An appealing story of neighborhood change.
What’s happening on Mercer Street?
Rising sixth grader Kacie Sitthiwat knows that a great artist must be observant. But she must not have been paying close enough attention, because she’s bewildered when her best friend, Nisha, disappears over the summer. Determined to figure out what’s going on, Kacie notices other changes on Mercer Street: Nisha’s family’s shop, Khanna’s Grocery & Deli, has been replaced by a corporate chain store. Kacie’s parents, who run a laundry and dry-cleaning business, seem distracted. And she’s heard rumors that someone’s trying to get rid of the community garden. After Kacie accepts that Nisha’s family has moved, she befriends the new boy living in Nisha’s old apartment and begins to realize that she still has an opportunity to shape what happens in her neighborhood—and that her artistic talents might be the key. Vivat handles a tough topic with lightness, almost to a fault—at times, Kacie’s dogged commitment to detective work obscures the emotional impact of the upheaval that she and her neighborhood are experiencing. Notably, the word gentrification isn’t used; still, the author draws an effective picture that will be recognizable to children who have encountered similar situations. Relying on both prose and comics, Vivat fills Kacie’s world with textured, diverse neighbors, and the engaging cartoon artwork and gentle yet honest writing result in an authentic and accessible read. Names imply that Kacie and Nisha are, respectively, of Thai and South Asian heritage.
An appealing story of neighborhood change. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 7-10)Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781338788709
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2024
More trampling in the vineyards of the Literary Classics section, with results that will tickle fancies high and low.
Recasting Dog Man and his feline ward, Li’l Petey, as costumed superheroes, Pilkey looks East of Eden in this follow-up to Tale of Two Kitties (2017).
The Steinbeck novel’s Cain/Abel motif gets some play here, as Petey, “world’s evilest cat” and cloned Li’l Petey’s original, tries assiduously to tempt his angelic counterpart over to the dark side only to be met, ultimately at least, by Li’l Petey’s “Thou mayest.” (There are also occasional direct quotes from the novel.) But inner struggles between good and evil assume distinctly subordinate roles to riotous outer ones, as Petey repurposes robots built for a movie about the exploits of Dog Man—“the thinking man’s Rin Tin Tin”—while leading a general rush to the studio’s costume department for appropriate good guy/bad guy outfits in preparation for the climactic battle. During said battle and along the way Pilkey tucks in multiple Flip-O-Rama inserts as well as general gags. He lists no fewer than nine ways to ask “who cut the cheese?” and includes both punny chapter titles (“The Bark Knight Rises”) and nods to Hamiltonand Mary Poppins. The cartoon art, neatly and brightly colored by Garibaldi, is both as easy to read as the snappy dialogue and properly endowed with outsized sound effects, figures displaying a range of skin colors, and glimpses of underwear (even on robots).
More trampling in the vineyards of the Literary Classics section, with results that will tickle fancies high and low. (drawing instructions) (Graphic fantasy. 7-10)Pub Date: Dec. 26, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-545-93518-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 13, 2018
What a wag.
What do you get from sewing the head of a smart dog onto the body of a tough police officer? A new superhero from the incorrigible creator of Captain Underpants.
Finding a stack of old Dog Mancomics that got them in trouble back in first grade, George and Harold decide to craft a set of new(ish) adventures with (more or less) improved art and spelling. These begin with an origin tale (“A Hero Is Unleashed”), go on to a fiendish attempt to replace the chief of police with a “Robo Chief” and then a temporarily successful scheme to make everyone stupid by erasing all the words from every book (“Book ’Em, Dog Man”), and finish off with a sort of attempted alien invasion evocatively titled “Weenie Wars: The Franks Awaken.” In each, Dog Man squares off against baddies (including superinventor/archnemesis Petey the cat) and saves the day with a clever notion. With occasional pauses for Flip-O-Rama featurettes, the tales are all framed in brightly colored sequential panels with hand-lettered dialogue (“How do you feel, old friend?” “Ruff!”) and narrative. The figures are studiously diverse, with police officers of both genders on view and George, the chief, and several other members of the supporting cast colored in various shades of brown. Pilkey closes as customary with drawing exercises, plus a promise that the canine crusader will be further unleashed in a sequel.
What a wag. (Graphic fantasy. 7-9)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-58160-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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