An engaging tale for the latest generation of Clements fans.
Clements’ last book, a posthumously published sequel to his beloved Frindle (1996).
Sixth grader Josh Willett loves all things to do with computers—coding, creating, even doing his homework on his school laptop and submitting it online. But his hopelessly outdated English language arts teacher, Mr. N, requires students to bring physical books to class, uses a chalkboard instead of the SMART Board, and continues to insist that all assignments be handwritten, in “blue or black ink.” And neatness counts! When Josh’s search for an actual pen uncovers an old one of his mother’s from when she was in sixth grade, marked “Frindle,” Josh looks up the unfamiliar word online and finds a photo of 11-year-old Nicholas Allen, who looks a lot like a young Mr. N. Josh and his friend Vanessa investigate the mystery—and quickly discover that Mr. N. doesn’t want his past revealed. Written with Clements’ trademark humor and featuring his classic straightforward, persistent protagonists, this work takes on the modern digital world, both good and bad, while paying homage to E.B. White’s Charlotte’s Web and Strunk and White’s The Elements of Style. This volume lacks Clements’ sure touch and isn’t quite up to par with his best, but it’s nevertheless a fitting final work from a master storyteller. Central characters present white; names cue ethnic diversity in the supporting cast. Final art not seen.
An engaging tale for the latest generation of Clements fans. (illustrator’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2024
ISBN: 9780399557637
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2024
However the compelling fitness of theme and event and the apt but unexpected imagery (the opening sentences compare the...
At a time when death has become an acceptable, even voguish subject in children's fiction, Natalie Babbitt comes through with a stylistic gem about living forever.
Protected Winnie, the ten-year-old heroine, is not immortal, but when she comes upon young Jesse Tuck drinking from a secret spring in her parents' woods, she finds herself involved with a family who, having innocently drunk the same water some 87 years earlier, haven't aged a moment since. Though the mood is delicate, there is no lack of action, with the Tucks (previously suspected of witchcraft) now pursued for kidnapping Winnie; Mae Tuck, the middle aged mother, striking and killing a stranger who is onto their secret and would sell the water; and Winnie taking Mae's place in prison so that the Tucks can get away before she is hanged from the neck until....? Though Babbitt makes the family a sad one, most of their reasons for discontent are circumstantial and there isn't a great deal of wisdom to be gleaned from their fate or Winnie's decision not to share it.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1975
ISBN: 0312369816
Page Count: 164
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1975
Funny and endearing, though incomplete characterizations provoke questions.
An isolated class of misfits and a teacher on the edge of retirement are paired together for a year of (supposed) failure.
Zachary Kermit, a 55-year-old teacher, has been haunted for the last 27 years by a student cheating scandal that has earned him the derision of his colleagues and killed his teaching spirit. So when he is assigned to teach the Self-Contained Special Eighth-Grade Class—a dumping ground for “the Unteachables,” students with “behavior issues, learning problems, juvenile delinquents”—he is unfazed, as he is only a year away from early retirement. His relationship with his seven students—diverse in temperament, circumstance, and ability—will be one of “uncomfortable roommates” until June. But when Mr. Kermit unexpectedly stands up for a student, the kids of SCS-8 notice his sense of “justice and fairness.” Mr. Kermit finds he may even care a little about them, and they start to care back in their own way, turning a corner and bringing along a few ghosts from Mr. Kermit’s past. Writing in the alternating voices of Mr. Kermit, most of his students, and two administrators, Korman spins a narrative of redemption and belief in exceeding self-expectations. Naming conventions indicate characters of different ethnic backgrounds, but the book subscribes to a white default. The two students who do not narrate may be students of color, and their characterizations subtly—though arguably inadequately—demonstrate the danger of preconceptions.
Funny and endearing, though incomplete characterizations provoke questions. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Jan. 8, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-06-256388-0
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
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