A sweet friendship story tied neatly in a ballet bun.
Moving is tough, but if it means that ballet-loving Yara gets to take lessons at a real dance studio, she’s ready for the challenge.
On Yara’s first day of ballet class with Miss Diamond at the Shimmer and Shine dance school, her nerves are calmed by welcoming new friends—especially a girl named Indu who’s also in her class at school. Yara’s parents insist that she prioritize schoolwork over ballet, but how can she focus when all she can think about is dance? Balancing school and ballet gets even trickier when Shimmer and Shine’s wealthy, uptight owner threatens to close the studio. Miss Diamond’s class resolves to stage a performance of Tchaikovsky’s The Sleeping Beauty in an attempt to save the studio, and Yara lands the leading role. But when Yara’s schoolwork falls by the wayside, will she get back on track? Gentle grayscale illustrations cheerfully match the easy tone of the story. While Yara’s conflicts are wrapped up with surprising ease, ballet enthusiasts and fans of friendship stories will enjoy its warmth and charm. Biracial Yara has light brown skin (her pale-skinned mother is Belgian, and her father has brown skin), while the rest of the ballet besties are diverse, and Indu is cued South Asian.
A sweet friendship story tied neatly in a ballet bun. (glossary of ballet terms, ballet basics, story of The Sleeping Beauty, recipe) (Fiction. 6-9)Pub Date: Sept. 9, 2025
ISBN: 9781536243796
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists.
How to raise money for a coveted poster: put your friends to work!
John, founder of the FUBU fashion line and a Shark Tank venture capitalist, offers a self-referential blueprint for financial success. Having only half of the $10 he needs for a Minka J poster, Daymond forks over $1 to buy a plain T-shirt, paints a picture of the pop star on it, sells it for $5, and uses all of his cash to buy nine more shirts. Then he recruits three friends to decorate them with his design and help sell them for an unspecified amount (from a conveniently free and empty street-fair booth) until they’re gone. The enterprising entrepreneur reimburses himself for the shirts and splits the remaining proceeds, which leaves him with enough for that poster as well as a “brand-new business book,” while his friends express other fiscal strategies: saving their share, spending it all on new art supplies, or donating part and buying a (math) book with the rest. (In a closing summation, the author also suggests investing in stocks, bonds, or cryptocurrency.) Though Miles cranks up the visual energy in her sparsely detailed illustrations by incorporating bright colors and lots of greenbacks, the actual advice feels a bit vague. Daymond is Black; most of the cast are people of color. (This book was reviewed digitally.)
It’s hard to argue with success, but guides that actually do the math will be more useful to budding capitalists. (Picture book. 7-9)Pub Date: March 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-593-56727-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode.
A long-running series reaches its closing chapters.
Having, as Kline notes in her warm valedictory acknowledgements, taken 30 years to get through second and third grade, Harry Spooger is overdue to move on—but not just into fourth grade, it turns out, as his family is moving to another town as soon as the school year ends. The news leaves his best friend, narrator “Dougo,” devastated…particularly as Harry doesn’t seem all that fussed about it. With series fans in mind, the author takes Harry through a sort of last-day-of-school farewell tour. From his desk he pulls a burned hot dog and other items that featured in past episodes, says goodbye to Song Lee and other classmates, and even (for the first time ever) leads Doug and readers into his house and memento-strewn room for further reminiscing. Of course, Harry isn’t as blasé about the move as he pretends, and eyes aren’t exactly dry when he departs. But hardly is he out of sight before Doug is meeting Mohammad, a new neighbor from Syria who (along with further diversifying a cast that began as mostly white but has become increasingly multiethnic over the years) will also be starting fourth grade at summer’s end, and planning a written account of his “horrible” buddy’s exploits. Finished illustrations not seen.
A fitting farewell, still funny, acute, and positive in its view of human nature even in its 37th episode. (Fiction. 7-9)Pub Date: Nov. 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-451-47963-1
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Sept. 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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