An endearing book exploring the ups and downs of friendship.
Mai Hirano, almost 13, seeks revenge on her ex–best friend.
The Hiranos have left California to spend every summer in Mystic, Connecticut, at the vacation home of the Koyamas: Holly, her mom’s best friend from college; Holly’s husband, Wes; and their son, Zach, Mai’s childhood best friend. But two summers ago, Zach ruined their friendship, then the Koyamas moved to Japan, and the two haven’t spoken since. Now the families are together in Connecticut again, but Mai is still angry and wants revenge. But Zach isn’t the same kid: He’s more confident, has learned Japanese, and even styles his hair a bit like a pop star. Even worse, he keeps acting like they’re still best friends. The more time she spends with him, the harder it gets to pretend and hide her new feelings of attraction. Mai must decide whether to forgive him or let him go completely, but first she needs to hear his side of the story. Florence writes a delightful tale about close friendship that delves into feelings both positive and negative. Flashback chapters labeled “Sweet” and “Sour” depict the pair’s good and bad memories, building up their backstories. Mai’s relationship with her parents addresses adults’ roles in supporting children’s emotional health, particularly with regard to difficult emotions. There are beautiful depictions of nature and wildlife as well as nods to Japanese culture, music, and language. Mai, Zach, and their families are Japanese American.
An endearing book exploring the ups and downs of friendship. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-338-67159-9
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: April 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2022
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.
An aspiring scientist and a budding artist become friends and help each other with dream projects.
Unfolding in mid-1980s Sacramento, California, this story stars 12-year-olds Rosalind and Benjamin as first-person narrators in alternating chapters. Ro’s father, a fellow space buff, was killed by a drunk driver; the rocket they were working on together lies unfinished in her closet. As for Benji, not only has his best friend, Amir, moved away, but the comic book holding the clue for locating his dad is also missing. Along with their profound personal losses, the protagonists share a fixation with the universe’s intriguing potential: Ro decides to complete the rocket and hopes to launch mementos of her father into outer space while Benji’s conviction that aliens and UFOs are real compels his imagination and creativity as an artist. An accident in science class triggers a chain of events forcing Benji and Ro, who is new to the school, to interact and unintentionally learn each other’s secrets. They resolve to find Benji’s dad—a famous comic-book artist—and partner to finish Ro’s rocket for the science fair. Together, they overcome technical, scheduling, and geographical challenges. Readers will be drawn in by amusing and fantastical elements in the comic book theme, high emotional stakes that arouse sympathy, and well-drawn character development as the protagonists navigate life lessons around grief, patience, self-advocacy, and standing up for others. Ro is biracial (Chinese/White); Benji is White.
Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-300888-5
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A deftly told story that dramatizes how Danes appointed themselves bodyguards—not only for their king, who was in the habit...
The author of the Anastasia books as well as more serious fiction (Rabble Starkey, 1987) offers her first historical fiction—a story about the escape of the Jews from Denmark in 1943.
Five years younger than Lisa in Carol Matas' Lisa's War (1989), Annemarie Johansen has, at 10, known three years of Nazi occupation. Though ever cautious and fearful of the ubiquitous soldiers, she is largely unaware of the extent of the danger around her; the Resistance kept even its participants safer by telling them as little as possible, and Annemarie has never been told that her older sister Lise died in its service. When the Germans plan to round up the Jews, the Johansens take in Annemarie's friend, Ellen Rosen, and pretend she is their daughter; later, they travel to Uncle Hendrik's house on the coast, where the Rosens and other Jews are transported by fishing boat to Sweden. Apart from Lise's offstage death, there is little violence here; like Annemarie, the reader is protected from the full implications of events—but will be caught up in the suspense and menace of several encounters with soldiers and in Annemarie's courageous run as courier on the night of the escape. The book concludes with the Jews' return, after the war, to homes well kept for them by their neighbors.
A deftly told story that dramatizes how Danes appointed themselves bodyguards—not only for their king, who was in the habit of riding alone in Copenhagen, but for their Jews. (Historical fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: April 1, 1989
ISBN: 0547577095
Page Count: 156
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: Oct. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1989
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