The fast pace, colorful, multifaceted characters, and unusual angle make this a quirky, if perhaps disquieting,...
AJ, a thoroughly modern tomboy, is set up for Victorian horror when she is sent to stay with her grandmother for the summer while her parents conduct research in the Amazon.
Grandma Jo wears nothing but high-necked black gowns, and she insists on calling AJ Annemarie. Worse, Grandma Jo disapproves of soccer, skateboarding, and cellphones, and she expects AJ to learn etiquette, including sewing. And the house is not only creepy, it contains forbidden rooms. Thank goodness there’s a cute chauffeur to take her to soccer, but even that is problematic: best friend Maddie thinks AJ’s becoming stuck up, while rich, mean-girl Brianna decides that AJ is now a worthy companion. AJ is beginning to wonder if Grandma Jo’s friends will be a saving grace; they have style and humor, and they appreciate AJ’s talents. In fact, they push to make AJ one of their circle—which, AJ discovers, is a heist club! The ladies give different explanations for their thievery, but, despite her insight and compassion, readers should not expect cheeky narrator AJ to examine the ethics too closely. She enjoys the thrill and Grandma Jo’s esteem until events take a decidedly dark turn: one decides to “steal” AJ—and it’s not her first kidnapping attempt!
The fast pace, colorful, multifaceted characters, and unusual angle make this a quirky, if perhaps disquieting, grandmother-grandchild bonding story. (Thriller. 8-12)Pub Date: March 29, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-4637-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
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
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
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