Though somewhat didactic, this is an entertaining story stuffed with important lessons.
Middle schoolers Sam and TJ discover queer history on Staten Island.
Sam, who has pale skin and dirty-blond hair, and their best friend TJ, who has dark hair and tan skin, have to research a historical Staten Island figure for their boring, supertraditional history teacher. If they get the highest grade in the class, their report will be entered in a boroughwide contest to design a new statue for Staten Island Borough Hall. With help from some adult queer mentors, Sam discovers Alice Austen, a famous local photographer, lesbian, and, most exciting of all, former resident of Sam’s exact apartment. Even when another project gets the highest grade, Sam, TJ, and their queer family are not ready to give up on Alice Austen. The main character and their best friend are both nonbinary, and though it is mentioned that some people don’t understand this, they are supported by the important people in their lives. In fact, when talking to their older lesbian neighbor, they are shocked to learn how difficult life was for queer people in the past. Featuring relatable characters and an accessible plot, this book makes it clear that queer people have always existed and that they can be anywhere and any age. It also highlights the importance of queer history and intergenerational communication, though at times the writing can be clunky and overly earnest instead of letting the characters’ experiences speak for themselves.
Though somewhat didactic, this is an entertaining story stuffed with important lessons. (author’s note, photographs by Alice Austen) (Realistic fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: April 5, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-73389-1
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2022
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
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
Heartwarming fare for young pet owners who feel the love and loyalty going both ways.
Devotion permeates this tale of a small dog who’s swept up in a peasants’ revolt against a greedy king.
Inflamed with righteousness in the wake of yet another tax hike, 12-year-old Tom has defied his parents to slip away and join the revolutionary Reds. Stoutly declaring that he’s a good dog, 5-year-old Rebel chases after him to bring his beloved boy back—and discovers a wide new world beyond the farm, fraught with dangers but also rich in animal friends offering help and advice. Just as beguiling as the furry narrator’s dog’s-eye view of events are his ongoing arguments with Jaxon, a gruff feral hound he meets along the way, who urges him to find his wild inner True Dog. Jaxon’s refusal to be bound by emotional attachments ultimately clashes with Rebel’s big, uncomplicated heart. Following a brush with death, Rebel encounters a mystical Companion, who offers him glimpses of dog heaven; when the climactic battle arrives, Rebel declares, “I get to decide what I do with my one and only life. And if I use it for anything, I’m going to use it for love.” The author brings the odyssey to a satisfactory conclusion with one last, pure affirmation of love. In this story set in an alternate Britain reminiscent of its 17th-century Civil War, Rebel distinguishes humans in the cast by their voices, smell, and dress.
Heartwarming fare for young pet owners who feel the love and loyalty going both ways. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: May 27, 2025
ISBN: 9781536246797
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
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