In the end, this is another white kid’s story about the civil rights era, but it’s notable for its illustration of how...
When Trip Westbrook asks Dee, the son of his family’s maid, to play football in his yard, he does not know what he’s starting.
Jackson, Mississippi, in 1964 is in the middle of the civil rights struggle, and the sight of a black youngster playing ball with whites is seen as a threat to the status quo. In his 12 years, Trip has seen only the good side of his neighbors and his grandparents, but now he is forced to face their prejudice. One exception is his father, a doctor who thinks the family should relocate to avoid the segregation that dictates separate waiting rooms for patients. When Trip tries to get Dee served at the country club restaurant, he draws angry attention, and Dee accuses him of using him to prove a point. The situation just keeps escalating. Kitchings maintains a light tone despite the seriousness of the subject. Narrator Trip is believable as a sheltered boy on the cusp of adolescence. Dee and his mother are only somewhat fleshed-out given readers see them only through Trip’s eyes. The story does not sugarcoat the ugliness, even in church. An author’s note explains the use of terminology from the period, including offensive racial slurs, an important addition given the story’s target audience.
In the end, this is another white kid’s story about the civil rights era, but it’s notable for its illustration of how resistance to change affected whites as well as African-Americans . (Historical fiction. 10-12)Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-553-50753-9
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Wendy Lamb/Random
Review Posted Online: June 9, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2015
On equal footing with a garden-variety potato.
The new kid in school endures becoming the school mascot.
Ben Hardy has never cared for potatoes, and this distaste has become a barrier to adjusting to life in his new Idaho town. His school’s mascot is the Spud, and after a series of misfortunes, Ben is enlisted to don the potato costume and cheer on his school’s team. Ben balances his duties as a life-sized potato against his desperate desire to hide the fact that he’s the dork in the suit. After all, his cute new crush, Jayla, wouldn’t be too impressed to discover Ben’s secret. The ensuing novel is a fairly boilerplate middle–grade narrative: snarky tween protagonist, the crush that isn’t quite what she seems, and a pair of best friends that have more going on than our hero initially believes. The author keeps the novel moving quickly, pushing forward with witty asides and narrative momentum so fast that readers won’t really mind that the plot’s spine is one they’ve encountered many times before. Once finished, readers will feel little resonance and move on to the next book in their to-read piles, but in the moment the novel is pleasant enough. Ben, Jayla, and Ben’s friend Hunter are white while Ellie, Ben’s other good pal, is Latina.
On equal footing with a garden-variety potato. (Fiction. 10-12)Pub Date: March 24, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-593-11866-5
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
A solid debut: fluent, funny and eminently sequel-worthy.
Inventively tweaking a popular premise, Jensen pits two Incredibles-style families with superpowers against each other—until a new challenge rises to unite them.
The Johnsons invariably spit at the mere mention of their hated rivals, the Baileys. Likewise, all Baileys habitually shake their fists when referring to the Johnsons. Having long looked forward to getting a superpower so that he too can battle his clan’s nemeses, Rafter Bailey is devastated when, instead of being able to fly or something else cool, he acquires the “power” to strike a match on soft polyester. But when hated classmate Juanita Johnson turns up newly endowed with a similarly bogus power and, against all family tradition, they compare notes, it becomes clear that something fishy is going on. Both families regard themselves as the heroes and their rivals as the villains. Someone has been inciting them to fight each other. Worse yet, that someone has apparently developed a device that turns real superpowers into silly ones. Teaching themselves on the fly how to get past their prejudice and work together, Rafter, his little brother, Benny, and Juanita follow a well-laid-out chain of clues and deductions to the climactic discovery of a third, genuinely nefarious family, the Joneses, and a fiendishly clever scheme to dispose of all the Baileys and Johnsons at once. Can they carry the day?
A solid debut: fluent, funny and eminently sequel-worthy. (Adventure. 10-12)Pub Date: Jan. 21, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-06-220961-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Nov. 1, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
