Skateboarding demands—and has found—a tale that shreds off the page and out the back of readers’ skulls.
Absurd humor and over-the-top skateboarding go together like chips and soda.
Claris Hills is “the absolute capital of skate culture,” a place where survival means joining a good crew, minding other crews’ territory, and raising one’s skating level. The characters’ skating levels are displayed like real-life video game stats. Sam, age 10, is determined to increase her skating level (which is a paltry 15) in order to defeat Radical Tim (who’s at an impressive level 100). His Too Cool Crew is expanding their territory and excluding everyone else. But she runs afoul of The Law (age 47, level 0), an authoritarian grocery store guard who has a hang-up about skateboarders. Sam and friends embark on a different harrowing adventure with each chapter, including a sympathy-building sequence from The Law’s point of view. Gambles enjoys building up the dramatic and supernatural threats, only to pop any tension with humorous absurdity: Look no further than the deliriously dystopian third act, which features a jailhouse fingerboard duel as well as a skateboarding trick so intense it rips a space-time hole that defies physics. The two most dependable elements of this chaotic tale are the word garf (a derogatory slang term) and Sam’s explosive skateboarding powers, illustrated in blue. Sam and The Law read white; the cast members overall are diverse in skin tone.
Skateboarding demands—and has found—a tale that shreds off the page and out the back of readers’ skulls. (Graphic adventure. 9-12)Pub Date: March 11, 2025
ISBN: 9781603095471
Page Count: 296
Publisher: Top Shelf Productions
Review Posted Online: Dec. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2025
An emotional, much-needed historical graphic novel.
Sandy and his family, Japanese Canadians, experience hatred and incarceration during World War II.
Sandy Saito loves baseball, and the Vancouver Asahi ballplayers are his heroes. But when they lose in the 1941 semifinals, Sandy’s dad calls it a bad omen. Sure enough, in December 1941, Japan bombs Pearl Harbor in the U.S. The Canadian government begins to ban Japanese people from certain areas, moving them to “dormitories” and setting a curfew. Sandy wants to spend time with his father, but as a doctor, his dad is busy, often sneaking out past curfew to work. One night Papa is taken to “where he [is] needed most,” and the family is forced into an internment camp. Life at the camp isn’t easy, and even with some of the Asahi players playing ball there, it just isn’t the same. Trying to understand and find joy again, Sandy struggles with his new reality and relationship with his father. Based on the true experiences of Japanese Canadians and the Vancouver Asahi team, this graphic novel is a glimpse of how their lives were affected by WWII. The end is a bit abrupt, but it’s still an inspiring and sweet look at how baseball helped them through hardship. The illustrations are all in a sepia tone, giving it an antique look and conveying the emotions and struggles. None of the illustrations of their experiences are overly graphic, making it a good introduction to this upsetting topic for middle-grade readers.
An emotional, much-needed historical graphic novel. (afterword, further resources) (Graphic historical fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5253-0334-0
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A worthy combination of athletic action, the virtues of inner strength, and the importance of friendship.
A young tennis champion becomes the target of revenge.
In this sequel to Legacy and the Queen (2019), Legacy Petrin and her friends Javi and Pippa have returned to Legacy’s home province and the orphanage run by her father. With her friends’ help, she is in training to defend her championship when they discover that another player, operating under the protection of High Consul Silla, is presenting herself as Legacy. She is so convincing that the real Legacy is accused of being an imitation. False Legacy has become a hero to the masses, further strengthening Silla’s hold, and it becomes imperative to uncover and defeat her. If Legacy is to win again, she must play her imposter while disguised as someone else. Winning at tennis is not just about money and fame, but resisting Silla’s plans to send more young people into brutal mines with little hope of better lives. Legacy will have to overcome her fears and find the magic that allowed her to claim victory in the past. This story, with its elements of sports, fantasy, and social consciousness that highlight tensions between the powerful and those they prey upon, successfully continues the series conceived by late basketball superstar Bryant. As before, the tennis matches are depicted with pace and spirit. Legacy and Javi have brown skin; most other characters default to White.
A worthy combination of athletic action, the virtues of inner strength, and the importance of friendship. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-949520-19-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Granity Studios
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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