Toothsome fare for young venture naturalists.
Another episode of the game show where toothy judges mull pitches from animals with features that, this time, just might inspire advances or improvements in medical techniques or technology.
The literal “shark tank” hears from one of its own in this second round as Great White swaggers onstage to talk up the potential of hospital walls made of antibacterial denticles like the ones coating its sandpapery skin. The competition is fierce, though, with a Darwin’s bark spider touting a range of specialized silks including one that may promote healing in severed nerves, a coconut octopus showing off suckers that could be adapted to make bandages that stay on when wet, and several other creatures with similarly enticing features—all trying to sell themselves, along with their notional products, by offering background details about their species and habits. Wordless panels between and during the presentations offer funny sight gags and the animal audience’s sometimes underwhelming reactions. Of course, there can be only one winner, announced with suitable drama. But readers intrigued by the pitches and the judges’ questions will find expanded explanations of every entry at the end, with leads to further information online. Human presence is minimal, though characters of color do appear.
Toothsome fare for young venture naturalists. (Graphic nonfiction. 8-11)Pub Date: April 22, 2025
ISBN: 9781250805287
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
A wild romp that champions making space for vulnerable creatures and each other.
A boy with ADHD explores nature and himself.
Eleven-year-old Jake Rizzi just wants to be seen as “normal”; he blames his brain for leading him into trouble and making him do things that annoy his peers and even his own parents. Case in point: He’s stuck spending a week in rural Oregon with an aunt he barely knows while his parents go on vacation. Jake’s reluctance changes as he learns about the town’s annual festival, during which locals search for a fabled turtle. But news of this possibly undiscovered species has spread. Although Aunt Hettle insists to Jake that it’s only folklore, the fame-hungry convene, sure that the Ruby-Backed Turtle is indeed real—just as Jake discovers is the case. Keeping its existence secret is critical to protecting the rare creature from a poacher and others with ill intentions. Readers will keep turning pages to find out how Jake and new friend Mia will foil the caricatured villains. Along the way, Bramucci packs in teachable moments around digital literacy, mindfulness, and ecological interdependence, along with the message that “the only way to protect the natural world is to love it.” Jake’s inner monologue elucidates the challenges and benefits of ADHD as well as practical coping strategies. Whether or not readers share Jake’s diagnosis, they’ll empathize with his insecurities. Jake and his family present white; Mia is Black, and names of secondary characters indicate some ethnic diversity.
A wild romp that champions making space for vulnerable creatures and each other. (Adventure. 8-11)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2023
ISBN: 9781547607020
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
A contemplation on the magic of friendship told with sweetness, simplicity, and science.
A science-loving 11-year-old moves to a new neighborhood and entertains herself by making robots out of found objects while wishing for real friends.
Penny Rose Mooney, daughter of an entomologist and a banker, eventually finds a soul mate in neighbor Lark Hinkle, a bird-watcher and birdhouse maker. Penny struggles with social interactions in ways that are suggestive of high-functioning autism-spectrum challenges and keeps several notebooks, including her most secret one—Conversation Starters. The girls team up to make roboTown, a metropolis of lights and discarded items cleverly reused. Their newfound friendship is tested when Penny, a statewide science-competition winner, is asked to join the Secret Science Society, leading her to break a promise made in their joint proclamation agreement. The two main girl characters are white; race and ethnicity are less clear for the other characters. A key boy character is immature, poorly behaved, and ultimately ridiculed. Otherwise, however, picture-book author Crimi infuses this unassuming transitional novel with compassion, humor, and a refreshing storyline in which girls organically weave a love for science into their everyday lives. Illustrations by Luyken add to the guileless sensibility.
A contemplation on the magic of friendship told with sweetness, simplicity, and science. (Fiction. 8-11)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-7636-9493-7
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2019
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