this cast, providing a varied assortment of characters with myriad dimensions, like the mixed-bag of Jelly Bean’s brothers—Sam is the nice one, Joel is the resident jerk, and Michael, the oldest, all but ignores his sister. Taylor doesn’t seem to be impressing anyone with her bid to be popular, and one outwardly warmhearted schoolmate may, sadly, be too weird for Jelly Bean’s comfort. This relatively short novel moves at a steady pace, taking Jelly Bean from one dilemma to the next.
An endearing, plucky girl endures and overcomes in this absorbing quick read.Pub Date: March 31, 2022
ISBN: 9781649793720
Page Count: 174
Publisher: Austin Macauley
Review Posted Online: Sept. 12, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
A real gem.
A 10-year old girl learns to adjust to a strange town, makes some fascinating friends, and fills the empty space in her heart thanks to a big old stray dog in this lyrical, moving, and enchanting book by a fresh new voice.
India Opal’s mama left when she was only three, and her father, “the preacher,” is absorbed in his own loss and in the work of his new ministry at the Open-Arms Baptist Church of Naomi [Florida]. Enter Winn-Dixie, a dog who “looked like a big piece of old brown carpet that had been left out in the rain.” But, this dog had a grin “so big that it made him sneeze.” And, as Opal says, “It’s hard not to immediately fall in love with a dog who has a good sense of humor.” Because of Winn-Dixie, Opal meets Miss Franny Block, an elderly lady whose papa built her a library of her own when she was just a little girl and she’s been the librarian ever since. Then, there’s nearly blind Gloria Dump, who hangs the empty bottle wreckage of her past from the mistake tree in her back yard. And, Otis, oh yes, Otis, whose music charms the gerbils, rabbits, snakes and lizards he’s let out of their cages in the pet store. Brush strokes of magical realism elevate this beyond a simple story of friendship to a well-crafted tale of community and fellowship, of sweetness, sorrow and hope. And, it’s funny, too.
A real gem. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: March 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7636-0776-2
Page Count: 182
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2000
SEEN & HEARD
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.
An aspiring scientist and a budding artist become friends and help each other with dream projects.
Unfolding in mid-1980s Sacramento, California, this story stars 12-year-olds Rosalind and Benjamin as first-person narrators in alternating chapters. Ro’s father, a fellow space buff, was killed by a drunk driver; the rocket they were working on together lies unfinished in her closet. As for Benji, not only has his best friend, Amir, moved away, but the comic book holding the clue for locating his dad is also missing. Along with their profound personal losses, the protagonists share a fixation with the universe’s intriguing potential: Ro decides to complete the rocket and hopes to launch mementos of her father into outer space while Benji’s conviction that aliens and UFOs are real compels his imagination and creativity as an artist. An accident in science class triggers a chain of events forcing Benji and Ro, who is new to the school, to interact and unintentionally learn each other’s secrets. They resolve to find Benji’s dad—a famous comic-book artist—and partner to finish Ro’s rocket for the science fair. Together, they overcome technical, scheduling, and geographical challenges. Readers will be drawn in by amusing and fantastical elements in the comic book theme, high emotional stakes that arouse sympathy, and well-drawn character development as the protagonists navigate life lessons around grief, patience, self-advocacy, and standing up for others. Ro is biracial (Chinese/White); Benji is White.
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-300888-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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