A charming story about self-acceptance.
A girl who’s half-fairy, half-vampire struggles to fit in.
Isadora Moon’s parents can’t decide which school she should attend: fairy school like her mother or vampire school like her father? They opt to send her to a day of fairy school and a night of vampire school and then to let her choose. Pink and sparkly fairy school starts off as good fun but goes downhill with some magic mishaps (a wish for carrot cake summons an ever growing winged carrot) and cultural hiccups (despite the sparkles, they don’t approve of her black tutu in ballet, and she unknowingly desecrates a fairy ring). Vampire school doesn’t go much better—she flies too much like a fairy for vampire formations, her animated toy Pink Rabbit is banned after acting out in jealousy of the bats, and her straight but unruly hair doesn’t want be tamed to vampire standards. Despite her parents’ conflicting wishes that she take after one or the other, she fits into neither mold. After an encounter with a passing group of diverse human children (as opposed to the all–paper-white fantasy creatures), she opts to go to school with them and be an individual herself—a message as attractive as the black, white, and pink illustrations. While Isadora’s parents seem exceptionally clueless about what’s best for their daughter, their loving acceptance of her choice is affirming.
A charming story about self-acceptance. (Fantasy. 6-9)Pub Date: Aug. 15, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-55821-4
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: April 30, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2017
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BOOK REVIEW
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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