A funny, cautionary tale for the age of social media
Beware the dangers of YouTube celebrity!
Eleven-year-old Isabella is in a serious bind. Her cousin Vincent, who is a film school student, filmed her playing herself for a class project. And what a character she is! A white New Jersey girl from an Italian-American family, her character is portrayed with an over-the-top, frenetic brush. Every archetype of both Jersey and Italian-Americans is pushed to the max with warmth and a sense of humor. When Vincent posts his video on YouTube, Isabella becomes an instant sensation. Unfortunately, Isabella has been leading a double life. She has just started attending a private school and, in an effort to fit in with her peers, has been pretending to come from a much more glamorous background. Now with her newfound but most definitely unwanted celebrity she will be exposed as a “fibbing, faking, phony.” The story is told in a mix of narrated film scenes (with the occasional multiple take) and Pham’s comic art, both contributing to accelerate the pace of the account. This is a timely story in an age where kids are being constantly reminded of the perils of revealing too much on social media.
A funny, cautionary tale for the age of social media . (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 10-12)Pub Date: Oct. 11, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-544-14846-8
Page Count: 208
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
The Baudelaire children—Violet, 14, Klaus, 12, and baby Sunny—are exceedingly ill-fated; Snicket extracts both humor and horror from their situation, as he gleefully puts them through one terrible ordeal after another. After receiving the news that their parents died in a fire, the three hapless orphans are delivered into the care of Count Olaf, who “is either a third cousin four times removed, or a fourth cousin three times removed.” The villainous Count Olaf is morally depraved and generally mean, and only takes in the downtrodden yet valiant children so that he can figure out a way to separate them from their considerable inheritance. The youngsters are able to escape his clutches at the end, but since this is the first installment in A Series of Unfortunate Events, there will be more ghastly doings. Written with old-fashioned flair, this fast-paced book is not for the squeamish: the Baudelaire children are truly sympathetic characters who encounter a multitude of distressing situations. Those who enjoy a little poison in their porridge will find it wicked good fun. (b&w illustrations, not seen) (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Sept. 30, 1999
ISBN: 0-06-440766-7
Page Count: 162
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1999
A beautifully rendered setting enfolds a disappointing plot.
In sixth grade, Izzy Mancini’s cozy, loving world falls apart.
She and her family have moved out of the cottage she grew up in. Her mother has spent the summer on Block Island instead of at home with Izzy. Her father has recently returned from military service in Afghanistan partially paralyzed and traumatized. The only people she can count on are Zelda and Piper, her best friends since kindergarten—that is, until the Haidary family moves into the upstairs apartment. At first, Izzy resents the new guests from Afghanistan even though she knows she should be grateful that Dr. Haidary saved her father’s life. But despite her initial resistance (which manifests at times as racism), as Izzy gets to know Sitara, the Haidarys’ daughter, she starts to question whether Zelda and Piper really are her friends for forever—and whether she has the courage to stand up for Sitara against the people she loves. Ferruolo weaves a rich setting, fully immersing readers in the largely white, coastal town of Seabury, Rhode Island. Disappointingly, the story resolves when Izzy convinces her classmates to accept Sitara by revealing the Haidarys’ past as American allies, a position that put them in so much danger that they had to leave home. The idea that Sitara should be embraced only because her family supported America, rather than simply because she is a human being, significantly undermines the purported message of tolerance for all.
A beautifully rendered setting enfolds a disappointing plot. (Fiction. 10-12)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-374-30909-1
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
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