This book is on fire.
For readers interested in discovering their inner dragons, Manning writes a book with stories, quizzes, and tasks to help find them.
Growing up is hard to do. There is so much to learn and explore in the world but also within ourselves, which is a truth that is easily overlooked. This book focuses kids on skills that they need to learn to become independent and helpful humans using the device of mythological beasts. Quizzes ask readers to imagine what colors they’d paint their grottoes or what they’d do if they happened upon a flock of lost baby phoenixes. Answers sort readers into categories based on the qualities of their roars or the colors of their magical glows. Interspersed stories relate the exploits of dragons who exemplify some of the personality qualities the quizzes uncover. In these, Manning goes against gender stereotypes with such characters as a brave female dragon and a kind, problem-solving male dragon who learns that he needs self-care and what that looks like for him. Activities such as creating a Venn diagram with another dragon they’ve had conflict with and creating a decision-making chart give readers solid strategies for navigating challenges. Underneath the conceit, Manning lets kids know that being who they are is important because there is no one else like them. Taken all together, this book should help fantasy-focused kids with their self-esteem, confidence, and fears; it’s all made the more enjoyable with Demmer’s friendly artwork.
This book is on fire. (Self-help. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 14, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5235-1141-9
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Workman
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2021
With young readers diagnosed with anxiety in ever increasing numbers, this book offers a necessary mirror to many.
Young Raina is 9 when she throws up for the first time that she remembers, due to a stomach bug. Even a year later, when she is in fifth grade, she fears getting sick.
Raina begins having regular stomachaches that keep her home from school. She worries about sharing food with her friends and eating certain kinds of foods, afraid of getting sick or food poisoning. Raina’s mother enrolls her in therapy. At first Raina isn’t sure about seeing a therapist, but over time she develops healthy coping mechanisms to deal with her stress and anxiety. Her therapist helps her learn to ground herself and relax, and in turn she teaches her classmates for a school project. Amping up the green, wavy lines to evoke Raina’s nausea, Telgemeier brilliantly produces extremely accurate visual representations of stress and anxiety. Thought bubbles surround Raina in some panels, crowding her with anxious “what if”s, while in others her negative self-talk appears to be literally crushing her. Even as she copes with anxiety disorder and what is eventually diagnosed as mild irritable bowel syndrome, she experiences the typical stresses of school life, going from cheer to panic in the blink of an eye. Raina is white, and her classmates are diverse; one best friend is Korean American.
With young readers diagnosed with anxiety in ever increasing numbers, this book offers a necessary mirror to many. (Graphic memoir. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-545-85251-7
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 11, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
Though a bit loose around the edges, a charmer nevertheless.
Tales of a fourth grade ne’er-do-well.
It seems that young Jordan is stuck in a never-ending string of bad luck. Sure, no one’s perfect (except maybe goody-two-shoes William Feranek), but Jordan can’t seem to keep his attention focused on the task at hand. Try as he may, things always go a bit sideways, much to his educators’ chagrin. But Jordan promises himself that fourth grade will be different. As the year unfolds, it does prove to be different, but in a way Jordan couldn’t possibly have predicted. This humorous memoir perfectly captures the square-peg-in-a-round-hole feeling many kids feel and effectively heightens that feeling with comic situations and a splendid villain. Jordan’s teacher, Mrs. Fisher, makes an excellent foil, and the book’s 1970s setting allows for her cruelty to go beyond anything most contemporary readers could expect. Unfortunately, the story begins to run out of steam once Mrs. Fisher exits. Recollections spiral, losing their focus and leading to a more “then this happened” and less cause-and-effect structure. The anecdotes are all amusing and Jordan is an endearing protagonist, but the book comes dangerously close to wearing out its welcome with sheer repetitiveness. Thankfully, it ends on a high note, one pleasant and hopeful enough that readers will overlook some of the shabbier qualities. Jordan is White and Jewish while there is some diversity among his classmates; Mrs. Fisher is White.
Though a bit loose around the edges, a charmer nevertheless. (Memoir. 8-12)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-64723-5
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2020
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