A worthy sequel in which the protagonist matures and flourishes in an exciting urban atmosphere.
The second installment of Gigi Shin’s story brings her to New York City for a summer art camp.
Seventh grade is over, and Gigi’s tutoring club has raised enough money for the four tutors to travel to New York City for Starscape, a summer program for the arts. Gigi is understandably excited: She’ll be together with her friends, learning from her favorite graphic novelist, Christiana Moon, and seeing her aunt Yeji. Unfortunately, Gigi ends up assigned to a different dorm from her friends, and Aunt Yeji keeps flaking on their plans. Even worse, Gigi’s graphic novel class is overwhelming, and Christiana Moon is critical and dismissive of both her artwork and her ideas. Gigi perseveres, however, thanks to her indominable spirit and support from friends, family, and new boyfriend Paul, and she still finds joy in the exhilarating experience of being independent in New York City—from eating pizza to finding inspiration at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. She also grows as an artist with help from children’s author Mr. Hernandez, another teacher mentor, and Sohee, her South Korean roommate, who becomes a new friend. Gigi blossoms, overcoming setbacks with determination and grace. This concise story moves quickly, keeping pages turning. Gigi’s and Paul’s Korean heritage are cued subtly, and the friends’ varied ethnic and economic backgrounds were previously established.
A worthy sequel in which the protagonist matures and flourishes in an exciting urban atmosphere. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: April 29, 2025
ISBN: 9781665939201
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 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
Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and...
Catrina narrates the story of her mixed-race (Latino/white) family’s move from Southern California to Bahía de la Luna on the Northern California coast.
Dad has a new job, but it’s little sister Maya’s lungs that motivate the move: she has had cystic fibrosis since birth—a degenerative breathing condition. Despite her health, Maya loves adventure, even if her lungs suffer for it and even when Cat must follow to keep her safe. When Carlos, a tall, brown, and handsome teen Ghost Tour guide introduces the sisters to the Bahía ghosts—most of whom were Spanish-speaking Mexicans when alive—they fascinate Maya and she them, but the terrified Cat wants only to get herself and Maya back to safety. When the ghost adventure leads to Maya’s hospitalization, Cat blames both herself and Carlos, which makes seeing him at school difficult. As Cat awakens to the meaning of Halloween and Day of the Dead in this strange new home, she comes to understand the importance of the ghosts both to herself and to Maya. Telgemeier neatly balances enough issues that a lesser artist would split them into separate stories and delivers as much delight textually as visually. The backmatter includes snippets from Telgemeier’s sketchbook and a photo of her in Día makeup.
Telgemeier’s bold colors, superior visual storytelling, and unusual subject matter will keep readers emotionally engaged and unable to put down this compelling tale. (Graphic fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-54061-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
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