A successful marriage of art and poetry.
Will Chambers wrestles with fat stigma, self-loathing, disordered eating, and the ultimate desire to be accepted.
Lerner’s illustrated verse novel opens on Will’s fourth grade year. It’s the first time the word fat is hurled at him as an insult, the first time he understands that the rest of the world sees something wrong with his body. Three years later, shame-filled Will is eating less and less. It’s Markus, his kind, cool skateboarder friend, who helps Will when he eventually breaks and who is there as he works on piecing himself back together. Lerner uses the format to great effect, as the staccato lines of broken verse are well matched to Will’s honest, disjointed inner thoughts. The setup makes for an effective portrayal of Will’s painful mental battles. The black-and-white illustrations mostly depict Markus; Will’s crush, Jules, a skinny girl; and a prickly, monsterlike version of how Will sees himself. Peppered throughout are balls of black scribbles representing Will’s anxiety, fears, and the anger he directs at himself. The diary feel adds to readers’ understanding of Will. Lerner writes very affecting scenes that will resonate with some readers and provide insight for others, shedding powerful light on boys’ body image struggles. All characters appear White.
A successful marriage of art and poetry. (Verse fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: May 2, 2023
ISBN: 9781665905152
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Feb. 7, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2023
A warm bundle of holiday cheer.
In a funny, feel-good tale, 12-year-old twins separated at birth meet by chance and try to pull off a family switch during the December holidays.
The girls, who are cued white, agree that it would be a delicious prank, but each has a personal motive, too: Aviva Davis, who was adopted by a culturally Jewish mom and a Black dad who was raised Christian, wonders what it’s like to celebrate Christmas. Budding author Holly Martin, who was adopted by a white-presenting single mom, sees a golden opportunity to gather experiences for a school writing assignment about facing her fears. In a plot as sweet as a Hanukkah jelly doughnut and twisty as a Christmas cinnamon roll, the pair just manages to bail one another out of a string of sticky situations—both hilarious and otherwise. They both learn something of the customs and meaning of the two holidays while working through tears and laughter—not to mention conflicts sparked by their very different personalities. Everything culminates in a holiday performance at a local senior center that will have readers rising up to cheer them on. Though their history remains tantalizingly mysterious, for the protagonists, who narrate alternating chapters, it’s mission accomplished and more: Aviva emerges feeling more secure in her Jewish identity, while anxious Holly discovers unexpected depths of courage.
A warm bundle of holiday cheer. (song lyrics) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 29, 2024
ISBN: 9781250360670
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often...
A successful juvenile by the beloved New Yorker writer portrays a farm episode with an imaginative twist that makes a poignant, humorous story of a pig, a spider and a little girl.
Young Fern Arable pleads for the life of runt piglet Wilbur and gets her father to sell him to a neighbor, Mr. Zuckerman. Daily, Fern visits the Zuckermans to sit and muse with Wilbur and with the clever pen spider Charlotte, who befriends him when he is lonely and downcast. At the news of Wilbur's forthcoming slaughter, campaigning Charlotte, to the astonishment of people for miles around, spins words in her web. "Some Pig" comes first. Then "Terrific"—then "Radiant". The last word, when Wilbur is about to win a show prize and Charlotte is about to die from building her egg sac, is "Humble". And as the wonderful Charlotte does die, the sadness is tempered by the promise of more spiders next spring.
The three way chats, in which they are joined by other animals, about web spinning, themselves, other humans—are as often informative as amusing, and the whole tenor of appealing wit and pathos will make fine entertainment for reading aloud, too.Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1952
ISBN: 978-0-06-026385-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1952
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
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