An overweight boy transforms his fantasy of TV stardom into a formula for success in this poignant, affirming novel from Shreve (The Formerly Great Alexander Family, 1995, etc.). When his mother’s boyfriend, Thomas, walks out on their family, 11-year-old Jonah barely has time to react before they move to a more affordable apartment. Feeling empty inside, missing his “almost-father,” he overeats, and soon none of his three pairs of pants fits comfortably. But there’s no money for new pants; Jonah’s mother works two low-paying jobs to support him and his baby brother. When he is dubbed “Jonah the Whale” at his new school, rather than let the insult fester, Jonah turns the image into an unlikely symbol of empowerment: He imagines himself sitting inside a whale on the set of a new talk show exclusively for kids. While his grades and classwork suffer, Jonah methodically develops the idea for his show, selecting his first guests, choosing his questions, and even taping an imaginary interview with basketball star Michael Jordan. Some playground bragging forces Jonah to prove that he really talked to Jordan, and through the boy’s initiative—and Jordan’s kindness—Jonah succeeds. In fact, his first interviews are so impressive that he eventually winds up with his own television show, just as he dreamed. His other dream, that Jonah’s mother and boyfriend reconcile, is also realized, the one false note in an uplifting tale with an unpredictable plot and a sympathetic, likable hero. (Fiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: May 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-590-37133-9
Page Count: 110
Publisher: Levine/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1998
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
Though it lacks nuance, still a must-read.
Tyler is the son of generations of Vermont dairy farmers.
Mari is the Mexican-born daughter of undocumented migrant laborers whose mother has vanished in a perilous border crossing. When Tyler’s father is disabled in an accident, the only way the family can afford to keep the farm is by hiring Mari’s family. As Tyler and Mari’s friendship grows, the normal tensions of middle-school boy-girl friendships are complicated by philosophical and political truths. Tyler wonders how he can be a patriot while his family breaks the law. Mari worries about her vanished mother and lives in fear that she will be separated from her American-born sisters if la migra comes. Unashamedly didactic, Alvarez’s novel effectively complicates simple equivalencies between what’s illegal and what’s wrong. Mari’s experience is harrowing, with implied atrocities and immigration raids, but equally full of good people doing the best they can. The two children find hope despite the unhappily realistic conclusions to their troubles, in a story which sees the best in humanity alongside grim realities.
Though it lacks nuance, still a must-read. (Fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-375-85838-3
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2008
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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