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MAKER GIRL AND PROFESSOR SMARTS

Name: MAKER GIRL AND PROFESSOR SMARTS
Author: Jasmine Florentine
ISBN: 9781536227642

From the Maker Girl and Professor Smarts series , Vol. 1

by Jasmine Florentine ; illustrated by Jasmine Florentine ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 5, 2025

Engineering and chemistry save the day in this sunny series opener.

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With no superheroes in sight, a young maker and her brainy buddy pick up the slack when a villain threatens to turn all the ice cream in town into green slime.

In this series starter with a distinctly STEM-centric drift, 12-year-old gadgeteer Yael “Yaya” Levy springs into action, whipping up suitable costumes and dragging along her studious bestie, Jesús “Chuy” Reyes. Their mission: to prevent slime bomber Mr. Antifreeze from destroying the yummiest treat in New Bork City (“not a typo,” as a footnote makes clear). Readers will laugh at the banter and may even want to try out the step-by-step directions for two homemade creations, which help to head off the crisis. By book’s end, they’ll likely come to agree with the duo’s claims that “MAKING STUFF!” and “KNOWING STUFF!” are indeed superpowers. Other supervillains in town go by monikers such as the Fluffernator and “Snot Lady,” and Florentine allows readers to see Mr. Antifreeze’s vulnerable side; the level of actual or potential violence here is low. Thanks to dramatic poses and exaggerated expressions, the dynamic duo’s big personalities come through clearly in Florentine’s limber cartoon scenes. Yael is light-skinned, while Chuy is brown-skinned and cued Latine; the entire cast displays a broadly diverse range of racial and cultural identities.

Engineering and chemistry save the day in this sunny series opener. (character profiles, websites) (Graphic science fiction. 9-11)

Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2025

ISBN: 9781536227642

Page Count: 104

Publisher: MIT Kids Press/Candlewick

Review Posted Online: May 16, 2025

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2025

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY | GENERAL GRAPHIC NOVELS & COMICS

- BOOK REVIEW
HEX ALLEN
by Jasmine Florentine ; illustrated by Ebony Glenn

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TWISTER

by Darleen Bailey Beard ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 10, 1999

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A riveting adventure about an encounter with one of nature’s most formidable manifestations. Beard (The Flimflam Man, 1998, etc.) presents a suspenseful account of Lucille and her brother Natt’s experience during an afternoon tornado; readers will keep turning the pages until the climactic conclusion. Natt and Lucille are left alone in shelter of the cellar during the storm as their mother goes to assist an elderly neighbor. With quiet courage the two face the storm, relying upon each other for moral and physical support. Beard’s lyrical descriptions of Natt and Lucille’s experiences lend a you-are-there immediacy to the tale, while Carpenter’s generously colored artwork vibrates with the intensity of nature unleashed. Turquoise skies quickly turn to dark indigo as the storm approaches. Deep, foreboding grays predominate as Natt and Lucille wait out the storm; with the return of lighter skies and colors, the children emerge from their shelter. A rousing tale. (Picture book. 4-8)

Pub Date: March 10, 1999

ISBN: 0-374-37977-7

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1999

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION | CHILDREN'S SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

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DREAMS ARE MORE REAL THAN BATHTUBS

by Susan Musgrave ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 15, 1999

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The dream phantasms of a high-spirited narrator intersect, even crowd, reality, but the stream-of-consciousness text makes for a rambling, radically personal tale. Playful images of a stuffed lion, trampoline, purple shoes, and a cat named Pine-Cone take hold in a young girl’s imagination, despite her “old” mother who makes her go to bed when she’d rather “stay up early” and a big sister with a cranky disposition. At home, she likes counting flea bites and pretending to be a worm, but is afraid of the dark and going to Grade One. The second half of the book takes off in a separate first-day-of school direction. Wild dreams precede the big day, which includes bullies on the playground and instant friend Chelsea. The childlike articulations of the text are endearing, but not quite of universal interest, and don’t add up to a compelling story; children may more readily warm to Gay’s illustrations, which include a dreamlike flying cat, a menacing hot dog, and an uproarious stuffed toy looming over everyday domestic scenes. (Picture book. 4-7)