Prejudice can show up anywhere; this smart, rich novel deserves to be read everywhere.
Sixth grade changes Sicily Jordan’s whole world and how she sees herself.
Sicily lives in San Diego with her parents; older brother, Enrique; and paternal grandmother. While she and her mother are darker-skinned Black Panamanians, Sicily’s father; his mother, Abuela Belén; and Enrique are much lighter, yet it’s never been much of an issue before, as they all share and celebrate Panameño heritage. Sicily has a tightknit friend group of Black girls who, due to school zone borders, won’t be going to her new school with her. At Shirley Chisholm Middle, while also working tirelessly on challenging school assignments and friendships, culture and identity become a stressful focus for Sicily. Her classmates find the existence of Afro-Latine people inherently confusing and say so in hurtful ways. Meanwhile at home, Abuela Belén’s deep-seated colorism and racism boil over into hostile interactions with her vulnerable granddaughter. Sicily feels attacked from all angles, and while supportive conversations with close friends and family are heartening, her convictions as a writer like her late Abuelo and a researcher of her own heritage impressively model the ways an ordinary girl—consistently serving fab lip gloss looks—can be an extraordinary self-advocate even when she shouldn’t have to be. The laudable culmination presents all Sicily has learned about herself and Panamanian history and, in doing so, offers a striking learning opportunity for those who struggle with understanding cultural and racial differences.
Prejudice can show up anywhere; this smart, rich novel deserves to be read everywhere. (Fiction. 9-13)Pub Date: Jan. 3, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-06-315960-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 27, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2022
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.
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)Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-300888-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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