A noteworthy debut.
A precocious 12-year-old spends the summer trying to save her furry companion.
Mira “Miranium” Williams, future astronaut and astrophysicist, already felt like her family was living on the edge of a black hole after her father became unemployed, causing her mom to spend less time doing community theater and more time at her accountant job. Worse, her best friend, Thomas, moved from Orlando to Washington, D.C., and her nemesis, Tamika, has moved into his old house. Luckily, she still has Sir Fig Newton, her best feline friend. Concerned that Fig has become lethargic, is eating less, and has sweet-smelling breath, Mira researches and concludes that he has diabetes, known as the silent cat killer. Unfortunately, they can’t afford to treat Fig, and the only way to avoid her parents’ plan to give him up for adoption is to raise $2,000 for treatments within a month. With help from an unlikely source, Mira finds a way to save her cat and keep everyone’s spirits up. Thomas’ debut will pull at readers’ heartstrings. Mira displays tremendous spirit as she continually advocates for her beloved cat. As well as being heartwarming, this well-paced novel also contains numerous interesting facts about famous scientists that will make readers just as excited about science as Mira. Mira is biracial, with a Black father and White mother; Thomas is White, and Tamika is Black.
A noteworthy debut. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: March 22, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-5344-8492-4
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
PERSPECTIVES
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
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