A heck of a good read about the bright side of some durn bad luck
An orphaned kid with a biography of misfortune must die to see that home and happiness live in the strangest places.
Gabe is no stranger to death. His parents are dead. His grandfather is dead. And after an unfortunate encounter with a weather vane, so is he. He thinks it’s all a misunderstanding until his uncaring caretaker turns him—and the gaping hole in his abdomen—away. The town echoes her revulsion by revolting against walking-dead Gabe with rocks, fists, and angry cries. His solace in his new, mysterious existence is his unflappably loyal dog and a strange girl (initially resembling an old friend named Niko) who rescues him from the mob. Not-Niko eventually reveals herself as Wynne, a long-dead girl who inherited the role of Death and wants to hand Gabe the baton. It’s a fate Gabe refuses—no matter how much he finds himself enjoying the company of Death. Set in the rural South, the novel has syrup-soaked, rich imagery that’s a sensory delight. Gabe’s voice is distinct, and his countrified vernacular layers heart and humor onto a sensitive premise. And the evolution of his conflict—embracing friendship with Wynne while avoiding the responsibility—reinforces the humanity amid the magic. Gabe is white, as is most of the community. Niko is Bangladeshi (represented only in memory), and Wynne is black; racism is not a driving plot point, but its mention underscores ever present small-minded reality.
A heck of a good read about the bright side of some durn bad luck . (Paranormal adventure. 10-12)Pub Date: Feb. 26, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-338-04274-0
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2018
Cinematic, over-the-top decadence, a tense race against time, and lessons on what’s truly valuable.
A reward of $5,000,000 almost ruins everything for two seventh graders.
On a class trip to New York City, Felix and Benji find a wallet belonging to social media billionaire Laura Friendly. Benji, a well-off, chaotic kid with learning disabilities, swipes $20 from the wallet before they send it back to its owner. Felix, a poor, shy, rule-follower, reluctantly consents. So when Laura Friendly herself arrives to give them a reward for the returned wallet, she’s annoyed. To teach her larcenous helpers a lesson, Laura offers them a deal: a $20,000 college scholarship or slightly over $5 million cash—but with strings attached. The boys must spend all the money in 30 days, with legal stipulations preventing them from giving anything away, investing, or telling anyone about it. The glorious windfall quickly grows to become a chore and then a torment as the boys appear increasingly selfish and irresponsible to the adults in their lives. They rent luxury cars, hire a (wonderful) philosophy undergrad as a chauffeur, take their families to Disney World, and spend thousands on in-app game purchases. Yet, surrounded by hedonistically described piles of loot and filthy lucre, the boys long for simpler fundamentals. The absorbing spending spree reads like a fun family film, gleefully stuffed with the very opulence it warns against. Major characters are White.
Cinematic, over-the-top decadence, a tense race against time, and lessons on what’s truly valuable. (mathematical explanations) (Fiction. 10-12)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-17525-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
A solid debut: fluent, funny and eminently sequel-worthy.
Inventively tweaking a popular premise, Jensen pits two Incredibles-style families with superpowers against each other—until a new challenge rises to unite them.
The Johnsons invariably spit at the mere mention of their hated rivals, the Baileys. Likewise, all Baileys habitually shake their fists when referring to the Johnsons. Having long looked forward to getting a superpower so that he too can battle his clan’s nemeses, Rafter Bailey is devastated when, instead of being able to fly or something else cool, he acquires the “power” to strike a match on soft polyester. But when hated classmate Juanita Johnson turns up newly endowed with a similarly bogus power and, against all family tradition, they compare notes, it becomes clear that something fishy is going on. Both families regard themselves as the heroes and their rivals as the villains. Someone has been inciting them to fight each other. Worse yet, that someone has apparently developed a device that turns real superpowers into silly ones. Teaching themselves on the fly how to get past their prejudice and work together, Rafter, his little brother, Benny, and Juanita follow a well-laid-out chain of clues and deductions to the climactic discovery of a third, genuinely nefarious family, the Joneses, and a fiendishly clever scheme to dispose of all the Baileys and Johnsons at once. Can they carry the day?
A solid debut: fluent, funny and eminently sequel-worthy. (Adventure. 10-12)Pub Date: Jan. 21, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-06-220961-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Nov. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2013
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