A charming story of perseverance, family bonds, and the transformative power of food preparation.
In Bird’s middle-grade novel, a troubled seventh grader tries to turn his life around by taking up baking.
Northern Wisconsin resident Jackson Jefferson “Jack” Wilson, who was named after three U.S. presidents, has had a rough year-and-a-half. Since his mother's death, he’s been playing a game to see how much trouble he can get away with at school, so he can “feel like a winner at something.” When he gets into a tussle with another student and accidentally knocks his tooth out, he’s suspended for the second time; a third will mean expulsion. His father, Norm, wants him to clean up his act at home, and he encourages him to find a hobby—something positive toward which he can direct his energy. After watching The Marvelous Midwest Kids Baking Championship on TV, Jack is reminded of how often his mother used to bake and decides to give it a try himself. He sticks with it, using his mom’s old cookbook and other recipes from the library where she used to work. Soon, he decides to try to get on a future season of the show. Meanwhile, Norm is engaged in his own cooking competition, preparing for an upcoming competition with local restaurants involving chicken nuggets (or, as repeated endlessly in the book, nuggies). As both Jack and Norm work, occasionally joining forces to gather “nuggie intel,” the two start to repair their relationship. Over the course of this book, Bird does an excellent job of balancing the narrative with short chapters that alternate between present action, reflections on the past, and rising tension as the twin contests approach. Set in the authentic-feeling small town of Alwyn, Wisconsin, the story also boasts a pleasing regional specificity that’s often missing from many current middle-grade books: “Almost everybody here hunts and goes fishing, but I’m not into that kind of stuff. I don’t love being outside, and I’ve got bad aim.” Young readers will find themselves rooting for Jack to succeed, particularly as he faces increasing obstacles in the second half.
A charming story of perseverance, family bonds, and the transformative power of food preparation.Pub Date: Sept. 10, 2024
ISBN: 9781645386919
Page Count: 268
Publisher: Orange Hat Publishing
Review Posted Online: June 5, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.
In Florence’s middle-grade fantasy novel, a young girl’s heart is tested in the face of an evil, spreading Darkness.
Eleven-year-old Lydia, “freckle-cheeked and round-eyed, with hair the color of pine bark and fair skin,” is struggling with the knowledge that she has reached the age to apprentice as an herbalist. Lydia is reluctant to leave her beloved, magical Mulberry Glen and her cozy Housetree in the woods—she’ll miss Garder, the Glen’s respected philosopher; her fairy guardian Pit; her human friend Livy; and even the mischievous part-elf, part-imp, part-human twins Zale and Zamilla. But the twins go missing after hearing of a soul-sapping Darkness that has swallowed a forest and is creeping into minds and engulfing entire towns. They have secretly left to find a rare fruit that, it is said, will stop the Darkness if thrown into the heart of the mountain that rises out of the lethal forest. Lydia follows, determined to find the twins before they, too, fall victim to the Darkness. During her journey, accompanied by new friends, she gradually realizes that she herself has a dangerous role to play in the quest to stop the Darkness. In this well-crafted fantasy, Florence skillfully equates the physical manifestation of Darkness with the feelings of insecurity and powerlessness that Lydia first struggles with when thinking of leaving the Glen. Such negative thoughts grow more intrusive the closer she and her friends come to the Darkness—and to Lydia’s ultimate, powerfully rendered test of character, which leads to a satisfyingly realistic, not quite happily-ever-after ending. Highlights include a delightfully haunting, reality-shifting library and a deft sprinkling of Latin throughout the text; Pit’s pet name for Lydia is mea flosculus (“my little flower”). Fine-lined ink drawings introducing each chapter add a pleasing visual element to this well-grounded fairy tale.
An absorbing fantasy centered on a resilient female protagonist facing growth, change, and self-empowerment.Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781956393095
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Waxwing Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A fast and funny alternative to the Wimpy Kid.
Black sixth-grader Jake Liston can only play one song on the piano. He can’t read music very well, and he can’t improvise. So how did Jake get accepted to the Music and Art Academy? He faked it.
Alongside an eclectic group of academy classmates, and with advice from his best friend, Jake tries to fit in at a school where things like garbage sculpting and writing art reviews of bird poop splatter are the norm. All is well until Jake discovers that the end-of-the-semester talent show is only two weeks away, and Jake is short one very important thing…talent. Or is he? It’s up to Jake to either find the talent that lies within or embarrass himself in front of the entire school. Light and humorous, with Knight’s illustrations adding to the fun, Jake’s story will likely appeal to many middle-grade readers, especially those who might otherwise be reluctant to pick up a book. While the artsy antics may be over-the-top at times, this is a story about something that most preteens can relate to: the struggle to find your authentic self. And in a world filled with books about wanting to fit in with the athletically gifted supercliques, this novel unabashedly celebrates the artsy crowd in all of its quirky, creative glory.
A fast and funny alternative to the Wimpy Kid. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: March 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-553-52351-5
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Dec. 5, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2016
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