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THE PROBLEM WITH BEING SLIGHTLY HEROIC

Bits of Indian culture and Bollywood drama add delicious undertones to this confection, a treat for middle-grade readers.

Best friends Dini and Maddie and Bollywood movie star Dolly Singh, from Krishnaswami’s The Grand Plan to Fix Everything (2011), return for a breathless dance through Washington, D.C.

Dini’s visit from India, where she’s been living, back to Takoma Park, Md., reunites the sixth-graders. They plan to take part in the grand opening of the star’s latest film, part of an Indian festival at the Smithsonian. But this dance doesn’t progress smoothly: The flighty star has lost her passport; she wants an elephant for the festival parade; she needs rose-petal milkshakes and a really nice cake for her party. And there’s more. The caterers have canceled. Maddie hopes her new friend Brenna can be part of their performance. When Mini, a young elephant in the National Zoo, takes off down Connecticut Avenue, the tranquilizing dart meant for her hits Dolly’s husband. Jumping from one scene to another, the fast-paced, present-tense narrative conveys Dini’s jittery jet-lagged feeling as she struggles to choreograph her own steps and to make Dolly happy. Just as the star drops jewelry, the author flings pieces of plot everywhere, but she pulls it all back together in fine Bollywood style. Halpin’s grayscale illustrations (final art not seen) add flavor.

Bits of Indian culture and Bollywood drama add delicious undertones to this confection, a treat for middle-grade readers. (Fiction. 9-12)

Pub Date: Aug. 13, 2013

ISBN: 978-1-4424-2328-2

Page Count: 288

Publisher: Atheneum

Review Posted Online: May 21, 2013

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2013

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I AM REBEL

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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CLUES TO THE UNIVERSE

Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven.

An aspiring scientist and a budding artist become friends and help each other with dream projects.

Unfolding in mid-1980s Sacramento, California, this story stars 12-year-olds Rosalind and Benjamin as first-person narrators in alternating chapters. Ro’s father, a fellow space buff, was killed by a drunk driver; the rocket they were working on together lies unfinished in her closet. As for Benji, not only has his best friend, Amir, moved away, but the comic book holding the clue for locating his dad is also missing. Along with their profound personal losses, the protagonists share a fixation with the universe’s intriguing potential: Ro decides to complete the rocket and hopes to launch mementos of her father into outer space while Benji’s conviction that aliens and UFOs are real compels his imagination and creativity as an artist. An accident in science class triggers a chain of events forcing Benji and Ro, who is new to the school, to interact and unintentionally learn each other’s secrets. They resolve to find Benji’s dad—a famous comic-book artist—and partner to finish Ro’s rocket for the science fair. Together, they overcome technical, scheduling, and geographical challenges. Readers will be drawn in by amusing and fantastical elements in the comic book theme, high emotional stakes that arouse sympathy, and well-drawn character development as the protagonists navigate life lessons around grief, patience, self-advocacy, and standing up for others. Ro is biracial (Chinese/White); Benji is White.

Charming, poignant, and thoughtfully woven. (Fiction. 9-12)

Pub Date: Jan. 12, 2021

ISBN: 978-0-06-300888-5

Page Count: 304

Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins

Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2020

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2020

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