A fast read frothing over with sugary pep and cuteness
A preteen superfan must defend her favorite boy band when a new group tries to steal their spotlight.
In this second book in the VIP series, Mackenzie Lowell has officially been accepted into the inner circle of pop sensation Perfect Storm. Thanks to her tour-manager mother, the feisty 12-year-old tours with the band, spending her days on the road with the boys and her friend Jilly (whose father is their manager) and writing in her journal. A new band, with the suspiciously similar name Thunder and Lightning, has joined the tour and stolen the song that PS member Kyle had written for Mac. Then secrets from Mac's journal begin to show up on the vlog of a wannabe reporter (and Thunder and Lightning fan) named Bad Kitty. Mac and Jilly must unearth Bad Kitty's identity and stop her before it's too late. As a prank war escalates between the boy bands and Bad Kitty’s mean-spirited vlog gains followers, could PS' tour be—gasp—canceled? Though sufficiently suffused with the realistic energy of a preteen fan traveling with her favorite band, the mystery in this volume feels contrived; even the most novice detective would be able to guess Bad Kitty's identity long before any clues come to light. Despite the lack of depth, this offering’s high-energy, high-interest diary format interspersed with Mac’s comics keeps the pages turning. (With the exception of a character in the comic, the cast appears to be largely white.)
A fast read frothing over with sugary pep and cuteness . (Fiction. 7-12)Pub Date: July 26, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-316-25977-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
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
Eminently readable and appealing; will tug at dog-loving readers’ heartstrings.
A loquacious, lovable dog narrates the challenges of shelter life as he longs for a home.
Friendly three-legged Chance is the perfect guide to Dogtown, a shelter that houses both warmblooded and robot dogs. In fact, she’s “Management’s lucky charm,” roaming freely without being confined to a cage and leaving kibble for her mouse friend. Life is pretty good. But she still yearns for reunification with her family and, like many of the living pups, harbors suspicion of her robot counterparts, who are convenient and more easily adoptable but lacking in personality. When Metal Head, an oddly engineered e-dog, bonds with a child during a shelter reading program, Chance’s assumptions about heartless robot dogs are upended. As Chance connects with Metal Head, the two make a brief escape into the wider world, and Chance learns a familiar lesson: Everyone longs for a place to belong. Memories of Chance’s happy home loom large in her mind: Easy days with the Bessers, a sweet Black family, were disrupted by a neglectful dogsitter, the accident that cost Chance her leg, and Chance’s flight in search of safety. Chance’s chatty narrative style includes flashbacks, vignettes about fellow shelter pets, and thoughtful observations, for example, about the “boohoos,” or sad new arrivals. The story offers many moments of laughter and reflection, all greatly enhanced by West’s utterly charming grayscale illustrations of irresistible pooches.
Eminently readable and appealing; will tug at dog-loving readers’ heartstrings. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2023
ISBN: 9781250811608
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: July 13, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2023
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