A “yeah, sure” if there ever was one.
Alley and Rex make some more mischief.
Effervescent sixth grader Alley and bunny-suited fourth grade genius Rex return for more laughs in this sequel to last year’s promising Alley & Rex (2021). This time the pals team up to help each other survive gym class and save breakfast. Rex is loath to shed his bunny suit, but the PE teacher is insistent that he change into standard gym attire. Meanwhile, Alley is desperate to save the free breakfast cart that’s been closed down due to budget cuts. Hilarity, tomfoolery, and elaborate heists ensue as the inseparable pals work toward making smart choices and finding quality solutions to their problems. Fans of the series opener will find plenty to enjoy here. Those who bristled at Alley’s boisterous energy levels in the earlier installment will once again be longing for a tranquilizer dart. The narrative is better paced, and the characterization remains decent. While the story never rises to anything special, there’s solid workmanship on display; this is a book that will fill out a reader’s summer reading log or help pass a dull afternoon. The jokes are fun, the story has just the right dash of mayhem, and the titular pals are engaging enough to keep readers willing to come back for more. Based on cover art, Alley presents as White and Rex is brown-skinned; Alley is cued as Jewish.
A “yeah, sure” if there ever was one. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Sept. 27, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5344-9547-0
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
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
A fascinating, touching story of an off-the-grid family facing changes and the invisible threads that connect people.
Juniper Berry lives in the California woods with her family, but when her brother gets sick, they have to leave to get help.
Eleven-year-old Juniper is perfectly happy in the woods, where she learns from mom Clara and dad Zephyr in “earth school” alongside older sister Skylark and younger brother Hawk. But when Hawk becomes dangerously ill, the family goes with him to the hospital. While he recovers, they’re stuck in what Clara calls “society,” where the kids encounter cars, refrigerators, the internet, and public school. Sky and Juniper meet their uncle Parker and cousins Kori and Alayna for the first time—and move in with them. Juniper and Alayna clash: Alayna finds Juniper embarrassing, while Juniper wonders, “Why would it be bad if I acted differently from other people?” Juniper aims to make money to help pay for Hawk’s care so they can all go home to the woods, but she only succeeds once friends help. Juniper is a marvelously developed character navigating extremely uncomfortable situations. Alayna, too, is developed with depth and care; she and Clara have their “storms” (panic attacks) in common, for which they eventually get help. The family members are racially ambiguous: Juniper has light skin and light brown hair and takes after her mother; Sky and Hawk have their dad’s light brown skin and curly dark hair.
A fascinating, touching story of an off-the-grid family facing changes and the invisible threads that connect people. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 15, 2023
ISBN: 9781639930999
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Review Posted Online: June 8, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2023
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