Nick ably joins Greg Heffley and Big Nate in comically maneuvering the minefield of middle school life.
Fry (Bully Bait, 2013) hits his stride in this second hilarious exploration of the hazards and histrionics of middle school, as seen through the eyes of Nick, the shortest seventh-grader ever.
Having shut down bullying at Emily Dickinson Middle School, the Odd Squad has little of importance to do. Molly’s growing friendship with a new girl at school makes Nick jealously seek attention. Wanting to prove that the ghost of the school’s poet is real and realizing that Emily appears only when someone is bullied, Nick bullies himself. Wrapped in toilet paper and stuffed into a trash can that hurtles down a staircase, Nick embarks on a series of disastrous yet funny choices that bring Zero Tolerance for Intolerance to the school. Abetted by his quirky grandmother, Memaw, Nick crashes the class field trip to King Potatamus’s Egyptopolis (and Water Park) in a wacky adventure that brings a flirtatious encounter between Mr. Dupree, the Shakespeare-quoting school janitor and Safety Patrol adviser, and Memaw, who, in Nick’s estimation, “could make a mime scream.” Amid the laugh-out-loud humor and abundant cartoon-style illustrations is an important message: While all kids may want to be normal, it’s OK to be oneself. Or as Memaw says, “Sweetie, normal is overrated.”
Nick ably joins Greg Heffley and Big Nate in comically maneuvering the minefield of middle school life. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 3, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4231-7099-0
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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