A relatable, high-energy journey through grief and magic.
Lola Reyes has plenty to worry about.
The Guatemalan American fifth grader is processing her dad’s sudden death, her mom’s overly controlled grief, and changing friendships. When she and her cousin find a box of worry dolls at Abuela Gloria’s house in Guatemala labeled “Do Not Open” in her dad’s handwriting, she sneaks them into her suitcase, hoping to keep a piece of Pop with her. Ignoring his warning note about an ancient Mayan curse, Lola soon faces more than she bargained for when the dolls come to life. The six dolls soak up worries from nearby humans, grow larger, and escape, causing mischief. Lola and annoying neighbor Chance Townsend, who’s cued white, team up to find the dolls within six days—before they release the magnified worries, with grim consequences. Lola doesn’t feel as though she can burden her grieving mother by asking for help with this problem, and she’s hurt that her best friend has become closer to one of their classmates over the summer. Lola is overwhelmed and must find a way to reverse the curse before it’s too late. Rodriguez seamlessly marries supernatural adventures with realistic, universal themes of grief and human connection. This dynamic, creative story highlights themes of loss, vulnerability, and the power of asking for help. The multifaceted characters remind readers that people often struggle with hidden complexities—a poignant message for middle graders.
A relatable, high-energy journey through grief and magic. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2024
ISBN: 9780063276819
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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
A real gem.
A 10-year old girl learns to adjust to a strange town, makes some fascinating friends, and fills the empty space in her heart thanks to a big old stray dog in this lyrical, moving, and enchanting book by a fresh new voice.
India Opal’s mama left when she was only three, and her father, “the preacher,” is absorbed in his own loss and in the work of his new ministry at the Open-Arms Baptist Church of Naomi [Florida]. Enter Winn-Dixie, a dog who “looked like a big piece of old brown carpet that had been left out in the rain.” But, this dog had a grin “so big that it made him sneeze.” And, as Opal says, “It’s hard not to immediately fall in love with a dog who has a good sense of humor.” Because of Winn-Dixie, Opal meets Miss Franny Block, an elderly lady whose papa built her a library of her own when she was just a little girl and she’s been the librarian ever since. Then, there’s nearly blind Gloria Dump, who hangs the empty bottle wreckage of her past from the mistake tree in her back yard. And, Otis, oh yes, Otis, whose music charms the gerbils, rabbits, snakes and lizards he’s let out of their cages in the pet store. Brush strokes of magical realism elevate this beyond a simple story of friendship to a well-crafted tale of community and fellowship, of sweetness, sorrow and hope. And, it’s funny, too.
A real gem. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: March 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7636-0776-2
Page Count: 182
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2000
SEEN & HEARD
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