Lily, a ten-year-old latchkey kid, depends upon the kindness of her neighbors on the third floor of her apartment building whenever she forgets her key. She usually avoids Apartment 3D because Mr. Freeman is mean, nasty, and argumentative. In addition, his four ugly cats yowl ceaselessly. But one day she discovers that underneath the grouchy exterior is a kind man who takes in stray cats and shares his meager existence with them. When Mr. Freeman dies, Lily negotiates an agreement with the landlord to give her time to find homes for the animals before he calls the ASPCA. In doing so, she discovers that beauty really is in the eye of the beholder, as she finds just the right homes for three of them. The fourth is allowed to maintain his independence, with a little help from Lily, in the form of an occasional bowl of food on the fire escape. Sachs constructs a slight plot, without side issues. Whatever deeper meanings might be discovered are left undeveloped. And that’s all right. A more mature reader might see that Mr. Freeman’s nearly empty refrigerator is indicative of poverty, and that the “witchy woman” seems to want one particular cat only because it might be valuable. But the work also appeals as a straightforward story, told in the first person by an engaging child who recognizes and responds to kindness. The text does not crowd the page and is liberally illustrated with simple, child-like black line drawings by Litzinger, who is given credit only in the copyright information. A sweet read. (Fiction. 7-10)
Pub Date: April 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-84581-2
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Richard Jackson/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2002
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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