A pure turkey shoot, though “National Geographic wants you to know what explorers know, what makes them successful.” That...
A debatable selection of items to master before you grow up—meaning, perhaps, freshman year of high school.
This collection is a strictly hit-or-miss affair from a variety of angles: good point, good explanation; good point, bad explanation; pointless point, explanation irrelevant. Taking everything from personal attitude to skills to knowledge into account, sometimes the item and the accompanying instructions are smack on: how to field criticism, do your laundry, learn to say no (“Don’t offer too much explanation” and “You can always say ‘thanks for asking’ ”); what to do if someone is choking (best tip here: “take a first aid or CPR course”); how to make your bed and load a dishwasher and defeat a mosquito bite (not all at once). But advice like “balance is something you can improve upon with practice” or “your journal is completely up to you” is meaningless, as, arguably, are the quaint tips on map-reading and how to write a check (why not how to treat a black mamba bite or, maybe, raise a roof beam, which are just about as likely to arise?), and then there is the questionable: “If you are biting your nails when you’re watching TV, try chewing gum.”
A pure turkey shoot, though “National Geographic wants you to know what explorers know, what makes them successful.” That must have been educational TV and sugarless gum. (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: March 8, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4263-2316-4
Page Count: 256
Publisher: National Geographic Kids
Review Posted Online: Jan. 8, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A few mild chills but bland and generic fare overall.
Supernatural talk and tales from a Newfoundland poet and lifelong resident.
Being more “talk” than “tales,” the nine episodes are mostly reminiscences in which narrators of both sexes recall hearing about the encounters of others with eldritch folk in spooky settings, including a headless ghost, a changeling in their baby’s crib, flickering “corpse candles” in a graveyard, or in some cases just scary spots in the woods. Though Dawe supplies source notes with further anecdotes, it’s not clear whether he’s actually recording stories he heard or spinning fragmentary memories and standard folkloric motifs into fictive creations. In either case, despite atmospheric language and Tomova’s dark and eerie linocut illustrations, readers are likely to feel distanced by the second- (or third-) hand narratives. Nor, though the author often refers to real locales, is there much beyond a vaguely Celtic air to give the tales a flavorsome sense of specific place or culture. There is no sign of racial or ethnic diversity in either pictures or text.
A few mild chills but bland and generic fare overall. (glossary) (Folkloric short stories. 8-11)Pub Date: Oct. 20, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-927917-13-8
Page Count: 60
Publisher: Running the Goat
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2017
An excellent addition to the “growing-up” shelf.
A medical doctor and a registered nurse answer questions about puberty collected over years of experience conducting classes for young people and their parents or trusted adults.
Questions about body changes; feelings; friendships and relationships; sex, sexuality, and gender identity; and babies reflect preteen concerns, are loosely organized by subject, and are answered honestly and informatively. The dos-à-dos format (girls’ queries on one side, boys’ on the other) has the advantage of allowing readers to concentrate on their own issues but also to explore the ways others think. The authors have specialized in adolescent health care for over 30 years; their understanding of and sympathy with the age group are evident. Often the answers include gentle reminders that families and cultures differ; the young readers should also be consulting parents or trusted adults—there are even helpful suggestions for how and when to approach sensitive subjects. This revision of a 2012 title includes many of the original questions and sensible answers but has been expanded to reflect today’s changing attitudes and understandings about gender fluidity. Young people with a range of hairstyles and skin tones are shown engaged in various activities—alone, with one another, and with adults. The design, helpful diagrams, and occasional appealing illustrations have not changed significantly, but the new information will make this a sensible purchase even for those who own the first edition.
An excellent addition to the “growing-up” shelf. (Nonfiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 21, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-63217-179-5
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Little Bigfoot/Sasquatch
Review Posted Online: May 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2018
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