A nostalgic but uneven exploration of friendship and growing pains.
A girl discovers a time capsule in the backyard of her new house.
Eleven-year-old Peyton has moved four hours away from her best friend, Lily; her brother is obsessed with his video games; and her parents are busy with their jobs. She’s convinced that her summer will be awful—until she unearths a box in her backyard containing mementos from 1989, a coded message, and an apology hinting at a broken friendship. Baffled by artifacts such as audiocassettes, she investigates the cryptic contents with help from Lucas, a precocious, sarcastic boy who uses a wheelchair. In alternating chapters set in 1989, Melissa narrates her own intense friendship with Jess, who makes her feel safe amid her increasingly troubled home life. As tension mounts and the note’s meaning unfurls, Peyton in the present-day timeline learns that sometimes friendships take new forms. Eulberg vividly depicts the insecurities of middle school friendships as well as their sometimes seemingly uncanny bonds. Unfortunately, Melissa and Jess’ lopsided relationship weakens the theme. Melissa seldom reciprocates Jess’ unwavering empathy, remaining silent when Jess experiences racism and failing to notice her sadness or loneliness; it’s unclear what Jess sees in her. Lucas is somewhat underdeveloped, and his and Peyton’s fascination with 1980s pop culture feels slightly forced. Most characters present White; Jess was adopted from Korea by White parents, and Lily is Latinx.
A nostalgic but uneven exploration of friendship and growing pains. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5476-0150-9
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2021
Fast-paced and plot-driven.
In his latest, prolific author Gratz takes on Hitler’s Olympic Games.
When 13-year-old American gymnast Evie Harris arrives in Berlin to compete in the 1936 Olympic Games, she has one goal: stardom. If she can bring home a gold medal like her friend, the famous equestrian-turned-Hollywood-star Mary Brooks, she might be able to lift her family out of their Dust Bowl poverty. But someone slips a strange note under Evie’s door, and soon she’s dodging Heinz Fischer, the Hitler Youth member assigned to host her, and meeting strangers who want to make use of her gymnastic skills—to rob a bank. As the games progress, Evie begins to see the moral issues behind their sparkling facade—the antisemitism and racism inherent in Nazi ideology and the way Hitler is using the competition to support and promote these beliefs. And she also agrees to rob the bank. Gratz goes big on the Mission Impossible–style heist, which takes center stage over the actual competitions, other than Jesse Owens’ famous long jump. A lengthy and detailed author’s note provides valuable historical context, including places where Gratz adapted the facts for storytelling purposes (although there’s no mention of the fact that before 1952, Olympic equestrian sports were limited to male military officers). With an emphasis on the plot, many of the characters feel defined primarily by how they’re suffering under the Nazis, such as the fictional diver Ursula Diop, who was involuntarily sterilized for being biracial.
Fast-paced and plot-driven. (Historical fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781338736106
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
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
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
