Well-meaning but problematic. (Fiction. 12-14)
Alternating chapters tell the story of two teens who meet through their high school’s Best Buddies program, which pairs cognitively normative students with those with intellectual and developmental disabilities.
Madeline, a 14-year-old freshman, still copes with the effects of a traumatic brain injury she suffered falling off her bike six years before. Her Best Buddy, Justin, a senior, is dealing with his mother’s severe depression following the death of his autistic younger sister from anorexia. Madeline persuades Justin to accompany her to the ranch where she works with miniature therapy horses; Justin gets his mother to come along. Meanwhile Becky, Maddie’s twin, has started sneaking out with new goth friends. That’s a lot of melodrama for a brief novel, but what’s worse is the subtle thread of ableism running through the book. In the sections narrated by Maddie, her literary voice sounds neurotypical, but her spoken voice and actions are slow and incoherent. “We get called a lot of names,” she tells readers, “losers, dummies, brain-deads.” Meanwhile, Justin’s mother refuses therapy and medication (it makes her “dopey”), but she substantially recovers when Justin takes her to the horses—dangerously stereotyping antidepressants and making Justin the savior. The IDD members of the Best Buddies club are all identified by their disabilities alone, while the normative members run the show.
Well-meaning but problematic. (Fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-988347-03-5
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Clockwise Press
Review Posted Online: June 4, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2017
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel,...
Adventure drags our heroine all over the map of fantasyland while giving her the opportunity to use her smarts.
Elisa—Princess Lucero-Elisa de Riqueza of Orovalle—has been chosen for Service since the day she was born, when a beam of holy light put a Godstone in her navel. She's a devout reader of holy books and is well-versed in the military strategy text Belleza Guerra, but she has been kept in ignorance of world affairs. With no warning, this fat, self-loathing princess is married off to a distant king and is embroiled in political and spiritual intrigue. War is coming, and perhaps only Elisa's Godstone—and knowledge from the Belleza Guerra—can save them. Elisa uses her untried strategic knowledge to always-good effect. With a character so smart that she doesn't have much to learn, body size is stereotypically substituted for character development. Elisa’s "mountainous" body shrivels away when she spends a month on forced march eating rat, and thus she is a better person. Still, it's wonderfully refreshing to see a heroine using her brain to win a war rather than strapping on a sword and charging into battle.
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel, reminiscent of Naomi Kritzer's Fires of the Faithful (2002), keeps this entry fresh. (Fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-202648-4
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
A charming adaptation.
A miscommunication leaves Matthew and Marilla Cuthbert responsible for a plucky, effusive orphan girl instead of the boy they’d expected to help maintain their farm.
Retold in traditional manga format, with right-to-left panel orientation and detailed black-and-white linework, this adaptation is delightfully faithful to the source text. Larger panels establish the idyllic country landscape while subtle text boxes identify the setting—Prince Edward Island, Canada, in the 1870s. The book follows redheaded Anne Shirley from her arrival at Green Gables at 11 to her achievement of a college scholarship. In the intervening years, Anne finds stability, friendship, personal growth, and ambition in Avonlea and in the strict but well-intentioned Cuthbert siblings’ household. The familiar story is enhanced by the exciting new format and lush illustrations. A variety of panel layouts provides visual freshness, maintaining reader interest. Backmatter includes the floor plan of the Green Gables house, as well as interior and exterior views, and notes about research on the actual location. A description of the process of adapting the novel to this visual format indicates the care that was taken to highlight particular elements of the story as well as to remain faithful to the smallest details. Readers who find the original text challenging will welcome this as an aid to comprehension and Anne’s existing fans will savor a fresh perspective on their beloved story. All characters appear to be White.
A charming adaptation. (Graphic fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-947808-18-8
Page Count: 308
Publisher: Manga Classics
Review Posted Online: Aug. 18, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2020
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