“ ‘ . . . i’m gonna beat / out my own rhythm,’ ” proclaims the child in Nikki Giovanni’s “The Drum,” and Morrison (I Scream You Scream, 1997, etc.) expands on that theme with 44 more forthrightly feminist declarations. These include Luci Tapahonso’s memories of her grandmother, who tamed wild horses and hated cooking, Ogden Nash’s Isabel—“ ‘She washed her hands and she straightened her hair up, / then Isabel quietly ate the bear up’ ”—plus poems commemorating the courageous acts or athletic accomplishments of Harriet Tubman, Elizabeth Blackwell, Georgia O’Keeffe, ocean explorer Sylvia Earle, Fannie Lou Hamer (“ ‘big as a fist / black as the ground / underfoot’ ”), and more. The wide-ranging contributors include J. Patrick Lewis, Alice Walker, Emily Dickinson, and Eve Merriam, as well as a couple pieces from Morrison herself. In Boyajian’s sketchy, freely brushed ink drawings, girls and women leap, fly, or stand sturdily on two feet, giving visual expression to the joy and self-confidence that radiates from all of these testimonials. Morrison closes with notes on the historical figures here, though no information about the poets—still, this makes uplifting reading, meriting a place alongside Ann Whitford Paul’s All By Herself (1999) and Isabel Joshlin Glaser’s Dreams of Glory: Poems Starring Girls (1995). (Poetry. 8-12)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-618-06892-9
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Poet Alexander deftly reveals the power of the format to pack an emotional punch.
Basketball-playing twins find challenges to their relationship on and off the court as they cope with changes in their lives.
Josh Bell and his twin, Jordan, aka JB, are stars of their school basketball team. They are also successful students, since their educator mother will stand for nothing else. As the two middle schoolers move to a successful season, readers can see their differences despite the sibling connection. After all, Josh has dreadlocks and is quiet on court, and JB is bald and a trash talker. Their love of the sport comes from their father, who had also excelled in the game, though his championship was achieved overseas. Now, however, he does not have a job and seems to have health problems the parents do not fully divulge to the boys. The twins experience their first major rift when JB is attracted to a new girl in their school, and Josh finds himself without his brother. This novel in verse is rich in character and relationships. Most interesting is the family dynamic that informs so much of the narrative, which always reveals, never tells. While Josh relates the story, readers get a full picture of major and minor players. The basketball action provides energy and rhythm for a moving story.
Poet Alexander deftly reveals the power of the format to pack an emotional punch. (Verse fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: March 18, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-544-10771-7
Page Count: 240
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Dec. 17, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2014
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
Rich, naturalistic details will delight lovers of marine life.
A Monterey Bay sea otter comes of age.
Odder’s mom told her to stay away from sharks, humans, and anything else she didn’t understand, but after saving her friend Kairi from a shark attack, she encounters all three. Injured herself during the rescue, Odder ends up recuperating at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, or Highwater as the otters call it, where she once lived as a young orphaned pup. Last time, the humans helped her reintegrate into the wild, but because of her injuries this time the outcome might be different. Soon Kairi is there too, stricken with “the shaking sickness” and having lost her newborn pup. Now Kairi is fostering a new pup, and soon one is introduced to an initially reluctant Odder in hopes that she will help raise it so it can return to the wild. The free verse effortlessly weaves in scientific information, giving Odder a voice without overly anthropomorphizing any of the animals. The natural appeal of sea otters will draw readers in, but the book doesn’t shy away from real-world threats such as predators, disease, and pollution. Loosely based on the stories of real sea otters rehabilitated at the Monterey Bay Aquarium, this novel will give readers lots to talk about, but uneven pacing and a rushed ending may leave some unsatisfied. Charming black-and-white spot art captures the world and life of the sea.
Rich, naturalistic details will delight lovers of marine life. (glossary, author’s note, bibliography, resources) (Verse novel. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 20, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-250-14742-4
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2022
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