A disappointing outing with a lauded author.
A young rider named Ellen Leinsdorf takes the reins in this first part of a trilogy set in the same California town as Smiley’s series aimed at slightly older readers, the Horses of Oak Valley Ranch.
Ellen, who is depicted as white on the book’s cover (there seem to be no people of color in the book), takes riding lessons every week from teenager Abby Lovitt, sometimes at the stable in the unnamed coastal town where she lives and sometimes at Abby’s family’s ranch farther inland. Ned, a recently retired racehorse, comes to live at Abby’s farm, and Ellen realizes she can talk to him—in person and also sometimes from her bedroom. Ellen also discovers both that her parents are about to adopt a baby girl and that she herself is adopted. Ellen’s age—9—isn’t revealed until about halfway through, and before that readers might think she’s older; her voice feels more an adult’s version of a child’s voice than authentically childlike. Her chattiness and distractibility are told about instead of shown, and when Ellen’s teacher asks her to focus more in class and follow directions, she instantly becomes a model student. Ellen’s third-person narration is stuffed with detail but features little insight or action. Readers who don’t already know Abby Lovitt will not realize the story is set in the 1960s but might wonder at some of the seemingly anachronistic family structures.
A disappointing outing with a lauded author. (Historical fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: March 6, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-5247-1811-4
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Nov. 21, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2017
The second installment in this spirited series is a hit.
A new baby coming means Ryan has lots of opportunities to grow love.
Ryan has so much to look forward to this summer—she is going to be a big sister, and she finally gets to go to church camp! But new adventures bring challenges, too. Ryan feels like the baby is taking forever to arrive, and with Mom on bed rest, she isn’t able to participate in the family’s typical summer activities. Ryan’s Dad is still working the late shift, which means he gets home and goes to bed when she and her older brother, Ray, are waking up, so their quality daddy-daughter time is limited to one day a week. When the time for camp finally arrives, Ryan is so worried about bugs, ghosts, and sharing a cabin that she wonders if she should go at all. Watson’s heroine is smart and courageous, bringing her optimistic attitude to any challenge she faces. Hard topics like family finances and complex relationships with friends are discussed in an age-appropriate way. Watson continues to excel at crafting a sense of place; she transports readers to Portland, Oregon, with an attention to detail that can only come from someone who has loved that city. Ryan, her family, and friends are Black, and occasional illustrations by Mata spotlight their joy and make this book shine.
The second installment in this spirited series is a hit. (Fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: April 27, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5476-0058-8
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: March 16, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2021
Readers will enjoy this sequel from a plot perspective and will learn how to play-act a trial, though they may not engage...
This sequel to The Lemonade War (2007), picking up just a few days later, focuses on how the fourth graders take justice into their own hands after learning that the main suspect in the case of the missing lemonade-stand money now owns the latest in game-box technology.
Siblings Evan and Jessie (who skipped third grade because of her precocity) are sure Scott Spencer stole the $208 from Evan’s shorts and want revenge, especially as Scott’s new toy makes him the most popular kid in class, despite his personal shortcomings. Jessie’s solution is to orchestrate a full-blown trial by jury after school, while Evan prefers to challenge Scott in basketball. Neither channel proves satisfactory for the two protagonists (whose rational and emotional reactions are followed throughout the third-person narrative), though, ultimately, the matter is resolved. Set during the week of Yom Kippur, the story raises beginning questions of fairness, integrity, sin and atonement. Like John Grisham's Theodore Boone, Kid Lawyer (2010), much of the book is taken up with introducing courtroom proceedings for a fourth-grade level of understanding. Chapter headings provide definitions (“due diligence,” “circumstantial evidence,” etc.) and explanation cards/documents drawn by Jessie are interspersed.
Readers will enjoy this sequel from a plot perspective and will learn how to play-act a trial, though they may not engage with the characters enough to care about how the justice actually pans out. (Fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: May 2, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-27967-1
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2011
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