In turns adroitly funny and heartbreakingly sad but ultimately inspiring.
Four seventh graders go on an adventure to save what they think may be the last bullfrog in Maine.
It is the mid-to-late 21st century, and climate change has suffocated the town of Blue Harbor, Maine. The ocean is toxic, the sun is scalding, and the natural world is decimated. When Leroy Varney, paddling a canoe he made for a school project, stumbles across a live lobster in a stream on an island near the town, he brings it back to try to save it, but it is taken away by the Environmental Police Force—an inept government agency tasked with “PROTECTING THE WORLD FROM YOU; PROTECTING YOU FROM THE WORLD.” Friends Jonathan “Ahab” Goldstein (who is the first-person narrator), Delphinium “Delph” Perez, and Davy Hudson convince Leroy to paddle them out to the island to see if anything else is alive. When they find a solitary bullfrog, they decide to take matters into their own hands, leading them into more adventure than they’ve ever had in their lives. Along the way they experience a less-decimated natural world and learn about the power of friendship, trust, and, most importantly, hope. Add to this solid theme occasional social irony and the story sparkles like a gem. Davy is cued as Black and Delph as Latinx; other main characters default to White.
In turns adroitly funny and heartbreakingly sad but ultimately inspiring. (Fiction. 8-13)Pub Date: May 18, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-56561-4
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
A warm bundle of holiday cheer.
In a funny, feel-good tale, 12-year-old twins separated at birth meet by chance and try to pull off a family switch during the December holidays.
The girls, who are cued white, agree that it would be a delicious prank, but each has a personal motive, too: Aviva Davis, who was adopted by a culturally Jewish mom and a Black dad who was raised Christian, wonders what it’s like to celebrate Christmas. Budding author Holly Martin, who was adopted by a white-presenting single mom, sees a golden opportunity to gather experiences for a school writing assignment about facing her fears. In a plot as sweet as a Hanukkah jelly doughnut and twisty as a Christmas cinnamon roll, the pair just manages to bail one another out of a string of sticky situations—both hilarious and otherwise. They both learn something of the customs and meaning of the two holidays while working through tears and laughter—not to mention conflicts sparked by their very different personalities. Everything culminates in a holiday performance at a local senior center that will have readers rising up to cheer them on. Though their history remains tantalizingly mysterious, for the protagonists, who narrate alternating chapters, it’s mission accomplished and more: Aviva emerges feeling more secure in her Jewish identity, while anxious Holly discovers unexpected depths of courage.
A warm bundle of holiday cheer. (song lyrics) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 29, 2024
ISBN: 9781250360670
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
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)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
