Overstuffed, as many first novels are, but fitted with an admirable, funny protagonist.
In this never-a-dull-moment debut, pride and stubborn enterprise carry a brash young immigrant through both school and family troubles, as well as embarrassing errors in judgment.
“Cheese Whiz, I’m only eleven, and my life is a mess.” Such down moments are rare for Sandro, though, despite being severely overscheduled. He helps out his Zapotec father, an undocumented resident with multiple jobs and a bad back; he does his schoolwork and makes it to soccer practice; and he single-handedly runs a recycling operation on school grounds as (he mistakenly thinks) a private business to fund heart surgery his little sister, Girasol, needs. As mother and sister are in Mexico waiting for the procedure, he also has to do housework (not too well) while Papi’s on a night shift, and in school, he plots revenge on Abiola, a Pakistani classmate who has deviled him since an incident in third grade. Sounding only a little less manic than Joey Pigza, the exhausted young narrator struggles to keep these and other balls in the air as consequences and mishaps pile up. But both Abiola and a teacher pegged as mean turn out to be surprise allies, and his father’s “Be the better man, Sandro” proves a steady principle in adversity. Though Belford has her narrator utter both his favorite expletive (see above) and variations on “nothing is as it appears on the surface” with monotonous frequency and packs more issues into the tale than it can comfortably carry, readers will be happily swept along to the buoyant close.
Overstuffed, as many first novels are, but fitted with an admirable, funny protagonist. (Fiction. 10-12)Pub Date: March 3, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-63220-435-6
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 9, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
The Baudelaire children—Violet, 14, Klaus, 12, and baby Sunny—are exceedingly ill-fated; Snicket extracts both humor and horror from their situation, as he gleefully puts them through one terrible ordeal after another. After receiving the news that their parents died in a fire, the three hapless orphans are delivered into the care of Count Olaf, who “is either a third cousin four times removed, or a fourth cousin three times removed.” The villainous Count Olaf is morally depraved and generally mean, and only takes in the downtrodden yet valiant children so that he can figure out a way to separate them from their considerable inheritance. The youngsters are able to escape his clutches at the end, but since this is the first installment in A Series of Unfortunate Events, there will be more ghastly doings. Written with old-fashioned flair, this fast-paced book is not for the squeamish: the Baudelaire children are truly sympathetic characters who encounter a multitude of distressing situations. Those who enjoy a little poison in their porridge will find it wicked good fun. (b&w illustrations, not seen) (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Sept. 30, 1999
ISBN: 0-06-440766-7
Page Count: 162
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1999
A satisfying, winning read.
Nick Hall is a bright eighth-grader who would rather do anything other than pay attention in class.
Instead he daydreams about soccer, a girl he likes, and an upcoming soccer tournament. His linguistics-professor father carefully watches his educational progress, requiring extra reading and word study, much to Nick’s chagrin and protest. Fortunately, his best friend, Coby, shares his passion for soccer—and, sadly, the unwanted attention of twin bullies in their school. Nick senses something is going on with his parents, but their announcement that they are separating is an unexpected blow: “it’s like a bombshell / drops / right in the center / of your heart / and it splatters / all across your life.” The stress leads to counseling, and his life is further complicated by injury and emergency surgery. His soccer dream derailed, Nick turns to the books he has avoided and finds more than he expected. Alexander’s highly anticipated follow-up to Newbery-winning The Crossover is a reflective narrative, with little of the first book’s explosive energy. What the mostly free-verse novel does have is a likable protagonist, great wordplay, solid teen and adult secondary characters, and a clear picture of the challenges young people face when self-identity clashes with parental expectations. The soccer scenes are vivid and will make readers wish for more, but the depiction of Nick as he unlocks his inner reader is smooth and believable.
A satisfying, winning read. (Fiction. 10-12)Pub Date: April 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-544-57098-6
Page Count: 320
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 8, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2016
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