An informative coming-of-age journey.
A story of faith and courage.
Wisconsin eighth grader Anoop is bullied because of his Sikh religion; his classmates call him unspeakable names. Meanwhile, the gurudwara where the family worships is patrolled by the police; another Sikh temple in Wisconsin was attacked several years ago. Thirteen-year-old Anoop is part of a loving family, surrounded by siblings and friends, although his parents are worried about the health of Baba, his grandfather back in India. A visit to see Baba over winter break gives Anoop a feeling of “not belonging in either place / … / dangling between / India / and / America.” But as he begins to look deeply into his faith, he finds strength there and is able to assert that, despite what some people say, he is “anchored by invisible roots / that will keep me from toppling / … / No matter what happens. / No matter how they treat me.” The straightforward verse contains some bursts of sparkle but overall reads more like prose, and although a lot happens, the plot feels static. The novel contains a great deal of information about the Sikh religion. One of the most moving parts of the book is Sheth’s author’s note, in which she explains that she was raised Hindu and was sincerely moved by learning about the commitment of Sikhism’s founder, Guru Nanak Dev Ji, to equality as well as the Sikh community’s reaction to the 2012 shooting at the Oak Creek, Wisconsin, gurudwara.
An informative coming-of-age journey. (Verse fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: July 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781682636060
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: April 20, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
Poignant and heartwarming.
Zephyrina the cat, the “Robin Hood of felines,” rescues discarded toys so they can have new lives.
Zephyrina brings toys back to the apartment she shares with Elizaveta and her daughter, Dasha, refugees from war-torn Ukraine. Dasha reconditions Zephyrina’s rescues and sets them outside for three days, just in case they have owners who want to reclaim them. Afterward, they join the other toys in the parlor—the Second Chances Home for the Tossed and Treasured. Dasha and Elizaveta don’t know that the toys are sentient. At midnight they abandon their rigid daytime postures to cavort and play, overseen by their leader, Pocket, a tiny mascot bear made to comfort soldiers during World War I. One night, Zephyrina brings back a dirty old bear, and Pocket is astounded. The new arrival, Berwon, might come from a lost shipment of the first-ever stuffed bears, sent from Germany to the U.S. in 1903—and if so, he’s worth a fortune. In the ensuing antics, the unpleasant villain Picky Vicky covets Berwon, and a kind museum curator does, too, but for different reasons. Applegate’s writing is exquisitely nuanced; she couches profound themes in accessible language that depicts relatable situations. Gentle, generous Elizaveta and Dasha poignantly underscore the human impact of wars. Santoso’s enchanting, delicate, black-and-white illustrations bring the timeless feeling of a classic to this hopeful, humanizing story of the distressed looking out for each other.
Poignant and heartwarming. (author’s note) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2025
ISBN: 9781250904362
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: July 3, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2025
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