A dark and depressing look at extinction that leaves no hope for the future.
In a somber manner that is a tonal shift for Calì, he explores the nightmare that is extinction.
“In the forest with no name, between the river of wishes and the cascade of time, there’s an understory of sweet and scary dreams.” Riding on the back of his faithful companion, Dingo, Dr. Wallaby hunts down his Australian animal patients’ nightmares. But a Tasmanian tiger’s “hollow” dreams perplex Dr. Wallaby until he finally realizes that the tiger is “dreamless,” which means that it is extinct. Palmarucci’s illustrations, which have the stiff formality and finely detailed lines of early scientific sketches of flora and fauna, echo the old-fashioned language and style of the text, translated from Italian. A culturally inaccurate depiction of a “thorny” nightmare—an Aboriginal person wearing a necklace of skulls and wielding a knife—strikes a disturbing note. Four vignettes picture several animals’ own nightmares, sketched horrors around a clearly frightened creature (readers may feel the same after viewing them—Where the Wild Things Are this ain’t). The tiger is shown being rowed to the Island of Shadows by a figure all in white. The yellow rocks and almost-black foliage on the bleak island make the grayed-out inhabitants—“the souls of animals, which are no more”—stand out. Calì’s final word—“From here, there is no return”—leaves readers on a distinct down note, as if The Lorax’s Once-ler had no seed to pass on.
A dark and depressing look at extinction that leaves no hope for the future. (labeled images of critically endangered species, works cited and inspirations) (Picture book. 10-14)Pub Date: March 14, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-56846-388-9
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Creative Editions/Creative Company
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Dolphin lovers will appreciate this look at our complicated relationship with these marine mammals.
Is dolphin-assisted therapy so beneficial to patients that it’s worth keeping a wild dolphin captive?
Twelve-year-old Lily has lived with her emotionally distant oncologist stepfather and a succession of nannies since her mother died in a car accident two years ago. Nannies leave because of the difficulty of caring for Adam, Lily’s severely autistic 4-year-old half brother. The newest, Suzanne, seems promising, but Lily is tired of feeling like a planet orbiting the sun Adam. When she meets blind Zoe, who will attend the same private middle school as Lily in the fall, Lily’s happy to have a friend. However, Zoe’s take on the plight of the captive dolphin, Nori, used in Adam’s therapy opens Lily’s eyes. She knows she must use her influence over her stepfather, who is consulting on Nori’s treatment for cancer (caused by an oil spill), to free the animal. Lily’s got several fine lines to walk, as she works to hold onto her new friend, convince her stepfather of the rightness of releasing Nori, and do what’s best for Adam. In her newest exploration of animal-human relationships, Rorby’s lonely, mature heroine faces tough but realistic situations. Siblings of children on the spectrum will identify with Lily. If the tale flirts with sentimentality and some of the characters are strident in their views, the whole never feels maudlin or didactic.
Dolphin lovers will appreciate this look at our complicated relationship with these marine mammals. (Fiction. 10-13)Pub Date: May 26, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-545-67605-2
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2015
Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious.
If you made a recording to be heard by the aliens who found the iPod, what would you record?
For 11-year-old Alex Petroski, it's easy. He records everything. He records the story of how he travels to New Mexico to a rocket festival with his dog, Carl Sagan, and his rocket. He records finding out that a man with the same name and birthday as his dead father has an address in Las Vegas. He records eating at Johnny Rockets for the first time with his new friends, who are giving him a ride to find his dead father (who might not be dead!), and losing Carl Sagan in the wilds of Las Vegas, and discovering he has a half sister. He even records his own awful accident. Cheng delivers a sweet, soulful debut novel with a brilliant, refreshing structure. His characters manage to come alive through the “transcript” of Alex’s iPod recording, an odd medium that sounds like it would be confusing but really works. Taking inspiration from the Voyager Golden Record released to space in 1977, Alex, who explains he has “light brown skin,” records all the important moments of a journey that takes him from a family of two to a family of plenty.
Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-18637-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
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