Profoundly and charmingly moving.
An Afghan family, having been recently granted stay in the Netherlands, decides to adopt a pet.
Accompanied by her older brothers, 9-year-old Roya heads to the pet store, where she picks out a white dwarf rabbit, whom she names Mishka. The family finds in Mishka a symbol of permanence and safety. Roya, who was only 3 when the family fled Kabul, confides in the bunny, telling him that they had to leave because her father broke the law by teaching female students and because her parents were both free thinkers. Mishka’s presence helps the family cope with their pain and prompts Roya to ask more questions about their arduous journey across continents by plane, train, bus, and foot, through various Dutch refugee centers, schools, and continued denials for citizenship. Deftly weaving in moments of humor, joy, and sadness, the authors offer a gentle, child’s-eye view of the dangers the family faced, with underlying implications of trauma. Based on Elman’s own experiences and translated from Dutch by Forest-Flier, the narrative makes space for Roya’s long-delayed processing of her memories, as well as the anti-immigrant sentiment she encounters and the relief of belonging and home amid deep familial love. Schaap’s soft illustrations, set against brown backgrounds, convey warmth and calm; details in both the art and the text indicate that the family is Muslim.
Profoundly and charmingly moving. (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: Nov. 12, 2024
ISBN: 9781646144587
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Levine Querido
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode.
A long-running series reaches its closing chapters.
Having, as Kline notes in her warm valedictory acknowledgements, taken 30 years to get through second and third grade, Harry Spooger is overdue to move on—but not just into fourth grade, it turns out, as his family is moving to another town as soon as the school year ends. The news leaves his best friend, narrator “Dougo,” devastated…particularly as Harry doesn’t seem all that fussed about it. With series fans in mind, the author takes Harry through a sort of last-day-of-school farewell tour. From his desk he pulls a burned hot dog and other items that featured in past episodes, says goodbye to Song Lee and other classmates, and even (for the first time ever) leads Doug and readers into his house and memento-strewn room for further reminiscing. Of course, Harry isn’t as blasé about the move as he pretends, and eyes aren’t exactly dry when he departs. But hardly is he out of sight before Doug is meeting Mohammad, a new neighbor from Syria who (along with further diversifying a cast that began as mostly white but has become increasingly multiethnic over the years) will also be starting fourth grade at summer’s end, and planning a written account of his “horrible” buddy’s exploits. Finished illustrations not seen.
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Nov. 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-451-47963-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
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