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MARVELOUS JACKSON

A charming story of perseverance, family bonds, and the transformative power of food preparation.

Awards & Accolades

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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

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JAKE THE FAKE KEEPS IT REAL

From the Jake the Fake series , Vol. 1

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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WORDS WITH WINGS

An inspirational exploration of caring among parent, teacher and child—one of Grimes’ best. (Poetry. 8-12)

In this delightfully spare narrative in verse, Coretta Scott King Award–winning Grimes examines a marriage’s end from the perspective of a child.

Set mostly in the wake of her father’s departure, only-child Gabby reveals with moving clarity in these short first-person poems the hardship she faces relocating with her mother and negotiating the further loss of a good friend while trying to adjust to a new school. Gabby has always been something of a dreamer, but when she begins study in her new class, she finds her thoughts straying even more. She admits: “Some words / sit still on the page / holding a story steady. / … / But other words have wings / that wake my daydreams. / They … / tickle my imagination, / and carry my thoughts away.” To illustrate Gabby’s inner wanderings, Grimes’ narrative breaks from the present into episodic bursts of vivid poetic reminiscence. Luckily, Gabby’s new teacher recognizes this inability to focus to be a coping mechanism and devises a daily activity designed to harness daydreaming’s creativity with a remarkably positive result for both Gabby and the entire class. Throughout this finely wrought narrative, Grimes’ free verse is tight, with perfect breaks of line and effortless shifts from reality to dream states and back.

An inspirational exploration of caring among parent, teacher and child—one of Grimes’ best. (Poetry. 8-12)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2013

ISBN: 978-1-59078-985-8

Page Count: 96

Publisher: Wordsong/Boyds Mills

Review Posted Online: July 16, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2013

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