High fly balls and low humor, on and off the basepaths.
In this second series entry, young ballplayers discover that numbers on the scoreboard aren’t the only way to measure wins.
Along with offering mini-clinics in batting, catching fly balls, and safely removing leeches, among other general life skills, the mixed-gender traveling team (newly renamed the Wurtmore Turdles for its port-a-potty sponsor) weathers bullies, crushes on teammates, and undergoes a range of emotional challenges from a lost pet to a lost parent over the course of a summer tournament. Chick stirs generous quantities of coaching and self-coaching into game action that’s highlighted by gleeful just deserts for sneering archrivals who steal a jar of especially potent pickles and later pay the intestinal price. The behavior modeling, sporting and otherwise, may weigh heavily at times but is generally buoyed by the alimentary humor and an upbeat ending: The Turdles rebound from a tournament loss as Pel, one of the ensemble members who shares narrative duties, takes steps toward healing from the grief of his father’s death and at last cements relations with the team’s catcher, Diesel. Diesel’s real given name, Huyen, cues some racial diversity in the cast that’s backed up by Radlicki’s lively illustrations of the middle school–aged ballplayers.
High fly balls and low humor, on and off the basepaths. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Feb. 11, 2025
ISBN: 9781524884888
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and...
Catrina narrates the story of her mixed-race (Latino/white) family’s move from Southern California to Bahía de la Luna on the Northern California coast.
Dad has a new job, but it’s little sister Maya’s lungs that motivate the move: she has had cystic fibrosis since birth—a degenerative breathing condition. Despite her health, Maya loves adventure, even if her lungs suffer for it and even when Cat must follow to keep her safe. When Carlos, a tall, brown, and handsome teen Ghost Tour guide introduces the sisters to the Bahía ghosts—most of whom were Spanish-speaking Mexicans when alive—they fascinate Maya and she them, but the terrified Cat wants only to get herself and Maya back to safety. When the ghost adventure leads to Maya’s hospitalization, Cat blames both herself and Carlos, which makes seeing him at school difficult. As Cat awakens to the meaning of Halloween and Day of the Dead in this strange new home, she comes to understand the importance of the ghosts both to herself and to Maya. Telgemeier neatly balances enough issues that a lesser artist would split them into separate stories and delivers as much delight textually as visually. The backmatter includes snippets from Telgemeier’s sketchbook and a photo of her in Día makeup.
Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and unable to put down this compelling tale. (Graphic fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-54061-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
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