A reductive tale of aspiration achieved through assimilation.
In this tale translated from French, an Orthodox Jewish boy is fascinated by stars, planets—and the girl who shares his interest.
Every day Yakov takes his sisters to the park, where he reads about space. He fantasizes about going “to the Moon, to Mars, to Titan, or to Ganymede,” but his visions of Saturn are interrupted by his father’s nagging. Then he meets a Muslim girl named Aïcha. Instant soul mates, they daydream about the universe; in Goldstyn’s loose-lined illustrations, space looks magical, with deep blue washes. Both children are tan-skinned, and Aïcha wears a flowing hijab, while Yakov has side curls and sports a kippa. Yakov’s Jewish community, with signs in French and Yiddish, is populated with large, friendly families: chatty women wearing head coverings; men wearing fur hats and kippot. Yakov prefers Aïcha’s company. They share bagels, ice cream, and space facts—all the while ignoring community gossip about their friendship. Driven apart by their infuriated fathers, they meet again in adulthood as happy, secular astronomers. The protagonists ultimately reach their dreams by rejecting their communities and fitting into the dominant culture—a narrative choice that’s handled without nuance. Both fathers feel one-dimensional in their opposition to the friendship, and Yakov’s and Aïcha’s reasons for leaving their faiths aren’t fully unpacked. Whenever Aïcha’s hair is seen (she takes the hijab off as a child at one point, to Yakov’s delight, and stops wearing it as an adult), it’s depicted as a huge mass of rainbow-hued curls—a portrayal that exoticizes her and suggests that the headscarf is oppressive.
A reductive tale of aspiration achieved through assimilation. (Graphic fiction. 6-10)Pub Date: May 16, 2023
ISBN: 9781771649193
Page Count: 72
Publisher: Greystone Kids
Review Posted Online: Feb. 7, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
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
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode.
A long-running series reaches its closing chapters.
Having, as Kline notes in her warm valedictory acknowledgements, taken 30 years to get through second and third grade, Harry Spooger is overdue to move on—but not just into fourth grade, it turns out, as his family is moving to another town as soon as the school year ends. The news leaves his best friend, narrator “Dougo,” devastated…particularly as Harry doesn’t seem all that fussed about it. With series fans in mind, the author takes Harry through a sort of last-day-of-school farewell tour. From his desk he pulls a burned hot dog and other items that featured in past episodes, says goodbye to Song Lee and other classmates, and even (for the first time ever) leads Doug and readers into his house and memento-strewn room for further reminiscing. Of course, Harry isn’t as blasé about the move as he pretends, and eyes aren’t exactly dry when he departs. But hardly is he out of sight before Doug is meeting Mohammad, a new neighbor from Syria who (along with further diversifying a cast that began as mostly white but has become increasingly multiethnic over the years) will also be starting fourth grade at summer’s end, and planning a written account of his “horrible” buddy’s exploits. Finished illustrations not seen.
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Nov. 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-451-47963-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
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