An outstanding exploration of childhood trauma from a masterful author.
When Ben was just 3, his mother abandoned him and his father.
Now the boy is to spend a week with her on an extremely isolated island in a lake on the Minnesota-Canada border. Fortunately, he has his golden-red dog, Sunshine, to accompany him. His pragmatic dad says he’s far too old for an imaginary pet, but Sunshine is what keeps this “what-if kid,” as his father calls him, safe. She pushes his fears down as Ben and his mother paddle across one lake and then another to reach her cabin. Although Sunshine attacks a bear and her cub that his mom takes them to see, they come through the danger unscathed. It’s only after he takes the canoe and nearly fails to paddle back against a driving wind that he recognizes Sunshine’s shortcomings. Without the dog’s support, he finally confronts his mother about what he believes he did to drive her away when he was a toddler. Then he learns the crushing truth: that, after the damage of her own abusive upbringing, she feared she would hurt him. A terrifying fire on the island forces him to courageously help his mother and eventually come to grips with both her flaws and his. Richly character driven, immersive, evocative, and painfully sad, this effort can’t fail to move young readers. Ben and his family seem to be White.
An outstanding exploration of childhood trauma from a masterful author. (Fiction. 8-11)Pub Date: May 18, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5362-1411-6
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: March 30, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
File under “laugh riot.”
A rogue spell-check program’s bid to transform all life-forms into that eminently useful office item, the paper clip, touches off a fresh round of lunar lunacy.
Predicated on the entirely reasonable premise that eliminating all spelling and grammar errors everywhere would logically lead to the necessity of exterminating carbon-based life in the universe, this third series entry combines high stakes with daffy banter and daring exploits. CheckMate—a chipper, jumped-up editing program—has invented the Transmogratron, a giant laser that will fulfill its ultimate goals in both the cyber world and “meatspace.” Facing challenges as random as prankster lunar unicorns and a disarmingly motherly Motherboard, scowling First Cat joins a motley crew of diversely carbon- and silicon-based allies, led by the pearlescent Queen of the Moon. They’re in a race to the finish—diverted occasionally by, for instance, a relentlessly punny comic-book interlude featuring a pair of literal and figurative Pool Sharks. They ultimately triumph thanks to teamwork and moxie. Following a celebratory party and toasts to “new friends…and steadfast comrades” (and, of course, “MEOW”), the story’s energetic, brightly colored panels close with a reveal of the next volume. (“I always hate it when comics end by announcing a sequel. SO CRINGE!” declares an authorial stand-in.) It can’t come too soon.
File under “laugh riot.” (Graphic science fiction. 8-11)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2024
ISBN: 9780063315280
Page Count: 272
Publisher: HarperAlley
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A dramatic, educational, authentic whale of a tale.
After a tsunami devastates their habitat in the Salish Sea, a young orca and her brother embark on a remarkable adventure.
Vega’s matriarchal family expects her to become a hunter and wayfinder, with her younger brother, Deneb, protecting and supporting her. Invited to guide her family to their Gathering Place to hunt salmon, Vega’s underwater miscalculations endanger them all, and an embarrassed Vega questions whether she should be a wayfinder. When the baby sister she hoped would become her life companion is stillborn, a distraught Vega carries the baby away to a special resting place, shocking her grieving family. Dispatched to find his missing sister, Deneb locates Vega in the midst of a terrible tsunami. To escape the waters polluted by shattered boats, Vega leads Deneb into unfamiliar open sea. Alone and hungry, the young siblings encounter a spectacular giant whale and travel briefly with shark-hunting orcas. Trusting her instincts and gaining emotional strength from contemplating the vastness of the sky, Vega knows she must lead her brother home and help save her surviving family. In alternating first-person voices, Vega and Deneb tell their harrowing story, engaging young readers while educating them about the marine ecosystem. Realistic black-and-white illustrations enhance the maritime setting.
A dramatic, educational, authentic whale of a tale. (maps, wildlife facts, tribes of the Salish Sea watershed, environmental and geographical information, how to help orcas, author’s note, artist’s note, resources) (Animal fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-299592-6
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
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