Justin Zeckendorf, Margaret Zachary, and Jessica Zander are the Zs. Because they're the last three names on the fourth-grade roster, they are always chosen to be a team on class projects. The Good Deed Contest is no exception, and Justin is not looking forward to working with the two know- it-alls, Margaret and Jessica. But when he hears that first prize will be a trip to Tidal Wave Water Park, he becomes more enthusiastic. Justin is the Idea Man, and he thinks of unusual ways to get good-deed points fast, but unfortunately his ideas are generally unsuccessful: He sells photocopies of raffle tickets and nearly causes a riot when 61 people all have the same winning number; he tries to wash his neighbors' window, but doesn't close it first and soaks their living room; he helps a woman across the street, although she had been standing on the side she wanted to be on to begin with. The Zs end up losing points rather than gaining them, and before they know it they're in the hole at -30 points. Justin thinks that if he can find the car thief that's been plaguing the neighborhood his team will win, but first he and his mother work out a way for him to slowly work the Z team back toward positive numbers. Korman's (The Toilet Paper Tigers, 1993, etc.) tale is cringe-inducing in the finest comic manner, and the super pacing of this book will keep readers engaged through the final surprise scenes. (Fiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-590-47501-0
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1994
Trickling, bubbling, swirling, rushing, a river flows down from its mountain beginnings, past peaceful country and bustling city on its way to the sea. Hooper (The Drop in My Drink, 1998, etc.) artfully evokes the water’s changing character as it transforms from “milky-cold / rattling-bold” to a wide, slow “sliding past mudflats / looping through marshes” to the end of its journey. Willey, best known for illustrating Geraldine McCaughrean’s spectacular folk-tale collections, contributes finely detailed scenes crafted in shimmering, intricate blues and greens, capturing mountain’s chill, the bucolic serenity of passing pastures, and a sense of mystery in the water’s shadowy depths. Though Hooper refers to “the cans and cartons / and bits of old wood” being swept along, there’s no direct conservation agenda here (for that, see Debby Atwell’s River, 1999), just appreciation for the river’s beauty and being. (Picture book/nonfiction. 7-9)
Pub Date: June 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-7636-0792-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2000
Nolen and Nelson offer a smaller, but no less gifted counterpart to Big Jabe (2000) in this new tall tale. Shortly after being born one stormy night, Rose thanks her parents, picks a name, and gathers lightning into a ball—all of which is only a harbinger of feats to come. Decked out in full cowboy gear and oozing self-confidence from every pore, Rose cuts a diminutive, but heroic figure in Nelson’s big, broad Western scenes. Though she carries a twisted iron rod as dark as her skin and ropes clouds with fencing wire, Rose overcomes her greatest challenge—a pair of rampaging twisters—not with strength, but with a lullaby her parents sang. After turning tornadoes into much-needed rain clouds, Rose rides away, “that mighty, mighty song pressing on the bull’s-eye that was set at the center of her heart.” Throughout, she shows a reflective bent that gives her more dimension than most tall-tale heroes: a doff of the Stetson to her and her creators. (author’s note) (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-15-216472-3
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Silver Whistle/Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2003
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