This quiet, contemplative story explores the beautiful, complex internal lives of children.
A cat and a composer create an escape for a young bullied girl.
Tyra dreads school—not because she’s a poor student but because she is ostracized by the other kids. She never speaks at school, only inside her house. But when she’s alone with Vivaldi, her adopted kitten, or with Grandma listening to the music of the composer Vivaldi, or even playing the piano, then Tyra comes alive. The complex, contradictory emotions and nature-evoking sounds in Vivaldi’s music allow her to fly away, into the music. Tyra’s internal life is conveyed in a linear set of loose third-person vignettes, as if each page or two is a textual and visual poem, a bite-sized insight. The text, translated from the original Norwegian, is lyrical, at times gently humorous and at others poignant, yet ultimately life-affirming. Strong lines and bold shapes in a striking array of muted colors create the groundwork for compelling illustrations filled with symbolism, such as the giant eyes that float around a shrinking Tyra sitting at her classroom desk. Eventually, Tyra’s classmate alerts adults to her situation, and the ending leaves Tyra connecting with the school psychologist through her love of her cat. Created by an award-winning author-and-illustrator duo, this long-format picture book with a compact trim is a shorter, more visual read-alike for R.J. Palacio’s Wonder (2012) and other books about kindness and compassion. Tyra is depicted with beige skin and black hair.
This quiet, contemplative story explores the beautiful, complex internal lives of children. (Fiction. 7-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-68137-374-4
Page Count: 96
Publisher: New York Review Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2019
File under “laugh riot.”
A rogue spell-check program’s bid to transform all life-forms into that eminently useful office item, the paper clip, touches off a fresh round of lunar lunacy.
Predicated on the entirely reasonable premise that eliminating all spelling and grammar errors everywhere would logically lead to the necessity of exterminating carbon-based life in the universe, this third series entry combines high stakes with daffy banter and daring exploits. CheckMate—a chipper, jumped-up editing program—has invented the Transmogratron, a giant laser that will fulfill its ultimate goals in both the cyber world and “meatspace.” Facing challenges as random as prankster lunar unicorns and a disarmingly motherly Motherboard, scowling First Cat joins a motley crew of diversely carbon- and silicon-based allies, led by the pearlescent Queen of the Moon. They’re in a race to the finish—diverted occasionally by, for instance, a relentlessly punny comic-book interlude featuring a pair of literal and figurative Pool Sharks. They ultimately triumph thanks to teamwork and moxie. Following a celebratory party and toasts to “new friends…and steadfast comrades” (and, of course, “MEOW”), the story’s energetic, brightly colored panels close with a reveal of the next volume. (“I always hate it when comics end by announcing a sequel. SO CRINGE!” declares an authorial stand-in.) It can’t come too soon.
File under “laugh riot.” (Graphic science fiction. 8-11)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2024
ISBN: 9780063315280
Page Count: 272
Publisher: HarperAlley
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant.
Robot Roz undertakes an unusual ocean journey to save her adopted island home in this third series entry.
When a poison tide flowing across the ocean threatens their island, Roz works with the resident creatures to ensure that they will have clean water, but the destruction of vegetation and crowding of habitats jeopardize everyone’s survival. Brown’s tale of environmental depredation and turmoil is by turns poignant, graceful, endearing, and inspiring, with his (mostly) gentle robot protagonist at its heart. Though Roz is different from the creatures she lives with or encounters—including her son, Brightbill the goose, and his new mate, Glimmerwing—she makes connections through her versatile communication abilities and her desire to understand and help others. When Roz accidentally discovers that the replacement body given to her by Dr. Molovo is waterproof, she sets out to seek help and discovers the human-engineered source of the toxic tide. Brown’s rich descriptions of undersea landscapes, entertaining conversations between Roz and wild creatures, and concise yet powerful explanations of the effect of the poison tide on the ecology of the island are superb. Simple, spare illustrations offer just enough glimpses of Roz and her surroundings to spark the imagination. The climactic confrontation pits oceangoing mammals, seabirds, fish, and even zooplankton against hardware and technology in a nicely choreographed battle. But it is Roz’s heroism and peacemaking that save the day.
Hugely entertaining, timely, and triumphant. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9780316669412
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2023
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