Expectations are upended and bonds are strengthened in this poignant family tale.
Alina navigates an initially rocky relationship with her cousin.
When Alina, who’s Indian Canadian, finds out that cousin Safi is visiting from Kenya, she couldn’t be happier. An only child who’s always longed for a sibling, Alina can’t wait for the two of them to dress alike (“like twinsies”), binge-watch TV, attend soccer camp, and have water balloon fights. But when Safi lands at the Calgary airport, she’s not at all who Alina was expecting. Safi wears eye-catching traditional Indian outfits, talks loudly when the girls visit the library, and throws up after the two ride the merry-go-round. Alina’s always attempted to blend in, and Safi’s blaring difference makes her nervous. Plus, she’s disappointed at Safi’s disinterest in her proposed activities. It’s not until the two girls team up to find Alina’s missing dog, Lux, that she comes to believe a Swahili saying embroidered on one of the gifts Safi brought from Kenya: “When trouble comes, it’s your family that supports you.” Alina and Safi’s relationship rings true, while Alina’s fears of standing out and her efforts to balance her Indian and Canadian heritage feel relatable, given her past experiences with bullying. The incidents leading up to the final resolution are a bit unevenly paced, though the story’s beginning and resolution flow beautifully. Mistry’s simple black-and-white cartoon artwork breaks up the text.
Expectations are upended and bonds are strengthened in this poignant family tale. (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2024
ISBN: 9781772603903
Page Count: 110
Publisher: Second Story Press
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode.
A long-running series reaches its closing chapters.
Having, as Kline notes in her warm valedictory acknowledgements, taken 30 years to get through second and third grade, Harry Spooger is overdue to move on—but not just into fourth grade, it turns out, as his family is moving to another town as soon as the school year ends. The news leaves his best friend, narrator “Dougo,” devastated…particularly as Harry doesn’t seem all that fussed about it. With series fans in mind, the author takes Harry through a sort of last-day-of-school farewell tour. From his desk he pulls a burned hot dog and other items that featured in past episodes, says goodbye to Song Lee and other classmates, and even (for the first time ever) leads Doug and readers into his house and memento-strewn room for further reminiscing. Of course, Harry isn’t as blasé about the move as he pretends, and eyes aren’t exactly dry when he departs. But hardly is he out of sight before Doug is meeting Mohammad, a new neighbor from Syria who (along with further diversifying a cast that began as mostly white but has become increasingly multiethnic over the years) will also be starting fourth grade at summer’s end, and planning a written account of his “horrible” buddy’s exploits. Finished illustrations not seen.
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Nov. 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-451-47963-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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