bookshelf

NIGHT GUARD

Name: NIGHT GUARD
Author: Synne Lea
ISBN: 978-0-8028-5458-2

by Synne Lea ; illustrated by Stian Hole ; translated by John Irons ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2016

A quiet, contemplative book that will appeal to introspective children and adults

bookshelf

In a series of poems that together make a whole, a child reflects on life’s imponderables through the shifting seasons.

Imported from Norway, this story of a sensitive child in need of a friend, of just the right dog, and of the reassurance of a stable family will strike a chord with anyone who has wondered if dreams, good or bad, might come true. The stunning, surrealistic artwork recalls Magritte. The illustrations command lingering, from the fanciful cover and dreamlike endpapers to the full-page interior art. The text, which similarly invites repeated readings, taps into the reservoir of fear within all children of what the future may hold and captures the lonely narrator’s contemplation of abandonment. Mom, a cryptic character with her own thwarted dreams, seeks the warmth of summer while recognizing the loneliness of childhood: “If you feel sad, she says, / maybe it’ll help you / to know that the trees notice it. / … / They’d like to creep into / the hollow of your neck / and be comforted by / comforting you.” The book’s square trim size and length—and its elusiveness—suggest that this is for older children.

A quiet, contemplative book that will appeal to introspective children and adults . (Picture book. 7 & up)

Pub Date: April 1, 2016

ISBN: 978-0-8028-5458-2

Page Count: 82

Publisher: Eerdmans

Review Posted Online: Feb. 16, 2016

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2016

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

bookshelf

LITTLE DAYMOND LEARNS TO EARN

by Daymond John ; illustrated by Nicole Miles ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 21, 2023

It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.

bookshelf

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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S CONCEPTS | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES

bookshelf

HOLES

by Louis Sachar ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1998

Good Guys and Bad get just deserts in the end, and Stanley gets plenty of opportunities to display pluck and valor in this...

bookshelf

Sentenced to a brutal juvenile detention camp for a crime he didn't commit, a wimpy teenager turns four generations of bad family luck around in this sunburnt tale of courage, obsession, and buried treasure from Sachar (Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger, 1995, etc.).

Driven mad by the murder of her black beau, a schoolteacher turns on the once-friendly, verdant town of Green Lake, Texas, becomes feared bandit Kissin' Kate Barlow, and dies, laughing, without revealing where she buried her stash. A century of rainless years later, lake and town are memories—but, with the involuntary help of gangs of juvenile offenders, the last descendant of the last residents is still digging. Enter Stanley Yelnats IV, great-grandson of one of Kissin' Kate's victims and the latest to fall to the family curse of being in the wrong place at the wrong time; under the direction of The Warden, a woman with rattlesnake venom polish on her long nails, Stanley and each of his fellow inmates dig a hole a day in the rock-hard lake bed. Weeks of punishing labor later, Stanley digs up a clue, but is canny enough to conceal the information of which hole it came from. Through flashbacks, Sachar weaves a complex net of hidden relationships and well-timed revelations as he puts his slightly larger-than-life characters under a sun so punishing that readers will be reaching for water bottles.

Good Guys and Bad get just deserts in the end, and Stanley gets plenty of opportunities to display pluck and valor in this rugged, engrossing adventure. (Fiction. 9-13)