A touching, intimate exploration of universal themes of trust, conformity, and the impact of family dynamics.
A Maryland seventh grader prepares to become a bat mitzvah while still worrying about typical middle school challenges.
From the dramatic opening sequence, readers are deeply immersed in 12-year-old Becky’s world, infused with food, friends, and family traditions. As part of a close-knit Jewish family, dark-haired, blue-eyed Becky, a talented flutist, navigates the pressures of observant life as a rabbi’s daughter while comparing herself to her seemingly perfect siblings. From maintaining appearances, to making questionable decisions, to grappling with interfaith relationships, the depiction of loving relationships among Becky and her siblings, parents, friends, and extended family is central to the charm of the story. Becky’s kind-natured good intentions come through in her actions, such as supporting a friend or choosing thoughtful presents for her brothers. But as she discovers the dangers of idealizing those around her and makes her own flawed choices, the tension rises. Employing a dual timeline, Milliner’s sophomore novel juxtaposes poetic present-day vignettes with richly detailed chapters set in the past, together showing Becky’s insights and growth. This heart-wrenching, emotional, compulsively readable work traces the evolution of secrets and lies. From minor omissions to catastrophic revelations, they strain relationships and test unshakable bonds, leading to tragedy but ultimately concluding with hope and a clearer path to self-awareness and understanding.
A touching, intimate exploration of universal themes of trust, conformity, and the impact of family dynamics. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: April 8, 2025
ISBN: 9780063311640
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2025
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
Heartwarming fare for young pet owners who feel the love and loyalty going both ways.
Devotion permeates this tale of a small dog who’s swept up in a peasants’ revolt against a greedy king.
Inflamed with righteousness in the wake of yet another tax hike, 12-year-old Tom has defied his parents to slip away and join the revolutionary Reds. Stoutly declaring that he’s a good dog, 5-year-old Rebel chases after him to bring his beloved boy back—and discovers a wide new world beyond the farm, fraught with dangers but also rich in animal friends offering help and advice. Just as beguiling as the furry narrator’s dog’s-eye view of events are his ongoing arguments with Jaxon, a gruff feral hound he meets along the way, who urges him to find his wild inner True Dog. Jaxon’s refusal to be bound by emotional attachments ultimately clashes with Rebel’s big, uncomplicated heart. Following a brush with death, Rebel encounters a mystical Companion, who offers him glimpses of dog heaven; when the climactic battle arrives, Rebel declares, “I get to decide what I do with my one and only life. And if I use it for anything, I’m going to use it for love.” The author brings the odyssey to a satisfactory conclusion with one last, pure affirmation of love. In this story set in an alternate Britain reminiscent of its 17th-century Civil War, Rebel distinguishes humans in the cast by their voices, smell, and dress.
Heartwarming fare for young pet owners who feel the love and loyalty going both ways. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: May 27, 2025
ISBN: 9781536246797
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: March 8, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
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