A discussion starter for readers who can look past the clunky writing.
In this Swiss import, translated from German, rudimentary color science and a few good friends help the new girl in town end a plague of grayness.
Robin—light-skinned and apparently preadolescent—stares at her new town and realizes that it’s devoid of color. In protest, Robin decides to wear her yellow raincoat everywhere. On her first day of school, that decision lands her in detention, where she meets brown-skinned Alani. They quickly become friends and resolve to resist the status quo. Robin encounters adult resisters who play music—outlawed along with color—and is menaced by a man all in gray. A fearful librarian loans Robin a book about color, inspiring a plan to transform the Gray City for the better. Robin, Alani, and the alienated musicians decide to sabotage a factory responsible for rendering everything gray. Oddly, as color returns, the children receive only a minimal reprimand from the factory managers, and not one citizen counter-protests. Relying more on telling than showing, the extremely short chapters are full of adverbs and awkward turns of phrase—perhaps because of translation issues. Nevertheless, suspense builds with each new scene—and, importantly, readers are treated to outstanding, detailed watercolor illustrations. Despite the somewhat clumsy prose, this story might work as a read-aloud in elementary or middle school classes that are being introduced to color theory; it could also spur conversation about conformity and societal norms.
A discussion starter for readers who can look past the clunky writing. (additional facts about colors) (Fiction. 8-11)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2024
ISBN: 9780735845541
Page Count: 64
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024
Ironically, by choosing such a dramatic catalyst, the author weakens the adventure’s impact overall and leaves readers to...
A group of talking farm animals catches wind of the farm owner’s intention to burn the barn (with them in it) for insurance money and hatches a plan to flee.
Bond begins briskly—within the first 10 pages, barn cat Burdock has overheard Dewey Baxter’s nefarious plan, and by Page 17, all of the farm animals have been introduced and Burdock is sharing the terrifying news. Grady, Dewey’s (ever-so-slightly) more principled brother, refuses to go along, but instead of standing his ground, he simply disappears. This leaves the animals to fend for themselves. They do so by relying on their individual strengths and one another. Their talents and personalities match their species, bringing an element of realism to balance the fantasy elements. However, nothing can truly compensate for the bland horror of the premise. Not the growing sense of family among the animals, the serendipitous intervention of an unknown inhabitant of the barn, nor the convenient discovery of an alternate home. Meanwhile, Bond’s black-and-white drawings, justly compared to those of Garth Williams, amplify the sense of dissonance. Charming vignettes and single- and double-page illustrations create a pastoral world into which the threat of large-scale violence comes as a shock.
Ironically, by choosing such a dramatic catalyst, the author weakens the adventure’s impact overall and leaves readers to ponder the awkward coincidences that propel the plot. (Animal fantasy. 8-10)Pub Date: July 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-544-33217-1
Page Count: 256
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 31, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2015
Medically, both squicky and hopeful; emotionally, unbelievably squeaky-clean.
A 12-year-old copes with a brain tumor.
Maddie likes potatoes and fake mustaches. Kids at school are nice (except one whom readers will see instantly is a bully); soon they’ll get to perform Shakespeare scenes in a unit they’ve all been looking forward to. But recent dysfunctions in Maddie’s arm and leg mean, stunningly, that she has a brain tumor. She has two surgeries, the first successful, the second taking place after the book’s end, leaving readers hanging. The tumor’s not malignant, but it—or the surgeries—could cause sight loss, personality change, or death. The descriptions of surgery aren’t for the faint of heart. The authors—parents of a real-life Maddie who really had a brain tumor—imbue fictional Maddie’s first-person narration with quirky turns of phrase (“For the love of potatoes!”) and whimsy (she imagines her medical battles as epic fantasy fights and pretends MRI stands for Mustard Rat from Indiana or Mustaches Rock Importantly), but they also portray her as a model sick kid. She’s frightened but never acts out, snaps, or resists. Her most frequent commentary about the tumor, having her skull opened, and the possibility of death is “Boo” or “Super boo.” She even shoulders the bully’s redemption. Maddie and most characters are white; one cringe-inducing hallucinatory surgery dream involves “chanting island natives” and a “witch doctor lady.”
Medically, both squicky and hopeful; emotionally, unbelievably squeaky-clean. (authors’ note, discussion questions) (Fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-62972-330-3
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Review Posted Online: Aug. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2017
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