Set in 1980 during Terry Fox’s marathon, Finch’s story still rings true today.
A depressed mother, deceased father, and unrelenting bully make life seem bleak for 11-year-old Finch, but a new neighbor allows her to shine again.
Finch's father died from cancer, and her mother seems to have let her joy die with him. Finch struggles to make sense of her new reality, in which her mother smokes all day and her brother's new friend, Matt, bullies her every chance he gets. When Pinky Nanda and her family move in next door, Finch finds someone who also knows what it's like to be different. As Pinky and Finch's friendship grows, their sense of alienation is replaced with hope. But Pinky's Hindu family is reluctant to trust the acceptance of Finch or any other outside their culture. When the Nandas' fears threaten to tear her and Pinky apart, Finch shows Pinky that she belongs. Finch's present-tense narration allows readers to see the world through her eyes. Kerbel does not make her wiser than her years or unusually exceptional, which will be a relief to anyone who struggles to feel normal. As the story unfolds, Finch, a white girl, learns more about what being Other means for herself and for Pinky in small revelations. These moments build into a satisfying crescendo, each character growing not by leaps and bounds but with a steady pace.
Set in 1980 during Terry Fox’s marathon, Finch’s story still rings true today. (Historical fiction. 9-13)Pub Date: April 1, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-77138-341-7
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: Jan. 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
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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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