Sobering and convincing.
Twelve-year-old Lulu must care for her little sister when they are left homeless and alone.
The girls’ father disappears one morning from the Chevy Suburban in which he, Lulu, and Selena live. They’ve been in an RV park in Montana since driving up from Texas, where the girls’ mother died after a devastating, financially ruinous illness. For two weeks, Lulu manages to keep up the routine (food bank, laundromat, and picking up Selena from her after-school program), fending off queries about her dad. The narrative focus stays tightly with Lulu’s point of view, her understanding of the world informing her decisions. She’s afraid to ask for help, believing that she and Selena will be separated if anyone finds out about their situation. Lulu, the target of the contempt of some classmates, is befriended by both Jack, a boy who persuades her to try out for the school musical, and the town librarian, who unwittingly provides a refuge. Fox offers a message via Jack when he learns about Lulu’s life: “No one should have to live in a car.” Cranes—paper ones that Lulu and Selena fold, inspired by both the story of Hiroshima survivor Sadako Sasaki and the sandhill cranes migration—represent wishes granted and a kind of grace, leading to a satisfying, redemptive conclusion nicely pitched to a young audience. All the characters seem to be White.
Sobering and convincing. (author's note) (Fiction. 8-11)Pub Date: Aug. 24, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-5344-8508-2
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: June 1, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
However the compelling fitness of theme and event and the apt but unexpected imagery (the opening sentences compare the...
At a time when death has become an acceptable, even voguish subject in children's fiction, Natalie Babbitt comes through with a stylistic gem about living forever.
Protected Winnie, the ten-year-old heroine, is not immortal, but when she comes upon young Jesse Tuck drinking from a secret spring in her parents' woods, she finds herself involved with a family who, having innocently drunk the same water some 87 years earlier, haven't aged a moment since. Though the mood is delicate, there is no lack of action, with the Tucks (previously suspected of witchcraft) now pursued for kidnapping Winnie; Mae Tuck, the middle aged mother, striking and killing a stranger who is onto their secret and would sell the water; and Winnie taking Mae's place in prison so that the Tucks can get away before she is hanged from the neck until....? Though Babbitt makes the family a sad one, most of their reasons for discontent are circumstantial and there isn't a great deal of wisdom to be gleaned from their fate or Winnie's decision not to share it.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1975
ISBN: 0312369816
Page Count: 164
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1975
A classic sibling rivalry tale that still satisfies to the last drop.
In this graphic novel adaptation of Davies’ 2007 book, hurt feelings propel an intense business battle.
Fourth grader Evan can’t stand the thought of his brainy younger sister, Jessie, skipping a grade and joining his class this fall. Intelligent but emotionally immature, Jessie sometimes misses social cues and wishes she could be more like the gregarious Evan. These insecurities set the stage for a contest to see who can raise the most money selling lemonade this summer. Will Jessie’s book smarts beat Evan’s people skills? The beauty of this story lies in how each sibling’s strengths rub off on the other: Evan brushes up on his math, while Jessie tentatively makes a new friend. De la Vega’s polished cartoon artwork creatively translates Davies’ metaphors to a visual medium. When the author compares the “mean words inside Evan…fighting to get out” to bats, illustrations depict the furry animals emerging from beneath his shirt; Jessie’s negative thoughts take the form of a tiny purple creature irritatingly tapping her shoulder. Tender scenes depict flashbacks of the siblings supporting each other through their parents’ divorce. The book has business savvy to match the emotional beats (each chapter opens with an entrepreneurial definition that relates to the plot), and several scenes feature math problems that readers can solve for themselves. Evan and Jessie appear white; both have friends of color.
A classic sibling rivalry tale that still satisfies to the last drop. (business tips) (Graphic fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: April 29, 2025
ISBN: 9780063310407
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
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.
