Myers' third fine book this year—unlike Fallen Angels (p. 696/C- 114) and Scorpions (p. 764/C-126)—is relatively light-hearted, involving kids playing Little League baseball near Jersey City, N.J. Still—though the exciting play-by-play games will satisfy sports buffs—narrator T.J. tells more than a baseball story. He and his younger brother, "Moondance," adopted only six months ago, are not yet at ease with their new parents, especially Dad—who played pro ball and is oblivious to the pain T.J. feels at his own inadequecies. Their friend "Mop" is still at the Catholic orphanage, but will be adopted at book's end by their coach, Marla; Mop and Marla's growing affection is one of the book's many deftly portrayed interactions. Moondance has the makings of a fine pitcher; even T.J. improves sufficiently to win Dad's approbation, with the help of some neatly sketched minor characters: Sister Carmelita, a young nun who's often in trouble; Peaches, a derelict with heart. The rival team, a bunch of heckling poor sports, is led by a coach whose unfair tactics include getting a man from Child Welfare to remove Mop as catcher in the middle of a championship game because she's a girl—a telling analogy to the proverbial politics of Jersey City. Much is conveyed here by few words: Myers makes every bit of dialogue reveal character, every action count. There are nifty vignettes: an old nun taking a losing team out for pizza and comforting them with the agony of St. Sebastian; T.J. rescuing Moondance's old toy bear from the toilet it's accidentally clogging. Some of these people are black, some white; if anyone needs to know, the illustrations reveal which are which. An easily enjoyed story, yet thoughtful, perceptive, and possessing real depth.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1988
ISBN: 0440403960
Page Count: -
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Oct. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1988
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
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story.
A home-renovation project is interrupted by a family of wrens, allowing a young girl an up-close glimpse of nature.
Renata and her father enjoy working on upgrading their bathroom, installing a clawfoot bathtub, and cutting a space for a new window. One warm night, after Papi leaves the window space open, two wrens begin making a nest in the bathroom. Rather than seeing it as an unfortunate delay of their project, Renata and Papi decide to let the avian carpenters continue their work. Renata witnesses the birth of four chicks as their rosy eggs split open “like coats that are suddenly too small.” Renata finds at a crucial moment that she can help the chicks learn to fly, even with the bittersweet knowledge that it will only hasten their exits from her life. Rosen uses lively language and well-chosen details to move the story of the baby birds forward. The text suggests the strong bond built by this Afro-Latinx father and daughter with their ongoing project without needing to point it out explicitly, a light touch in a picture book full of delicate, well-drawn moments and precise wording. Garoche’s drawings are impressively detailed, from the nest’s many small bits to the developing first feathers on the chicks and the wall smudges and exposed wiring of the renovation. (This book was reviewed digitally with 10-by-20-inch double-page spreads viewed at actual size.)
Renata’s wren encounter proves magical, one most children could only wish to experience outside of this lovely story. (Picture book. 3-7)Pub Date: March 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-12320-1
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2021
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
