Cautionary tales that feel both fresh and familiar.
In this collection of fairy-tale retellings translated from Dutch, girlhood is fraught with danger.
In the spirit of the classic versions of these European tales popularized by Charles Perrault and the Brothers Grimm, seven stories contrast humanity’s darker impulses with the youth and vulnerability evoked by the title. The book opens with “Mr Stiltskin,” in which a careless miller offers up his daughter’s gold-spinning talent to an avaricious king. In “Biscuits,” sisters abandoned by their workaholic father wander the streets until they find a bakery whose owners eagerly use the hungry children for a marketing campaign. The theme of neglectful adults continues in “Sleeper,” in which a girl must singlehandedly maintain the household when her parents become immobilized with grief over her dying sister. Danger lurks beyond the family unit in the form of the resentful titular creature in “Wolf” and a sinister village reverend in “Blue.” It may also appear from within, through internalized ideals of masculinity (in “Frog”) and femininity (in “Monster Girl”). Readers won’t find conventional happy endings, though several stories conclude on hopeful notes, with girls grasping independence and self-worth as they move forward. The retellings are largely faithful to their source material, with small differences that draw attention to unsettling implications within each one. The third-person omniscient point of view highlights the girls’ internal narration, which reveals their own selfishness but also their courage and kindness. Schaap’s evocative art punctuates the text.
Cautionary tales that feel both fresh and familiar. (Short stories. 13-18)Pub Date: tomorrow
ISBN: 9781782693796
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Pushkin Children’s Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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