Outrageous fun with thoughtful insights into family dynamics.
There’s an elephant in the room—and on the stairs, on the street, and in the park.
Sarah’s bored and lonely, so why not get a pet? Surprisingly, her mom agrees. Mom likes things regular, organized, and on schedule, and she’s completely wrapped up in her job as CEO at a bank. Sarah wonders if her mother really cares about her at all. When Sarah and her dad go grocery shopping, they also buy an African elephant named Mr. Smith and bring him home. Getting him upstairs and into the apartment is a major logistical problem. A new friend, Peter, who introduces herself as princess of the tiny European country of Odessia, offers help, as does Anther, the gardener. Sarah has plans galore for Mr. Smith, though some prove disastrous. There are loads of misunderstandings, with Mr. Smith’s amazing talent for arranging flowers proving to be very important. It all comes to a satisfying conclusion, with loose ends neatly tied up and lots of apologies and improved relationships. A triad of narrative devices, sometimes confusing to follow, moves the tale along. Sarah speaks in the first person as the main voice, paneled cartoons with dialogue depict some of the action, and a third-person entity speaks for Mr. Smith, voicing his emotions. Sarah’s mother acknowledges her own role in her daughter’s unhappiness—possibly a new idea for young readers to recognize their parents’ human foibles. Sarah and her family present White, and Peter has dark skin and two long, black braids. The tale is set in a whimsically alternative present day; Mr. Smith was taken from the fictional African country of Zimbazini, a questionable choice for wordplay.
Outrageous fun with thoughtful insights into family dynamics. (Fiction/fantasy. 8-10)Pub Date: May 11, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-4598-2430-0
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
A dramatic, educational, authentic whale of a tale.
After a tsunami devastates their habitat in the Salish Sea, a young orca and her brother embark on a remarkable adventure.
Vega’s matriarchal family expects her to become a hunter and wayfinder, with her younger brother, Deneb, protecting and supporting her. Invited to guide her family to their Gathering Place to hunt salmon, Vega’s underwater miscalculations endanger them all, and an embarrassed Vega questions whether she should be a wayfinder. When the baby sister she hoped would become her life companion is stillborn, a distraught Vega carries the baby away to a special resting place, shocking her grieving family. Dispatched to find his missing sister, Deneb locates Vega in the midst of a terrible tsunami. To escape the waters polluted by shattered boats, Vega leads Deneb into unfamiliar open sea. Alone and hungry, the young siblings encounter a spectacular giant whale and travel briefly with shark-hunting orcas. Trusting her instincts and gaining emotional strength from contemplating the vastness of the sky, Vega knows she must lead her brother home and help save her surviving family. In alternating first-person voices, Vega and Deneb tell their harrowing story, engaging young readers while educating them about the marine ecosystem. Realistic black-and-white illustrations enhance the maritime setting.
A dramatic, educational, authentic whale of a tale. (maps, wildlife facts, tribes of the Salish Sea watershed, environmental and geographical information, how to help orcas, author’s note, artist’s note, resources) (Animal fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-299592-6
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
Ironically, by choosing such a dramatic catalyst, the author weakens the adventure’s impact overall and leaves readers to...
A group of talking farm animals catches wind of the farm owner’s intention to burn the barn (with them in it) for insurance money and hatches a plan to flee.
Bond begins briskly—within the first 10 pages, barn cat Burdock has overheard Dewey Baxter’s nefarious plan, and by Page 17, all of the farm animals have been introduced and Burdock is sharing the terrifying news. Grady, Dewey’s (ever-so-slightly) more principled brother, refuses to go along, but instead of standing his ground, he simply disappears. This leaves the animals to fend for themselves. They do so by relying on their individual strengths and one another. Their talents and personalities match their species, bringing an element of realism to balance the fantasy elements. However, nothing can truly compensate for the bland horror of the premise. Not the growing sense of family among the animals, the serendipitous intervention of an unknown inhabitant of the barn, nor the convenient discovery of an alternate home. Meanwhile, Bond’s black-and-white drawings, justly compared to those of Garth Williams, amplify the sense of dissonance. Charming vignettes and single- and double-page illustrations create a pastoral world into which the threat of large-scale violence comes as a shock.
Ironically, by choosing such a dramatic catalyst, the author weakens the adventure’s impact overall and leaves readers to ponder the awkward coincidences that propel the plot. (Animal fantasy. 8-10)Pub Date: July 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-544-33217-1
Page Count: 256
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 31, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2015
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