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STEERING TOWARD NORMAL

Name: STEERING TOWARD NORMAL
Author: Rebecca Petruck
ISBN: 978-1-4197-0732-2

by Rebecca Petruck ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 13, 2014

Humor sustains this look at real life in the heartland.

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An eighth-grader rediscovers the importance of family in this debut.

Since being left as a baby on Pop’s doorstep, Diggy Lawson has been content living on a farm in rural Minnesota. He raises steers for competition at the state fair and has surrounded himself with 4-H friends. Diggy has a secret crush on senior 4-H’er July. Everything changes the day fellow eighth-grader Wayne Graf is left at Diggy’s house, dropped off by his drunken father three weeks after his mother’s funeral. As it turns out, Pop is also Wayne’s biological father. While Pop and Wayne negotiate their relationship, Diggy spends time with his steer, Joker, and tries to ignore the changes caused by Wayne’s presence. Then Wayne decides that the best way to escape his mother’s family and the alcoholic Mr. Graf is to raise his own steer and win the $12,000 Grand Champion prize. Once Wayne convinces July that he is serious about competing, he soon has a steer of his own. Diggy is left questioning his relationship with Wayne, his 4-H friends and even his dad. Petruck uses research and her own experience as a former member of 4-H to flesh out the narrative, sometimes letting factual details and livestock lingo overshadow it and its universal themes of family, friendship and acceptance.

Humor sustains this look at real life in the heartland. (author’s note, glossary) (Fiction. 9-13)

Pub Date: May 13, 2014

ISBN: 978-1-4197-0732-2

Page Count: 336

Publisher: Amulet/Abrams

Review Posted Online: March 16, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2014

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

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THE LION OF LARK-HAYES MANOR

by Aubrey Hartman ; illustrated by Christopher Cyr ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 2, 2023

A pleasing premise for book lovers.

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A fantasy-loving bookworm makes a wonderful, terrible bargain.

When sixth grader Poppy Woodlock’s historic preservationist parents move the family to the Oregon coast to work on the titular stately home, Poppy’s sure she’ll find magic. Indeed, the exiled water nymph in the manor’s ruined swimming pool grants a wish, but: “Magic isn’t free. It cosssts.” The price? Poppy’s favorite book, The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe. In return she receives Sampson, a winged lion cub who is everything Poppy could have hoped for. But she soon learns that the nymph didn’t take just her own physical book—she erased Narnia from Poppy’s world. And it’s just the first loss: Soon, Poppy’s grandmother’s journal’s gone, then The Odyssey, and more. The loss is heartbreaking, but Sampson’s a wonderful companion, particularly as Poppy’s finding middle school a tough adjustment. Hartman’s premise is beguiling—plenty of readers will identify with Poppy, both as a fellow bibliophile and as a kid struggling to adapt. Poppy’s repeatedly expressed faith that unveiling Sampson will bring some sort of vindication wears thin, but that does not detract from the central drama. It’s a pity that the named real-world books Poppy reads are notably lacking in diversity; a story about the power of literature so limited in imagination lets both itself and readers down. Main characters are cued White; there is racial diversity in the supporting cast. Chapters open with atmospheric spot art. (This review has been updated to reflect the final illustrations.)

A pleasing premise for book lovers. (Fantasy. 9-12)

Pub Date: May 2, 2023

ISBN: 9780316448222

Page Count: 320

Publisher: Little, Brown

Review Posted Online: Feb. 24, 2023

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2023

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | CHILDREN'S ANIMALS

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CLUES TO THE UNIVERSE

by Christina Li ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 12, 2021

Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.

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An aspiring scientist and a budding artist become friends and help each other with dream projects.

Unfolding in mid-1980s Sacramento, California, this story stars 12-year-olds Rosalind and Benjamin as first-person narrators in alternating chapters. Ro’s father, a fellow space buff, was killed by a drunk driver; the rocket they were working on together lies unfinished in her closet. As for Benji, not only has his best friend, Amir, moved away, but the comic book holding the clue for locating his dad is also missing. Along with their profound personal losses, the protagonists share a fixation with the universe’s intriguing potential: Ro decides to complete the rocket and hopes to launch mementos of her father into outer space while Benji’s conviction that aliens and UFOs are real compels his imagination and creativity as an artist. An accident in science class triggers a chain of events forcing Benji and Ro, who is new to the school, to interact and unintentionally learn each other’s secrets. They resolve to find Benji’s dad—a famous comic-book artist—and partner to finish Ro’s rocket for the science fair. Together, they overcome technical, scheduling, and geographical challenges. Readers will be drawn in by amusing and fantastical elements in the comic book theme, high emotional stakes that arouse sympathy, and well-drawn character development as the protagonists navigate life lessons around grief, patience, self-advocacy, and standing up for others. Ro is biracial (Chinese/White); Benji is White.

Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven. (Fiction. 9-12)