A child asks her teddy bear about growing up and gets an earful in this wildly irreverent look at puberty. It’s all the work of Mr. and Mrs. Hormone (and their ratlike dog), the teddy explains, who concoct “potions” that give children “bosoms,” pimples, hair in new places, radical mood swings, and ultimately the urge and ability to make babies. Depicting the Hormones as hairy monsters bearing gleefully malevolent expressions, Cole (Bad Habits!, 1999, etc.) tracks male and female physical changes in a pair of unclothed, skinny-limbed teenagers. Though many books, starting with Robie H. Harris’s It’s Perfectly Normal (1994), cover the territory in less ghoulish fashion, here at least readers will get some basic information, plus the idea that certain rough patches on the road to adulthood are survivable. (Picture book/nonfiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: June 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7868-0590-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This hopeful adventure leaves an indelible mark.
A rare disorder elicits fear in a young Black artist with a unique sense of the world.
Seventh grader Etta’s Quiet Days are becoming more frequent and, frankly, irritating since her “maybe-diagnosis” of Ménière’s disease in both her ears. Her parents are monitoring her diet, vigilant about stressors, and learning ASL. In contrast to Etta’s Loud Days, not being able to hear sometimes makes it easier to focus on her comic book about Invincible Girl (the novel includes some enticing panels featuring Etta’s work). But, as peculiar weather patterns begin to overwhelm her Chicago neighborhood and exacerbate her allergies, the corresponding tinnitus and vertigo as well as the increased anxiety from everyone around her leave Etta feeling hopeless. Even meeting Eleazar, an artsy new Colombian friend with an adorable goldendoodle, leads to doubts about her abilities to communicate—Eleazar is also still learning English—and her future with Ménière’s. When Eleazar’s dog gets lost on a magical train that is linked to the weird weather, the two must traverse the train cars, solve mysteries, and overcome their fears to fix what’s broken and heal what can’t be fixed. Just like the magical challenges, their journey yields great emotional rewards. Even as Etta and Eleazar make new connections, losses—of family, hearing, and home—are somber reminders of life’s challenges. With snappy narration that’s rich in sensory detail and metaphor, readers progress through well-paced storytelling that is ethereal and artfully inclusive.
This hopeful adventure leaves an indelible mark. (Fiction. 10-13)Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5344-6837-5
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
The story will resonate with those on both sides of the debate about the role of youth football in society, and the unusual...
A young athlete lies in a coma while his family and community try to determine the cause of his injury.
Thirteen-year-old Teddy Youngblood collapsed following an intense football practice. At first, the focus is on his injury and the concerns of his family and friends for his recovery. Counselors are brought in to help them with the trauma. The coach’s daughter, Camille, makes a social media page to encourage positive thoughts, but some of the posters hint that something other than a tough hit at practice caused his injury. The doctors encourage family and friends to talk to Teddy, and readers learn much through these comments. Teddy’s family is at odds. His mother, who lives apart, did not want her son to play football, while his dad supported his sports involvement. Also interspersed are Teddy’s thoughts as he lies in the hospital: “This is what life is / Life is football / Football is life.” This nontraditional narrative, using conversations, interview transcripts, text messages, hospital reports, and other documents, skillfully peels back the elements of the mystery. The issues of football’s violence are presented, but the book’s real strength is the depiction of the culture behind it. There are few descriptions to indicate the ethnic makeup of the characters (Teddy’s eyes are described as blue), implying the white default.
The story will resonate with those on both sides of the debate about the role of youth football in society, and the unusual storytelling technique sets it apart from most sport fiction. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Sept. 11, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3143-3
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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