A clever and entertaining gallows-humor satire.
In Soling’s picture book for adults, a schoolboy adopts a stray bomb.
The first-person narrator, a boy in the mold of Martin Handford’s Where’s Wally?/Where’s Waldo?is walking home one day when he finds himself shadowed by a fuse-lit bomb. This central piece of whimsy—a stray bomb in place of a stray dog—gives way to what seems a lengthy digression (five double-page spreads) about the boy’s crotchety old neighbors, the Greenspans. Upon arriving home, the boy tries to convince his parents to let him keep the bomb. His mom says no (“A bomb is a big responsibility”), so they try to give the bomb to the right authorities, or at least to a good home. In the end—a deliciously dark twist that takes place off-page—they give it to the Greenspans. Soling writes in a conversational style with droll, rather deadpan delivery. Though presented as a picture book, the tale is more akin to an adult parody of that genre. Certainly, some children might not get the humor (“Why, some crazed anarchist is probably worried sick wondering where his bomb is”). Mrs. Greenspan is a formidable mean neighbor, portrayed with a Roald Dahl–esque gleefulness: “Mrs. Greenspan saw me and began shrieking incomprehensibly, as usual. ‘Bluagh!!! Urgoakjfa! Rougaujklb!!!’ she raged. I had little difficulty translating her gibberish as it was a dialect of babble that I had learned from my teachers at school.” Passages like this place the text—and its implied ending—in the realm not so much of malicious irresponsibility, but rather of daydreaming flights of fancy, an impression furthered by Kille’s wobbly, intricate illustrations. These have an appropriately raw feel to them, and make effective use of dark hues and inky textures. Readers who enjoy Soling and Kille’s approach will be pleased to learn that the current title is just one of several in the Rumpleville Chronicles series.
A clever and entertaining gallows-humor satire.Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2015
ISBN: 9780976777120
Page Count: 37
Publisher: Spectacle Films, Inc
Review Posted Online: Nov. 11, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Raw, delicate, and deeply caring.
When Death-Cast doesn’t call, fate intertwines the lives of two boys, both haunted by their pasts and with futures they can’t escape.
In this third installment of the series that opened with 2017’s They Both Die at the End, Paz Dario waits every night for Death-Cast to call—as it should have for his father nearly 10 years ago, when Paz shot him to save his mother’s life. But the call never comes. Death-Cast killed Paz’s dreams of an acting career: No one will hire him now because the world sees him as a villain. When Paz tries (not for the first time) to put an end to his suffering, an unexpected encounter with Alano Rosa, the heir of Death-Cast, stops him. Both in a place of desperation, Alano and Paz sign a contract to live for Begin Days instead of waiting for their End Days. As suspenseful and emotionally wrenching as the previous titles in the series, this new installment explores heavy themes of abuse, mental health, self-harm, and suicide. Paz grapples with a recent diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. Silvera surrounds Alano and Paz with a web of complex relationships. Although the protagonists fall fast for one another and form a deep connection over Alano’s desire to support Paz, Silvera emphasizes the importance of professional help. Both Alano and Paz have Puerto Rican heritage. The cliffhanger ending promises more to come.
Raw, delicate, and deeply caring. (content warning, resources) (Speculative fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780063240858
Page Count: 720
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
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