A delightful celebration of friendship, fandom, and finding the confidence to be yourself.
Four girls with the same first name bond over music, middle school, and friendship.
A new school year and the dream of attending a Taylor Swift concert set the stage for a sweet, relationship-driven story. Shy, anxious Taylor Bennett, who goes by “Teffy,” starts fifth grade feeling out of place—until she meets three other girls named Taylor, each a devoted Swiftie like her. There’s loyal, bold athlete Taylor “TS” Shaw, imaginative, fast-talking Taylor “Tay Tay” Johnson, and outspoken, magnetic Taylor Perez. Their shared name and their love of the pop star’s lyrics spark an instant connection that helps Teffy push past her fear of making new friends. Together, the Taylors face cafeteria drama, social setbacks, and the ultimate quest: finding affordable tickets to the Eras Tour. The story captures middle school experiences with authenticity and humor, centering on girls who lead with kindness, creativity, and self-empowerment. The conflicts stay age-appropriate—friendship politics, shifting lunch tables, the development of a sense of identity—but the emotional stakes feel real. Teffy’s internal monologue, her admiration for her namesake, and her slow-building confidence are especially resonant. Musical references, an inclusive cast (the Taylors are cued white, Black, and Latine), and a cozy Indianapolis school setting enrich the narrative. Concert dreams and friendship bracelets add charm to this upbeat, affirming tale.
A delightful celebration of friendship, fandom, and finding the confidence to be yourself. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781546176770
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Aug. 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
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
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
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SEEN & HEARD
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