Some readers may find the gentle pace lacking in excitement, but for others, Robbie’s quietly affecting observations will...
Robbie, perhaps 9 or 10 years old, is a bit of a sobersides, a solemn young narrator, given to adult tone and phrasing in his spare, first-person, present-tense account of an unexpected adventure.
Robbie seems to withhold something of himself, unsure whether to trust his feelings even as he resents and longs for his similarly contained, talented mother. Robbie’s parents leave him and Ellie, his well-behaved dog, with Maddy, his grandmother, as they depart for a concert tour with his mother’s string quartet. Maddy has the ability to attract and communicate peacefully with the wild creatures of the forest, and it troubles Robbie that his parents find her eccentricity worrisome. And though the dog remembers Maddy’s doughnut dinner, apparently Maddy has forgotten ever meeting the dog when she quizzes Robbie about Ellie before their arrival. The stay at Maddy’s house becomes an inadvertent test of Robbie’s ability to trust as well as to meet a challenge when his grandmother is injured on an overnight camping trip and a bear comes close to camp. In learning that he can rely on his own strengths (“small truths,” as Henry puts it) Robbie also finds that he is able to be generous with his love.
Some readers may find the gentle pace lacking in excitement, but for others, Robbie’s quietly affecting observations will feel like truth. (Fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-199859-1
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 7, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2013
Move over Ramona Quimby, Portland has another neighbor you have to meet!
Ryan Hart is navigating the fourth grade and all its challenges with determination.
Her mom named her Ryan because it means “king,” and she wanted Ryan to feel powerful every time she heard her name; Ryan knows it means she is a leader. So when changes occur or disaster strikes, budding chef Ryan does her best to find the positive and “make sunshine.” When her dad is laid off from the post office, the family must make adjustments that include moving into a smaller house, selling their car, and changing how they shop for groceries. But Ryan gets to stay at Vernon Elementary, and her mom still finds a way to get her the ingredients she needs to practice new recipes. Her older brother, Ray, can be bossy, but he finds little ways to support her, especially when she is down—as does the whole family. Each episodic chapter confronts Ryan with a situation; intermittently funny, frustrating, and touching, they should be familiar and accessible to readers, as when Ryan fumbles her Easter speech despite careful practice. Ryan, her family, and friends are Black, and Watson continues to bring visibility to both Portland, Oregon, generally and its Black community specifically, making another wonderful contribution that allows Black readers to see themselves and all readers to find a character they can love.
Move over Ramona Quimby, Portland has another neighbor you have to meet! (Fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: April 28, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5476-0056-4
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
Ironically, by choosing such a dramatic catalyst, the author weakens the adventure’s impact overall and leaves readers to...
A group of talking farm animals catches wind of the farm owner’s intention to burn the barn (with them in it) for insurance money and hatches a plan to flee.
Bond begins briskly—within the first 10 pages, barn cat Burdock has overheard Dewey Baxter’s nefarious plan, and by Page 17, all of the farm animals have been introduced and Burdock is sharing the terrifying news. Grady, Dewey’s (ever-so-slightly) more principled brother, refuses to go along, but instead of standing his ground, he simply disappears. This leaves the animals to fend for themselves. They do so by relying on their individual strengths and one another. Their talents and personalities match their species, bringing an element of realism to balance the fantasy elements. However, nothing can truly compensate for the bland horror of the premise. Not the growing sense of family among the animals, the serendipitous intervention of an unknown inhabitant of the barn, nor the convenient discovery of an alternate home. Meanwhile, Bond’s black-and-white drawings, justly compared to those of Garth Williams, amplify the sense of dissonance. Charming vignettes and single- and double-page illustrations create a pastoral world into which the threat of large-scale violence comes as a shock.
Ironically, by choosing such a dramatic catalyst, the author weakens the adventure’s impact overall and leaves readers to ponder the awkward coincidences that propel the plot. (Animal fantasy. 8-10)Pub Date: July 7, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-544-33217-1
Page Count: 256
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: March 31, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2015
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