Simple, hopeful, and positive. (Verse fiction. 7-10)
A bully on the bus proves to be more than siblings Leroy and Ruby can handle alone.
Even though grade schooler Leroy loves his teacher and his fellow Superkids in Mrs. Wilson’s classroom, he dreads the trip to and from school for one particular reason—DJ. A high schooler who changes the color of her hair almost as frequently as her mood, DJ finds respite from her own frustrating life by tormenting Leroy. Insults, mockery, and poking are only the start, and there’s little that older sister Ruby, who’s only in grade five, can do to help. When the cupcake Leroy has made for his teacher disappears into DJ’s mouth, he is crushed. His parents and teacher notice a change in his demeanor, but Leroy feels nervous confiding in them. When he does, they hatch a plan. Leroy has a list of things he can do to combat DJ, including ignoring her, sitting in a seat close to the bus driver, and speaking confidently. But it’s his secret weapon, a storybook that distracts him and interests DJ, that finally encourages peace on the bus. Leroy learns the important lesson of show and tell: “Show the bully you don’t care. / Tell an adult.” Simply written in verse, this is a story many children will find familiar. An optimistic ending might be just the encouragement most kids need, but it may be a little improbable for some readers. Set in Australia, the book assumes a white default.
Simple, hopeful, and positive. (Verse fiction. 7-10) (Verse fiction7-10)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-61067-770-7
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Kane Miller
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
Alert readers will find the implicit morals: know your audience, mostly, but also never underestimate the power of “rock”...
The theme of persistence (for better or worse) links four tales of magic, trickery, and near disasters.
Lachenmeyer freely borrows familiar folkloric elements, subjecting them to mildly comical twists. In the nearly wordless “Hip Hop Wish,” a frog inadvertently rubs a magic lamp and finds itself saddled with an importunate genie eager to shower it with inappropriate goods and riches. In the title tale, an increasingly annoyed music-hating witch transforms a persistent minstrel into a still-warbling cow, horse, sheep, goat, pig, duck, and rock in succession—then is horrified to catch herself humming a tune. Athesius the sorcerer outwits Warthius, a rival trying to steal his spells via a parrot, by casting silly ones in Ig-pay Atin-lay in the third episode, and in the finale, a painter’s repeated efforts to create a flattering portrait of an ogre king nearly get him thrown into a dungeon…until he suddenly understands what an ogre’s idea of “flattering” might be. The narratives, dialogue, and sound effects leave plenty of elbow room in Blocker’s big, brightly colored panels for the expressive animal and human(ish) figures—most of the latter being light skinned except for the golden genie, the blue ogre, and several people of color in the “Sorcerer’s New Pet.”
Alert readers will find the implicit morals: know your audience, mostly, but also never underestimate the power of “rock” music. (Graphic short stories. 8-10)Pub Date: June 18, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-59643-750-0
Page Count: 112
Publisher: First Second
Review Posted Online: April 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2019
Readers will be waiting to see how Charlie faces his next challenge in a series that marks a lovely change of pace from the...
Charlie Bumpers is doomed. The one teacher he never wanted in the whole school turns out to be his fourth-grade teacher.
Charlie recalls third grade, when he accidentally hit the scariest teacher in the whole school with his sneaker. “I know all about you, Charlie Bumpers,” she says menacingly on the first day of fourth grade. Now, in addition to all the hardships of starting school, he has gotten off on the wrong foot with her. Charlie’s dry and dramatic narrative voice clearly reveals the inner life of a 9-year-old—the glass is always half empty, especially in light of a series of well-intentioned events gone awry. It’s quite a litany: “Hitting Mrs. Burke in the head with the sneaker. The messy desk. The swinging on the door. The toilet paper. And now this—the shoe on the roof.” Harley has teamed once again with illustrator Gustavson (Lost and Found, 2012) to create a real-life world in which a likable kid must face the everyday terrors of childhood: enormous bullies, looming teachers and thick gym coaches with huge pointing fingers. Into this series opener, Harley magically weaves the simple lesson that people, even teachers, can surprise you.
Readers will be waiting to see how Charlie faces his next challenge in a series that marks a lovely change of pace from the sarcasm of Wimpy Kid. (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-56145-732-8
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: Aug. 13, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2013
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