An overly moralistic tone weighs down the appeal of this volume.
A self-centered mummy learns a tough lesson.
This second volume of the Monster High School Spirits series follows image-obsessed mummy Cleo de Nile, who divides her time between making videos for EekTok and scheming how to catch her jet-setting parents’ attention. Cleo begins to plan HumanCon, a convention in which monsters will celebrate and learn about all things human. As her plans grow more grandiose, she stumbles upon an item she thinks would be the perfect prize for the con’s costume contest; after she steals it, however, she quickly learns that the object has cursed her. Now Cleo is moving in a trancelike way, helping everyone around her whether she wants to or not. It gets to the point where she eschews sleep and food, despite being hungry and exhausted. Can Cleo figure out how to break the curse before it’s too late? Based on the Nickelodeon show, Cuevas’ work falls solidly in line with the tone and pacing of 2023’s A Fright To Remember. Fans of the franchise will be well acquainted with the vast character list and bespoke monster lingo. Newcomers may be deterred by the bloated list of monsters (some garnering nothing more than a passing mention) and the endless monster puns. Cleo’s journey to self-realization is predictable and facile, becoming obvious to readers long before it is to Cleo.
An overly moralistic tone weighs down the appeal of this volume. (Paranormal fantasy. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 29, 2024
ISBN: 9781419772924
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A warm bundle of holiday cheer.
In a funny, feel-good tale, 12-year-old twins separated at birth meet by chance and try to pull off a family switch during the December holidays.
The girls, who are cued white, agree that it would be a delicious prank, but each has a personal motive, too: Aviva Davis, who was adopted by a culturally Jewish mom and a Black dad who was raised Christian, wonders what it’s like to celebrate Christmas. Budding author Holly Martin, who was adopted by a white-presenting single mom, sees a golden opportunity to gather experiences for a school writing assignment about facing her fears. In a plot as sweet as a Hanukkah jelly doughnut and twisty as a Christmas cinnamon roll, the pair just manages to bail one another out of a string of sticky situations—both hilarious and otherwise. They both learn something of the customs and meaning of the two holidays while working through tears and laughter—not to mention conflicts sparked by their very different personalities. Everything culminates in a holiday performance at a local senior center that will have readers rising up to cheer them on. Though their history remains tantalizingly mysterious, for the protagonists, who narrate alternating chapters, it’s mission accomplished and more: Aviva emerges feeling more secure in her Jewish identity, while anxious Holly discovers unexpected depths of courage.
A warm bundle of holiday cheer. (song lyrics) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 29, 2024
ISBN: 9781250360670
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
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