A messy, funny, neurodivergent ode to finding your voice and owning your differences.
Uncertain stars find their spotlights one step at a time.
Clay and Kyle are used to operating behind the scenes in their middle school’s drama club. Their creative ambitions snowball from a comedic spring musical audition to performing improv at a local open mic to co-hosting their own podcast. Having the support of their moms and Lettie, the manager of the cafe and local venue above which they live, is a major help. Joking with one another about their neurodivergence is another (Kyle is autistic; Clay has ADHD). During the course of these entertaining antics, Clay crosses paths with musically talented classmate and instant crush, Dania. The anxieties and triumphs of live performance give each of them room to stress as well as shine. Clay’s romantic and aspirational self-doubts become great lessons in self-kindness. Clay is as bold and expressive as her blond mohawk, even if she gets distracted sometimes, while Kyle’s lavender curtain of hair betrays his calmer but just as creative personality. Combined with Dania’s talent for audio production, these eighth graders can take over streaming and bring down any house. Their authentic banter and earnest enthusiasm will turn readers into would-be subscribers to their show. The fluid, animated illustrations emphasize the characters’ facial expressions, and the pastel color palette is fresh and engaging. Clay, Kyle, and their moms read white; Dania and Lettie present Black.
A messy, funny, neurodivergent ode to finding your voice and owning your differences. (author’s note) (Graphic fiction. 9-13)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2024
ISBN: 9780316538930
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Little, Brown Ink
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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
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BOOK TO SCREEN
An emotional, much-needed historical graphic novel.
Sandy and his family, Japanese Canadians, experience hatred and incarceration during World War II.
Sandy Saito loves baseball, and the Vancouver Asahi ballplayers are his heroes. But when they lose in the 1941 semifinals, Sandy’s dad calls it a bad omen. Sure enough, in December 1941, Japan bombs Pearl Harbor in the U.S. The Canadian government begins to ban Japanese people from certain areas, moving them to “dormitories” and setting a curfew. Sandy wants to spend time with his father, but as a doctor, his dad is busy, often sneaking out past curfew to work. One night Papa is taken to “where he [is] needed most,” and the family is forced into an internment camp. Life at the camp isn’t easy, and even with some of the Asahi players playing ball there, it just isn’t the same. Trying to understand and find joy again, Sandy struggles with his new reality and relationship with his father. Based on the true experiences of Japanese Canadians and the Vancouver Asahi team, this graphic novel is a glimpse of how their lives were affected by WWII. The end is a bit abrupt, but it’s still an inspiring and sweet look at how baseball helped them through hardship. The illustrations are all in a sepia tone, giving it an antique look and conveying the emotions and struggles. None of the illustrations of their experiences are overly graphic, making it a good introduction to this upsetting topic for middle-grade readers.
An emotional, much-needed historical graphic novel. (afterword, further resources) (Graphic historical fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5253-0334-0
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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BOOK REVIEW
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