Parentheses because George is Ben's concentric twin, his loudmouthed inner voice, or, as Mrs. Konigsburg puts it in a nutshell. . . "Ben and George got along splendidly until the year of Benjamin's sixth grade when Ben's need to be accepted by others became greater than his need to be acceptable to George." With hilarious consequences like the nosedive in his marks when George withdraws from Organic Chemistry, and some that are not so funny — in that William, the older boy Ben tries to impress and George resents, is using the chemistry lab (this is an experimental, mixedgraded school) for extra-curricular, extra-legal purposes and he sees to it that suspicion for the theft of supplies falls on Ben. In heavier hands than Mrs. Konigsburg's, this could be deadly; but while Ben's mother may be Betty Anti-Crocker in the kitchen (quoth George) she not only believes in him but, when it counts, believes him too and while science teacher Mr. Berkowitz may not cut much of a figure, he has the soul and spirit of a hero. And, while Ben is running the gantlet of a stepmother who, having minored in psych, hears George as evidence of paranoia and a psychiatrist George won't, for once, speak up to, Mrs. Carr and Mr. Berkowitz are finding each other in one of the most engaging adult courtships ever to get into a juvenile. As for George, Ben promises not to forget him, and when Ben's voice deepens, it becomes indistinguishable from George's, but he'll "watch his diet and never swallow orange seeds or watermelon pits because to do so could bring on an attack of appendicitis, and that he realizes would involve surgery." In current fiction, a boy with a problem seldom has it so good.
Pub Date: Oct. 20, 1970
ISBN: 1416949577
Page Count: 199
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 1, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1970
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Little Blue Truck keeps on truckin’—but not without some backfires.
Little Blue Truck feels, well, blue when he delivers valentine after valentine but receives nary a one.
His bed overflowing with cards, Blue sets out to deliver a yellow card with purple polka dots and a shiny purple heart to Hen, one with a shiny fuchsia heart to Pig, a big, shiny, red heart-shaped card to Horse, and so on. With each delivery there is an exchange of Beeps from Blue and the appropriate animal sounds from his friends, Blue’s Beeps always set in blue and the animal’s vocalization in a color that matches the card it receives. But as Blue heads home, his deliveries complete, his headlight eyes are sad and his front bumper droops ever so slightly. Blue is therefore surprised (but readers may not be) when he pulls into his garage to be greeted by all his friends with a shiny blue valentine just for him. In this, Blue’s seventh outing, it’s not just the sturdy protagonist that seems to be wilting. Schertle’s verse, usually reliable, stumbles more than once; stanzas such as “But Valentine’s Day / didn’t seem much fun / when he didn’t get cards / from anyone” will cause hitches during read-alouds. The illustrations, done by Joseph in the style of original series collaborator Jill McElmurry, are pleasant enough, but his compositions often feel stiff and forced.
Little Blue Truck keeps on truckin’—but not without some backfires. (Board book. 1-4)Pub Date: Dec. 8, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-358-27244-1
Page Count: 20
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
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