An uplifting story marred by clumsy efforts to inject diverse representation.
Four seventh graders get lessons in community spirit when a hurricane hits their Cape Cod town.
Narrators Jenna, Selena, Piper, and Ziggy start their school year assigned to write “a paper about what matters to us in life.” Meanwhile, as a hurricane heads their way, Jenna frets about beating Franny, her swim team rival, at an upcoming meet; Selena tries a homemade beauty treatment that goes badly awry; Piper worries about the safety of her grandma and the horses they care for; and Ziggy has concerns because her “hippie” mom is a conspiracy theorist who refuses to take the storm warnings seriously. Still, as the storm causes dramatic flooding and evacuations, all four girls pitch in to help and, in the aftermath, are left with both themes for their school assignment and inspiring glimpses of the good work done by the local lifeguard crew. In a largely White cast, the representation of characters with various underrepresented identities—from Ecuadorian American Selena to biracial Israeli and Somali Samantha, who has “dyslexia and other learning differences,” and autistic Franny—unfortunately misfires. The book broaches identity-related subjects, but they are not developed with tact or insight. Selena’s concerns about color-blind casting in the school play, Samantha’s self-identifying as “a mutt,” a character’s misleading comment about racial diversity in Israel, and the objectifying portrayal of Franny’s autism are missed opportunities for depth.
An uplifting story marred by clumsy efforts to inject diverse representation. (Fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-72822-122-9
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Sourcebooks Young Readers
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
However the compelling fitness of theme and event and the apt but unexpected imagery (the opening sentences compare the...
At a time when death has become an acceptable, even voguish subject in children's fiction, Natalie Babbitt comes through with a stylistic gem about living forever.
Protected Winnie, the ten-year-old heroine, is not immortal, but when she comes upon young Jesse Tuck drinking from a secret spring in her parents' woods, she finds herself involved with a family who, having innocently drunk the same water some 87 years earlier, haven't aged a moment since. Though the mood is delicate, there is no lack of action, with the Tucks (previously suspected of witchcraft) now pursued for kidnapping Winnie; Mae Tuck, the middle aged mother, striking and killing a stranger who is onto their secret and would sell the water; and Winnie taking Mae's place in prison so that the Tucks can get away before she is hanged from the neck until....? Though Babbitt makes the family a sad one, most of their reasons for discontent are circumstantial and there isn't a great deal of wisdom to be gleaned from their fate or Winnie's decision not to share it.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1975
ISBN: 0312369816
Page Count: 164
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1975
SEEN & HEARD
Medically, both squicky and hopeful; emotionally, unbelievably squeaky-clean.
A 12-year-old copes with a brain tumor.
Maddie likes potatoes and fake mustaches. Kids at school are nice (except one whom readers will see instantly is a bully); soon they’ll get to perform Shakespeare scenes in a unit they’ve all been looking forward to. But recent dysfunctions in Maddie’s arm and leg mean, stunningly, that she has a brain tumor. She has two surgeries, the first successful, the second taking place after the book’s end, leaving readers hanging. The tumor’s not malignant, but it—or the surgeries—could cause sight loss, personality change, or death. The descriptions of surgery aren’t for the faint of heart. The authors—parents of a real-life Maddie who really had a brain tumor—imbue fictional Maddie’s first-person narration with quirky turns of phrase (“For the love of potatoes!”) and whimsy (she imagines her medical battles as epic fantasy fights and pretends MRI stands for Mustard Rat from Indiana or Mustaches Rock Importantly), but they also portray her as a model sick kid. She’s frightened but never acts out, snaps, or resists. Her most frequent commentary about the tumor, having her skull opened, and the possibility of death is “Boo” or “Super boo.” She even shoulders the bully’s redemption. Maddie and most characters are white; one cringe-inducing hallucinatory surgery dream involves “chanting island natives” and a “witch doctor lady.”
Medically, both squicky and hopeful; emotionally, unbelievably squeaky-clean. (authors’ note, discussion questions) (Fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-62972-330-3
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2017
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
