Fills a need for educational and hopeful stories about kids handling the realities of wildfires.
A verse novel following a middle schooler’s search for hope after a devastating wildfire.
Living in a small California town surrounded by redwoods, observant eighth grader Finn has learned about the natural cycle of droughts and wildfires, but nothing can prepare him for the trauma of evacuation and displacement when a catastrophic fire forces everyone in town to flee. Once studious and organized, Finn is now scattered, plagued by nightmares and worries after returning home. Did the animals in the nearby state park survive? Will his best friend find her beloved missing dog? Can his father find construction work that doesn’t threaten the wildland-urban interface? Most of all, will Finn ever feel hopeful again? Divided into sections set before, during, and after the fire, the story effectively focuses on the impact of PTSD after a natural disaster. Baron covers different kinds of support, including therapy and journaling. Finn’s journey from despair to hope involves finding actionable steps to advocate for animals and humans in his community, making this title a good fit for classroom and book group discussions. Descriptions of the fires pack a visceral punch, compensating for the heavily expository and educational poems and the dialogue, which occasionally has a formal tone. Finn’s Jewish family is cued white, and there’s some racial diversity among his friends.
Fills a need for educational and hopeful stories about kids handling the realities of wildfires. (author’s note) (Verse fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: July 15, 2025
ISBN: 9781250864741
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: April 19, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2025
Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious.
If you made a recording to be heard by the aliens who found the iPod, what would you record?
For 11-year-old Alex Petroski, it's easy. He records everything. He records the story of how he travels to New Mexico to a rocket festival with his dog, Carl Sagan, and his rocket. He records finding out that a man with the same name and birthday as his dead father has an address in Las Vegas. He records eating at Johnny Rockets for the first time with his new friends, who are giving him a ride to find his dead father (who might not be dead!), and losing Carl Sagan in the wilds of Las Vegas, and discovering he has a half sister. He even records his own awful accident. Cheng delivers a sweet, soulful debut novel with a brilliant, refreshing structure. His characters manage to come alive through the “transcript” of Alex’s iPod recording, an odd medium that sounds like it would be confusing but really works. Taking inspiration from the Voyager Golden Record released to space in 1977, Alex, who explains he has “light brown skin,” records all the important moments of a journey that takes him from a family of two to a family of plenty.
Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-18637-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
A captivating book situated in present-day discourse around the refugee crisis, featuring two boys who stand by their high...
Two parallel stories, one of a Syrian boy from Aleppo fleeing war, and another of a white American boy, son of a NATO contractor, dealing with the challenges of growing up, intersect at a house in Brussels.
Ahmed lost his father while crossing the Mediterranean. Alone and broke in Europe, he takes things into his own hands to get to safety but ends up having to hide in the basement of a residential house. After months of hiding, he is discovered by Max, a boy of similar age and parallel high integrity and courage, who is experiencing his own set of troubles learning a new language, moving to a new country, and being teased at school. In an unexpected turn of events, the two boys and their new friends Farah, a Muslim Belgian girl, and Oscar, a white Belgian boy, successfully scheme for Ahmed to go to school while he remains in hiding the rest of the time. What is at stake for Ahmed is immense, and so is the risk to everyone involved. Marsh invites art and history to motivate her protagonists, drawing parallels to gentiles who protected Jews fleeing Nazi terror and citing present-day political news. This well-crafted and suspenseful novel touches on the topics of refugees and immigrant integration, terrorism, Islam, Islamophobia, and the Syrian war with sensitivity and grace.
A captivating book situated in present-day discourse around the refugee crisis, featuring two boys who stand by their high values in the face of grave risk and succeed in drawing goodwill from others. (Historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Aug. 7, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-250-30757-6
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: June 10, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
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