Good-hearted sporty fun.
A talented young soccer player leaves the recreational league for a more competitive team and discovers a different sports culture.
Ben Cutler loves playing soccer with his best friend, Jay-Jay Wright, in the Pizza League. Their team, the Anchovies, celebrate their goals with silly dances and enjoy postgame snacks, win or lose. But when Coach Cleary invites Ben to play for the West Harbor Soccer Academy, Ben finds a much more serious and less fun environment. He feels nervous before games and is surprised and confused by the “no joking around in soccer” attitude of both coach and players; charts listing the differences between West Harbor and the Pizza League are featured throughout. “Host-slash-narrator-slash-play-by-play man” Freddy introduces the Good Sports League series and pops up in graphic novel–style illustrations interspersed throughout; many readers will appreciate a break from the text, while some might find the switch between formats jarring. Freddy states the moral up front—sports should be enjoyable—and this fast-paced, heartfelt story bears out the message. The story closes out with fun activities, including an invitation for readers to create their own sporty nicknames, a sports quiz, and space for readers to write down a list of their goals in life. Ben presents white in the dynamic grayscale illustrations, while Jay-Jay is Black, and Freddy appears to be brown-skinned. Secondary characters are diverse.
Good-hearted sporty fun. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: April 11, 2023
ISBN: 9781419763656
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2023
Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and...
Catrina narrates the story of her mixed-race (Latino/white) family’s move from Southern California to Bahía de la Luna on the Northern California coast.
Dad has a new job, but it’s little sister Maya’s lungs that motivate the move: she has had cystic fibrosis since birth—a degenerative breathing condition. Despite her health, Maya loves adventure, even if her lungs suffer for it and even when Cat must follow to keep her safe. When Carlos, a tall, brown, and handsome teen Ghost Tour guide introduces the sisters to the Bahía ghosts—most of whom were Spanish-speaking Mexicans when alive—they fascinate Maya and she them, but the terrified Cat wants only to get herself and Maya back to safety. When the ghost adventure leads to Maya’s hospitalization, Cat blames both herself and Carlos, which makes seeing him at school difficult. As Cat awakens to the meaning of Halloween and Day of the Dead in this strange new home, she comes to understand the importance of the ghosts both to herself and to Maya. Telgemeier neatly balances enough issues that a lesser artist would split them into separate stories and delivers as much delight textually as visually. The backmatter includes snippets from Telgemeier’s sketchbook and a photo of her in Día makeup.
Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and unable to put down this compelling tale. (Graphic fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-54061-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
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
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