Airy computer hijinks—with something of a letdown when the secret's out. Yet how could it be otherwise? Kate draws a self-portrait on her doctor-father's computer—titled (for a school assignment) "Self-Portrait of a Computer Nut"—and gets a message from an unidentified someone or something, who on next contact calls himself an extra-terrestrial, BB-9. A hoax? A mysterious admirer? Best-friend Linda's wacky ideas for eliminating suspects shame and embarrass Kate—but secret, overweight crush Willie Lomax (victim of an accidental dousing in flea dip) gets interested nonetheless. BB-9 can also be contacted on Willie's Apple; he seems to be able to read minds; maybe he is for real—and coming to earth imminently, as he says, for firsthand experience "IN EVOKING LAUGHTER." What's more real is Kate's discomfiture: she's down on Linda ("Kate, I can't help being funny"), at odds with her family ("Dr. Morrison sighed"), edgy with Willie—whose self-mocking wit makes him very likable, and hard to perturb. Then Kate and Willie meet BB-9, as arranged, in a burger joint: a quasi-kid, with a mechanical voice, who's already alienated himself by cracking weird extra-terrestrial jokes that no one gets. ("I SAID TO THE WAITRESS, WHAT WEIGHS TWO THOUSAND POUNDS, HAS FOURTEEN LEGS, THREE HEADS, AND GOES ERRRRRRRRP? . . . A CRUSTACEAN MONSTER WITH INDIGESTION.") When he also insists on telling jokes at a nearby pep rally, he's stampeded; Kate and Willie extricate him; and Kate sends him off happy by genuinely laughing at his last joke. The who's-on-the-computer? gambit, and the true-to-character humor holds up well enough to keep readers going—even if the thwarted space-comedian bombs out.
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1984
ISBN: 0140320865
Page Count: 158
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: April 18, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1984
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
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