A solid story about dealing with discomfort and change.
A space-loving kid learns to adapt to change.
Eleven-year-old Luna McKenna loves outer space more than anything, which is why she’s so excited for her class astronomy unit and accompanying in-depth research project. Unfortunately, her beloved teacher is on leave, temporarily replaced by substitute Ms. Manitowabi. Now their final project will combine science with art, a subject Luna finds unappealing. Other undesirable changes are afoot, as well: Mom’s promotion at work and subsequent new schedule means the end of the family’s Tuesday Taco Night tradition, and Luna’s friendship with bestie Maggie Cho faces threats from Maggie’s parents’ impending split (she’ll spend half her weekends downtown with her dad) and Maggie’s competing friendship with classmate Astrid. Slowly, Luna comes to accept that not all change is bad and begins to see connections between art and science, particularly after Ms. Manitowabi shares her Ojibwe Sky Stories with the class. Despite the significance the Sky Stories have to Luna’s journey, none of them actually appear in the book. Readers may also wonder why first-person narrator Luna tells her story in verse, given how early and often she repeats her dislike of poetry. Still, Luna’s love of space and fear of change may endear her to similarly minded kids. Luna presents white; her father uses a wheelchair, and his disability is naturally woven into the work.
A solid story about dealing with discomfort and change. (Verse fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 29, 2024
ISBN: 9781774883532
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Tundra Books
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
Heartwarming fare for young pet owners who feel the love and loyalty going both ways.
Devotion permeates this tale of a small dog who’s swept up in a peasants’ revolt against a greedy king.
Inflamed with righteousness in the wake of yet another tax hike, 12-year-old Tom has defied his parents to slip away and join the revolutionary Reds. Stoutly declaring that he’s a good dog, 5-year-old Rebel chases after him to bring his beloved boy back—and discovers a wide new world beyond the farm, fraught with dangers but also rich in animal friends offering help and advice. Just as beguiling as the furry narrator’s dog’s-eye view of events are his ongoing arguments with Jaxon, a gruff feral hound he meets along the way, who urges him to find his wild inner True Dog. Jaxon’s refusal to be bound by emotional attachments ultimately clashes with Rebel’s big, uncomplicated heart. Following a brush with death, Rebel encounters a mystical Companion, who offers him glimpses of dog heaven; when the climactic battle arrives, Rebel declares, “I get to decide what I do with my one and only life. And if I use it for anything, I’m going to use it for love.” The author brings the odyssey to a satisfactory conclusion with one last, pure affirmation of love. In this story set in an alternate Britain reminiscent of its 17th-century Civil War, Rebel distinguishes humans in the cast by their voices, smell, and dress.
Heartwarming fare for young pet owners who feel the love and loyalty going both ways. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: May 27, 2025
ISBN: 9781536246797
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
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