A fast-paced story that, despite its life lesson, never feels preachy.
When 9-year-old Nina Soni tries to fix her little sister’s quirkiness, she learns an important lesson about being yourself.
Kavita is weird. She makes up nonsensical songs, spontaneously dances in public, and innocently tells family secrets—like how Nina once turned her stomach yellow by putting turmeric on it as a tummy-ache cure. When Nina’s best friend, Jay (who is biracial, with a white dad and Indian mom), invites Nina’s family to stay at his family’s cabin for spring break, Nina is worried that Kavita’s weirdness will spoil the whole trip. She decides to correct her sister’s weirdest quality—her tendency to break into song—in the three days leading up to vacation. But to effect her plan, Nina starts doing some pretty weird things herself, like making a beaver dam over her neighbor’s storm drain. It makes Nina realize that Kavita isn’t the only weird one—and that maybe, weirdness is something to celebrate. As in series opener Nina Soni, Former Best Friend (2019), Sheth’s clear and distinctive narratorial voice effortlessly leads readers through the intricacies of Nina’s quirky, innocent world. At times, the plot seems to wander, but the various threads tie together beautifully at the end, creating a satisfying and believable character arc. The children’s Indian heritage is cleverly woven into the storyline, infusing their lives without eclipsing their American identities.
A fast-paced story that, despite its life lesson, never feels preachy. (Fiction. 7-10)Pub Date: April 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-68263-054-9
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Peachtree
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
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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
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode.
A long-running series reaches its closing chapters.
Having, as Kline notes in her warm valedictory acknowledgements, taken 30 years to get through second and third grade, Harry Spooger is overdue to move on—but not just into fourth grade, it turns out, as his family is moving to another town as soon as the school year ends. The news leaves his best friend, narrator “Dougo,” devastated…particularly as Harry doesn’t seem all that fussed about it. With series fans in mind, the author takes Harry through a sort of last-day-of-school farewell tour. From his desk he pulls a burned hot dog and other items that featured in past episodes, says goodbye to Song Lee and other classmates, and even (for the first time ever) leads Doug and readers into his house and memento-strewn room for further reminiscing. Of course, Harry isn’t as blasé about the move as he pretends, and eyes aren’t exactly dry when he departs. But hardly is he out of sight before Doug is meeting Mohammad, a new neighbor from Syria who (along with further diversifying a cast that began as mostly white but has become increasingly multiethnic over the years) will also be starting fourth grade at summer’s end, and planning a written account of his “horrible” buddy’s exploits. Finished illustrations not seen.
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Nov. 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-451-47963-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
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BOOK REVIEW
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