A beginner thriller with some real gems in it.
Stylish 10-year-old Jada Sly does not believe that her diplomat mother died in a plane crash; can her new top-secret spy crew help her decode the mystery behind her disappearance?
Jada’s father has been named the new director of the African-American Sly family museum, causing the little family to relocate from France to New York City. Papa calls her a “strong little black woman,” but she’s been having panic attacks since that crash. She also insists that her mother is alive. After all, Jada’s convinced Mama was really a spy, so her disappearance must just be part of a mission. At her new school, she befriends Brooklyn, another African-American girl, who introduces her to the secret spy club, and Jada is thrilled to enlist their help with her real-life mystery. All Jada knows is the name of a co-worker her mom mentioned before rushing off to allegedly catch her flight. Armed with that knowledge and glimpsing furtive men everywhere, she hatches a plan with her friends. While Jada’s family history and her interest in art are memorable, her narration doesn’t quite find its footing, at times sparkling but at others repetitive. The thriller plot is aimed squarely at genre beginners, requiring readers to follow Jada’s reasoning without question in order to find satisfaction in the over-the-top conclusion. The book’s design, however, with both Winston’s own grayscale illustrations and select text picked out with red highlights, is as snazzy as Jada.
A beginner thriller with some real gems in it. (Mystery. 8-12)Pub Date: May 14, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-316-50536-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2019
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
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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