A moving quest of family, survival, and home.
When a Mexican family stops hearing from the eldest brother, working in the States, 12-year-old Mateo risks everything and runs away in search of Julian.
In this timely novel, Mateo leaves his home, Abuelita, Mami, and the youngest brother, Lucas, in the middle of the night—with no more than a backpack, notepad, pesos, and a little food and water—and heads north for Arkansas, Julian’s last known whereabouts. Injured and abandoned, Mateo meets Angel, a savvy, strong young girl. Though upon her introduction, Angel is far from feeble or fragile, as the story advances, her character loses the strength and depth she initially brings to the journey. Cognizant of the dangers before them, they swim the river into Texas undetected and proceed, often at odds while simultaneously entirely dependent on each other. The chapters toggle among Mateo’s narration, his journal entries, his memories, and dreams, which all hint at syncopated moments of magical realism, like so many Mexican tales. Two-time Newbery Honor winner Giff successfully delivers an accessibly fast-paced, novella-length adventure; moreover, its colorful, stunning cover will surely attract readers. Naturally there is Spanish punctuating the novel, though it’s minimal; Mateo’s commentary on his English lessons feels more like vocabulary building for native English speakers than the introductory vocabulary a native Spanish speaker would be learning.
A moving quest of family, survival, and home. (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-74482-9
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Wendy Lamb/Random
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.
The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.
When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.
Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs. (Graphic/fiction hybrid. 8-12)Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019
SEEN & HEARD
A warm bundle of holiday cheer.
In a funny, feel-good tale, 12-year-old twins separated at birth meet by chance and try to pull off a family switch during the December holidays.
The girls, who are cued white, agree that it would be a delicious prank, but each has a personal motive, too: Aviva Davis, who was adopted by a culturally Jewish mom and a Black dad who was raised Christian, wonders what it’s like to celebrate Christmas. Budding author Holly Martin, who was adopted by a white-presenting single mom, sees a golden opportunity to gather experiences for a school writing assignment about facing her fears. In a plot as sweet as a Hanukkah jelly doughnut and twisty as a Christmas cinnamon roll, the pair just manages to bail one another out of a string of sticky situations—both hilarious and otherwise. They both learn something of the customs and meaning of the two holidays while working through tears and laughter—not to mention conflicts sparked by their very different personalities. Everything culminates in a holiday performance at a local senior center that will have readers rising up to cheer them on. Though their history remains tantalizingly mysterious, for the protagonists, who narrate alternating chapters, it’s mission accomplished and more: Aviva emerges feeling more secure in her Jewish identity, while anxious Holly discovers unexpected depths of courage.
A warm bundle of holiday cheer. (song lyrics) (Fiction. 8-12)Pub Date: Oct. 29, 2024
ISBN: 9781250360670
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2024
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