A heartfelt story about finding the courage to stand up for your beliefs even when you’d rather remain invisible.
Speaking for those who can’t speak for themselves helps one girl find her fearlessness.
The first day of sixth grade at Hillview Middle School is stressful enough for Autumn Blake without the added pressure from her dad to participate in just one thing. Not a fan of being noticed, finding her special thing feels daunting, especially without her best friend, Prisha, who has moved to California. The answer unexpectedly comes when Autumn is chosen by her teacher to be the anonymous voice behind “Dear Student,” the school newspaper’s advice column. Her excitement soon turns to worry, though, as she finds herself in the middle of a divisive community issue with new friends Cooper and Logan on opposing sides. Also confusing are Autumn’s feelings about her dad, who left to work with the Peace Corps in Ecuador, leaving Autumn, her little sister, and her veterinarian mom behind in Cape Cod. Autumn’s inner life will resonate with anyone who has experienced social anxiety, as will her feeling that she is the only one who can’t figure out how to navigate the school cafeteria. Themes of animal rights and socio-economic diversity are handled thoughtfully and with nuance. Jewish Autumn and most main characters read as White; Prisha is cued as Indian, and close family friend and veterinary office manager Malcolm has brown skin.
A heartfelt story about finding the courage to stand up for your beliefs even when you’d rather remain invisible. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Feb. 15, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-37412-2
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Nov. 29, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2021
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
A real gem.
A 10-year old girl learns to adjust to a strange town, makes some fascinating friends, and fills the empty space in her heart thanks to a big old stray dog in this lyrical, moving, and enchanting book by a fresh new voice.
India Opal’s mama left when she was only three, and her father, “the preacher,” is absorbed in his own loss and in the work of his new ministry at the Open-Arms Baptist Church of Naomi [Florida]. Enter Winn-Dixie, a dog who “looked like a big piece of old brown carpet that had been left out in the rain.” But, this dog had a grin “so big that it made him sneeze.” And, as Opal says, “It’s hard not to immediately fall in love with a dog who has a good sense of humor.” Because of Winn-Dixie, Opal meets Miss Franny Block, an elderly lady whose papa built her a library of her own when she was just a little girl and she’s been the librarian ever since. Then, there’s nearly blind Gloria Dump, who hangs the empty bottle wreckage of her past from the mistake tree in her back yard. And, Otis, oh yes, Otis, whose music charms the gerbils, rabbits, snakes and lizards he’s let out of their cages in the pet store. Brush strokes of magical realism elevate this beyond a simple story of friendship to a well-crafted tale of community and fellowship, of sweetness, sorrow and hope. And, it’s funny, too.
A real gem. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: March 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7636-0776-2
Page Count: 182
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2000
SEEN & HEARD
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