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DAYS OF THE DEAD

Name: DAYS OF THE DEAD
Author: Kersten Hamilton
ISBN: 978-1-5107-2858-5

by Kersten Hamilton ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 4, 2018

The complex, layered plot pulls no punches.

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A blended family learns to cope and have compassion for each other.

Mexican-American Glorieta Magdalena Davis Espinosa takes her obligations to her family very seriously. Her mother’s family, the Espinosas, has lived in the same house for 400 years, and her aunts are the matriarchs of the town of Puerto de la Luna, which was swallowed up by Epoch, New Mexico, when it became a part of the United States but kept much of its magic and Mexicanness. But no magic can soothe Glorieta’s grief over losing her mother to suicide years ago. Her great-aunt, la Doña Diosonita, forbade a burial in consecrated ground because they believed her death to be a mortal sin, and since her father remarried six weeks ago, her mother’s ashes have been socked away in a drawer. Glorieta has about a month before Día de los Muertos, and she wants to use that time to convince her aunt that her mother deserves to be honored and not forgotten. But she also has to deal with a cruel new stepsister, an out-of-work father, and political disagreements among neighbors, some of whom call the town’s many undocumented immigrants “aliens” and others who say “refugees.” Although the plot grows too busy at times, the combination of magical realism, syncretism, and Catholicism is thoughtful and realistic, not preachy, and is accessible to believers and nonbelievers alike. Perhaps most important, Glorieta’s desperation is affecting and wrenching.

The complex, layered plot pulls no punches. (Fiction. 10-14)

Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2018

ISBN: 978-1-5107-2858-5

Page Count: 256

Publisher: Sky Pony Press

Review Posted Online: July 29, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2018

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S HOLIDAYS & CELEBRATIONS

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THE TUGBOAT AND THE SILVER MOON
by Kersten Hamilton ; illustrated by Barry Gott

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WHAT'S UP, PUP?
by Kersten Hamilton ; illustrated by Lili Chin

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ORANGE EXCAVATOR
by Kersten Hamilton ; illustrated by Valeria Petrone

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SEE YOU IN THE COSMOS

by Jack Cheng ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 28, 2017

Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious.

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If you made a recording to be heard by the aliens who found the iPod, what would you record?

For 11-year-old Alex Petroski, it's easy. He records everything. He records the story of how he travels to New Mexico to a rocket festival with his dog, Carl Sagan, and his rocket. He records finding out that a man with the same name and birthday as his dead father has an address in Las Vegas. He records eating at Johnny Rockets for the first time with his new friends, who are giving him a ride to find his dead father (who might not be dead!), and losing Carl Sagan in the wilds of Las Vegas, and discovering he has a half sister. He even records his own awful accident. Cheng delivers a sweet, soulful debut novel with a brilliant, refreshing structure. His characters manage to come alive through the “transcript” of Alex’s iPod recording, an odd medium that sounds like it would be confusing but really works. Taking inspiration from the Voyager Golden Record released to space in 1977, Alex, who explains he has “light brown skin,” records all the important moments of a journey that takes him from a family of two to a family of plenty.

Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious. (Fiction. 10-14)

Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2017

ISBN: 978-0-399-18637-0

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Dial Books

Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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THE MANY MASKS OF ANDY ZHOU
by Jack Cheng ; illustrated by Jack Cheng

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THE SCHOOL FOR GOOD AND EVIL

From the School for Good and Evil series , Vol. 1

by Soman Chainani ; illustrated by Iacopo Bruno ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 14, 2013

Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.

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Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.

Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).

Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)