A tale of friendship that is funny, dramatic, and teaches the best kinds of lessons.
A new friendship flourishes even as a hit-and-run accident threatens to pull it apart in Stewart’s book for young readers.
Fifth-grader Scarlet Burnes is in the car with her father, who has already had a few run-ins with the law, when he hits a bicyclist and drives off, threatening Scarlet and swearing her to secrecy. A couple of days later, as school starts, Scarlet meets Caitlin “Cricket” Cooper, a new student, and they become fast friends. The girls come from different worlds—Cricket is from an upper-class family with a loving mother and father, while lower-class Scarlet has a caring mother but also an out-of-work father who is abusive when he drinks. Soon, Scarlet finds out it’s Cricket’s brother, Malcolm, who her father hit, and Scarlet continues to keep her father’s secret throughout much of the story. Scarlet and Cricket befriend Henry, the school bully. Everything comes to a head on the night of a school project when Scarlet gives a speech about the poet Maya Angelou: “Whenever Maya asked her Arkansas grandma for guidance or to help her with a problem, she’d always tell Maya to do the right thing. And that turned into advice that Maya lived by her whole life,” Scarlet says. Will Scarlet do the right thing? Stewart has created a memorable and spunky main character in the young, redheaded Scarlet Burnes. A former grade school teacher, the author strikes a great balance between the joyous story of Scarlet and Cricket discovering their friendship and the more serious subjects of bullying, lying, and covering up a crime. (There are many lessons imparted by the narrative, but none of them come off as condescending.) Stewart’s pacing is pitch-perfect as the book switches back and forth between the two girls acting like young kids and the horrendous crime at the center of the story. Young readers will most likely revel in the drama, rooting for Scarlet and Cricket all along the way. This is a charming book—here’s hoping it’s only the beginning of Scarlet’s and Cricket’s adventures together.
A tale of friendship that is funny, dramatic, and teaches the best kinds of lessons.Pub Date: June 9, 2024
ISBN: 9781957656663
Page Count: 186
Publisher: Monarch Educational Services, L.L.C.
Review Posted Online: Sept. 30, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
After Castro’s takeover, nine-year-old Julian and his older brothers are sent away by their fearful parents via “Operation Pedro Pan” to a camp in Miami for Cuban-exile children. Here he discovers that a ruthless bully has essentially been put in charge. Julian is quicker-witted than his brothers or anyone else ever imagined, though, and with his inherent smarts, developing maturity and the help of child and adult friends, he learns to navigate the dynamics of the camp and surroundings and grows from the former baby of the family to independence and self-confidence. A daring rescue mission at the end of the novel will have readers rooting for Julian even as it opens his family’s eyes to his courage and resourcefulness. This autobiographical novel is a well-meaning, fast-paced and often exciting read, though at times the writing feels choppy. It will introduce readers to a not-so-distant period whose echoes are still felt today and inspire admiration for young people who had to be brave despite frightening and lonely odds. (Historical fiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-59643-168-3
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: June 14, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
This can’t be the last we ever hear of the Legendary Alston Boys of the purely surreal Logan County—imaginative,...
Can this really be the first time readers meet the Legendary Alston Boys of Logan County? Cousins and veteran sleuths Otto and Sheed Alston show us that we are the ones who are late to their greatness.
These two black boys are coming to terms with the end of their brave, heroic summer at Grandma’s, with a return to school just right around the corner. They’ve already got two keys to the city, but the rival Epic Ellisons—twin sisters Wiki and Leen—are steadily gaining celebrity across Logan County, Virginia, and have in hand their third key to the city. No way summer can end like this! These young people are powerful, courageous, experienced adventurers molded through their heroic commitment to discipline and deduction. They’ve got their shared, lifesaving maneuvers committed to memory (printed in a helpful appendix) and ready to save any day. Save the day they must, as a mysterious, bendy gentleman and an oversized, clingy platypus have been unleashed on the city of Fry, and all the residents and their belongings seem to be frozen in time and place. Will they be able to solve this one? With total mastery, Giles creates in Logan County an exuberant vortex of weirdness, where the commonplace sits cheek by jowl with the utterly fantastic, and populates it with memorable characters who more than live up to their setting.
This can’t be the last we ever hear of the Legendary Alston Boys of the purely surreal Logan County—imaginative, thrill-seeking readers, this is a series to look out for. (Fantasy. 10-12)Pub Date: April 2, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-328-46083-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Versify/HMH
Review Posted Online: Jan. 14, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2019
PERSPECTIVES
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