A deeply compassionate exploration of an experience underrepresented in children’s literature but overrepresented in the...
Having a mom in prison presents Ruby with complications and challenges.
Ruby’s most prominent concern is her need to keep the truth about her mom secret. On the cusp of sixth grade, Ruby is becoming discontent with her situation. Until now, Ruby has kept her life compartmentalized, establishing a strong distinction between the “outside world” and her “inside world.” But with middle school looming, Ruby decides a best friend is a necessity. The arrival of new girl Margalit inspires Ruby to attempt a connection with someone from the outside, and she learns that Margalit also struggles in the wake of a family crisis. Despite their different circumstances, both girls cope with the repercussions of events far beyond their control. The joy Ruby expresses in her blossoming friendship with Margalit profoundly demonstrates the isolation she has endured as a result of keeping her inside and outside lives separate. When a startling coincidence compels Ruby to investigate her mother’s history, her discovery has the potential to unravel her fledgling friendship. Writing in Ruby’s voice, Baskin delves into her protagonist’s evolving perceptions as her awareness of her mother’s circumstances deepens. Ruby’s gradual revelation of the truth represents her determined, hopeful progress toward healing and acceptance.
A deeply compassionate exploration of an experience underrepresented in children’s literature but overrepresented in the real world. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: June 16, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4424-8503-7
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: March 2, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2015
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
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A captivating book situated in present-day discourse around the refugee crisis, featuring two boys who stand by their high...
Two parallel stories, one of a Syrian boy from Aleppo fleeing war, and another of a white American boy, son of a NATO contractor, dealing with the challenges of growing up, intersect at a house in Brussels.
Ahmed lost his father while crossing the Mediterranean. Alone and broke in Europe, he takes things into his own hands to get to safety but ends up having to hide in the basement of a residential house. After months of hiding, he is discovered by Max, a boy of similar age and parallel high integrity and courage, who is experiencing his own set of troubles learning a new language, moving to a new country, and being teased at school. In an unexpected turn of events, the two boys and their new friends Farah, a Muslim Belgian girl, and Oscar, a white Belgian boy, successfully scheme for Ahmed to go to school while he remains in hiding the rest of the time. What is at stake for Ahmed is immense, and so is the risk to everyone involved. Marsh invites art and history to motivate her protagonists, drawing parallels to gentiles who protected Jews fleeing Nazi terror and citing present-day political news. This well-crafted and suspenseful novel touches on the topics of refugees and immigrant integration, terrorism, Islam, Islamophobia, and the Syrian war with sensitivity and grace.
A captivating book situated in present-day discourse around the refugee crisis, featuring two boys who stand by their high values in the face of grave risk and succeed in drawing goodwill from others. (Historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Aug. 7, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-250-30757-6
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: June 10, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2018
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