A warm, wonderful delight for readers young and old.
A grand old apartment building at 777 Garden Ave. on Manhattan’s Upper East Side is the setting for a series of tales filled with humor, imagination, and sweetness.
Raschka creates a plethora of wonderfully eccentric characters, human and otherwise. There is nothing linear about the book’s format; stories roam all over the building and back and forth through many years with quirky, interconnected characters in starring roles. Mr. Bunchley, the doorman, knows everyone’s name and beautifies the lobby with amazing plants. Mrs. MacDougal files complaints about anyone who fails to adhere to her sense of decorum. Fred attempts to keep gravity at the proper level, controlling it with bread mash, pigeons, and, perhaps, a small earthquake. Theo’s kindness and curiosity lead to the discovery of a long-lost, secret room. Victoria follows Oskar on his plumbing rounds. Rodents Pee Wee and Anna are, respectively, a jazz musician and a psychoanalyst. Mr. Norton and Mr. Jones are longtime companions with a unique method of addressing insomnia. Otis the elevator and Liesl the boiler play purposeful roles in the lives of the building’s inhabitants. Raschka mixes truth with plausible but deliberately misleading information, keeping readers on their toes. Ethnicity and race are never mentioned, but Raschka’s bold-lined, off-kilter, detailed illustrations depict Victoria with dark skin and others with light tones.
A warm, wonderful delight for readers young and old. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: May 16, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-68137-100-9
Page Count: 160
Publisher: New York Review Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 19, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017
After Castro’s takeover, nine-year-old Julian and his older brothers are sent away by their fearful parents via “Operation Pedro Pan” to a camp in Miami for Cuban-exile children. Here he discovers that a ruthless bully has essentially been put in charge. Julian is quicker-witted than his brothers or anyone else ever imagined, though, and with his inherent smarts, developing maturity and the help of child and adult friends, he learns to navigate the dynamics of the camp and surroundings and grows from the former baby of the family to independence and self-confidence. A daring rescue mission at the end of the novel will have readers rooting for Julian even as it opens his family’s eyes to his courage and resourcefulness. This autobiographical novel is a well-meaning, fast-paced and often exciting read, though at times the writing feels choppy. It will introduce readers to a not-so-distant period whose echoes are still felt today and inspire admiration for young people who had to be brave despite frightening and lonely odds. (Historical fiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-59643-168-3
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: June 14, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
Eleven-year-old Griffin Bing is “the man with the plan.” If something needs doing, Griffin carefully plans a fix and his best friend Ben usually gets roped in as assistant. When the town council ignores his plan for a skate park on the grounds of the soon-to-be demolished Rockford House, Griffin plans a camp-out in the house. While there, he discovers a rare Babe Ruth baseball card. His family’s money worries are suddenly a thing of the past, until unscrupulous collectables dealer S. Wendell Palomino swindles him. Griffin and Ben plan to snatch the card back with a little help. Pet-lover Savannah whispers the blood-thirsty Doberman. Rock-climber “Pitch” takes care of scaling the house. Budding-actor Logan distracts the nosy neighbor. Computer-expert Melissa hacks Palomino’s e-mail and the house alarm. Little goes according to plan, but everything turns out all right in this improbable but fun romp by the prolific and always entertaining Korman. (Fiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: March 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-439-90344-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2008
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