Ted and Nory Solomon's parents decide to split up, and harrowingly can't agree which of them should move out—while, less convincingly, the close, mutually supportive relationship between Ted and Nory, 13 and 16, also seems to Ted to be crumbling. "The Solomon system," a neighbor's tag for that relationship, also has the Biblical link that you might suspect—involving one of those picturesque/wise Jewish grandmothers who are fast becoming a staple of juvenile fiction. The story: on the eve of leaving for camp, Ted and Nory learn that their mother intends to bring an end to family quarrels and silences by calling for a divorce; at camp, anxiously waiting for the shoe to drop, extrovert Ted finds introvert Nory not only uncommunicative, but actively pulling away from him (there's some rivalry about a girl, as well as lots of camp hijinks); when word does come, Nory erupts—"They're going to dump the decision on us. We decide who goes and who stays. The hell with that!" Ted plans survival-in-the-woods; Nory proceeds "to shut that little door in his head again." Faced with the boys' refusal to decide, their parents fight for days, then decide to split Ted and Nory up. Now comes Grandma Rose's talk about Solomon; Nory's swing-into-action—joint action; Ted's reproach to his parents ("We're a team. . . . Just because you aren't a team any more, don't try to split us up"); and the differently Solomonic decision that the parents will jointly rent an apartment, and take turns living there and in the house. That decision can be argued, and so can Naylor's over-weighting of the boys' relationship. (At 13 and 16, in a big house, why are they sharing a room? How many camps would put them in the same bunk? Etcetera.) But the teen-sibling angle on divorce comes across forcibly.
Pub Date: Sept. 9, 1983
ISBN: 068971128X
Page Count: 210
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1983
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 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.
