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
Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious.
If you made a recording to be heard by the aliens who found the iPod, what would you record?
For 11-year-old Alex Petroski, it's easy. He records everything. He records the story of how he travels to New Mexico to a rocket festival with his dog, Carl Sagan, and his rocket. He records finding out that a man with the same name and birthday as his dead father has an address in Las Vegas. He records eating at Johnny Rockets for the first time with his new friends, who are giving him a ride to find his dead father (who might not be dead!), and losing Carl Sagan in the wilds of Las Vegas, and discovering he has a half sister. He even records his own awful accident. Cheng delivers a sweet, soulful debut novel with a brilliant, refreshing structure. His characters manage to come alive through the “transcript” of Alex’s iPod recording, an odd medium that sounds like it would be confusing but really works. Taking inspiration from the Voyager Golden Record released to space in 1977, Alex, who explains he has “light brown skin,” records all the important moments of a journey that takes him from a family of two to a family of plenty.
Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-18637-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
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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