A quietly triumphant tale with a respectful, matter-of-fact regard for the dead.
Alberto, a carpenter who’s buried his entire family, finds rejuvenation in protecting a motherless boy from his abusive father.
Perched above the sea, Allora is beloved by artists and renowned for its peculiar flying fish. Thirty years before, a plague swept the town, sparing few. Instead of furniture, Alberto began crafting coffins, including those for his own wife and children. Now, after burying the reclusive Miss Bonito, Alberto’s food begins going missing. He catches the thief—young Tito Bonito, along with his colorful pet bird, Fia. As boy and bird grow to trust kindly Alberto, Tito becomes his apprentice. Nursing Tito back from a dire illness, Alberto settles him into the children’s room, reading him fantastical tales from The Story of Isola. Through Tito’s perspective, readers learn of the dangerous father that he and Mum fled south to escape. Dreaded Mr. Bonito arrives, aligning with the mayor, to find Tito, leading Alberto, Tito, and magical Fia to enact a daring escape by sea. Woods’ charming narrative evokes a folkloric Mediterranean landscape of jewel-hued dwellings, sparkling water, and colorful, Italian-esque characters (who are default white). Two gossipy sisters wreak havoc, and the vainglorious mayor, as wide as he’s tall, commissions the grandiose casket that serves as the trio’s getaway craft. Isola, the treasure-laden land of their read-aloud, beckons them.
A quietly triumphant tale with a respectful, matter-of-fact regard for the dead. (Fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: May 15, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-525-51521-0
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: March 3, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and...
Catrina narrates the story of her mixed-race (Latino/white) family’s move from Southern California to Bahía de la Luna on the Northern California coast.
Dad has a new job, but it’s little sister Maya’s lungs that motivate the move: she has had cystic fibrosis since birth—a degenerative breathing condition. Despite her health, Maya loves adventure, even if her lungs suffer for it and even when Cat must follow to keep her safe. When Carlos, a tall, brown, and handsome teen Ghost Tour guide introduces the sisters to the Bahía ghosts—most of whom were Spanish-speaking Mexicans when alive—they fascinate Maya and she them, but the terrified Cat wants only to get herself and Maya back to safety. When the ghost adventure leads to Maya’s hospitalization, Cat blames both herself and Carlos, which makes seeing him at school difficult. As Cat awakens to the meaning of Halloween and Day of the Dead in this strange new home, she comes to understand the importance of the ghosts both to herself and to Maya. Telgemeier neatly balances enough issues that a lesser artist would split them into separate stories and delivers as much delight textually as visually. The backmatter includes snippets from Telgemeier’s sketchbook and a photo of her in Día makeup.
Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and unable to put down this compelling tale. (Graphic fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-54061-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
© 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.
