A whimsical and edifying story about protecting our delicate ecosystem.
A young girl gains the ability to speak with the animals her conservationist parents are studying in Armstrong’s middle-grade novel.
Sydney is far from your average 11-year-old girl. Instead of growing up and going to school in one place, she and her twin sister, Sierra, travel the world with their conservationist parents, who homeschool them. The twins’ mother is an environmental photographer dedicated to capturing wildlife in their natural habitats and documenting the effects of climate change, particularly its effect on animals. Sydney also loves animals; she even talks to them when the family takes photography expeditions (though they never respond). The family’s latest trip—to the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard, Norway—starts with an unexpected polar bear sighting in the airport parking lot. Sydney learns that their guides, Erik and his 16-year-old son Jon, have been attempting to track this bear (whom they’ve nicknamed PB-861), hoping to monitor its activity in relation to the changes in (and destruction of) its home. (“If PB-861 keeps coming inland, that means he’s hungry. And desperate,” Erik says.) Setting sail on the frigid Arctic seas, the conservationists begin their work documenting the environment and wildlife. When Sydney is accidentally thrown from her raft onto an iceberg, hitting her head, she’s knocked unconscious; when she wakes up, she finds that she can speak with animals, not just to them. Sydney realizes that she might be able to make a difference and help the planet in new and exciting ways—especially when she teams up with her data- and research-loving twin Sierra. Armstrong weaves a tale that’s both entertaining and educational. The adventurous Sydney is a likable and compelling protagonist, and her more academically minded twin serves as a perfect foil. The supporting characters are also well developed. Young readers will enjoy learning about the Arctic ecosystem and may even come away from the book feeling inspired to do more research into global conservation efforts and help in any way they can.
A whimsical and edifying story about protecting our delicate ecosystem.Pub Date: July 3, 2023
ISBN: 9798218220037
Page Count: 228
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: April 21, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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 beautifully rendered setting enfolds a disappointing plot.
In sixth grade, Izzy Mancini’s cozy, loving world falls apart.
She and her family have moved out of the cottage she grew up in. Her mother has spent the summer on Block Island instead of at home with Izzy. Her father has recently returned from military service in Afghanistan partially paralyzed and traumatized. The only people she can count on are Zelda and Piper, her best friends since kindergarten—that is, until the Haidary family moves into the upstairs apartment. At first, Izzy resents the new guests from Afghanistan even though she knows she should be grateful that Dr. Haidary saved her father’s life. But despite her initial resistance (which manifests at times as racism), as Izzy gets to know Sitara, the Haidarys’ daughter, she starts to question whether Zelda and Piper really are her friends for forever—and whether she has the courage to stand up for Sitara against the people she loves. Ferruolo weaves a rich setting, fully immersing readers in the largely white, coastal town of Seabury, Rhode Island. Disappointingly, the story resolves when Izzy convinces her classmates to accept Sitara by revealing the Haidarys’ past as American allies, a position that put them in so much danger that they had to leave home. The idea that Sitara should be embraced only because her family supported America, rather than simply because she is a human being, significantly undermines the purported message of tolerance for all.
A beautifully rendered setting enfolds a disappointing plot. (Fiction. 10-12)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-374-30909-1
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
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