Children’s Book Reviews: Week of 6/18/2007

Areticent raccoon named Rory overcomes his separation anxiety in Mitchard’s (Now You See Her) somewhat protracted story. Rory is dreading an upcoming sleepover with his aunt and cousins while his parents attend a “gourmet garbage party.” He knows it will be good practice for his first night at the Remarkable Raccoon Suburban School, but he remains resistant. Mitchard encapsulates what many new students feel as the first school day approaches: “Rory knew he wasn’t a baby kit anymore. He just couldn’t admit he didn’t want to go! Still, he didn’t feel happy when his parents weren’t nearby.” Rátz de Tagyos’s (Rooster Can’t Cock-A-Doodle-Doo) appealing illustrations depict the accoutrements of a comfortable raccoon existence (Rory sleeps in a trout-shaped sleeping bag and empty tuna cans and apple cores litter his floor), though much of the clever humor might be lost on youngsters unfamiliar with the nocturnal creatures. Comically stout raccoons appear in vignettes and half- and full-page bleeds, carrying on in an anthropomorphic manner—a preview scene of the gourmet garbage party shows several raccoons relishing their nighttime revels, log-rolling a trash can or toasting with wine glasses. Despite a slightly misleading title (well over half the book deals with Rory’s coming to terms with his sleepover, while only a couple of spreads focus on his preparations for school), readers won’t miss the overall message of confidence gained by trying new things. It’s Rory who has to reassure his weepy parents at the end that he’s ready for school. Ages 3-6. (July)

What happens when kindergarteners are left to their own devices in the classroom? In Hamilton’s (Polly’s Picnic) rowdy story, the answer is something akin to mutiny. Miss Tuck, a teacher unfortunate enough to get stuck in the class jungle gym, watches in dismay as her pupils turn the room upside down in glee. “ 'Early lunch, I do declare!’/ Called Louis from the teacher’s chair.... 'I know what,’ cried clever Clive./ 'Let’s push the oven down the slide!’ ” (The stove knobs of the toy oven offer a worried expression as its pots and pans tumble out on the way down.) Smiling, brightly dressed students jump in a wading pool, pour glue over the tables and “paint the paper,/ paint the floor,/ paint the windows,/ paint the door.” The mischievous spree continues until things eventually go south: “Then Pip tripped Kip,/ who hurt his lip./ And Milly and Tilly,/ got sat on by Lilly.” Uncomplicated, sometimes forced rhymes bounce along with the raucous romp. The vibrant hues of Heap’s (What Shall We Play?) animated acrylics offer a cheery note, despite the somewhat unsettling message that youngsters don’t come to the aid of someone in trouble but instead ignore pleas for help. And though the children work together in the end to free their teacher, this kiddie Lord of the Flies scenario may tickle tots’ subversive sides, but will do little to assuage those who are nervous about starting preschool. Ages 3-6. (July)

Aduo that debuted in background roles in Hale’s The Devil You Know takes center stage in the author’s latest work. Yellowbelly, a large cat-like monster with a bushy tail and wide, toothy grin, and his purple teddy bear sidekick named Plum are best pals. Humorous vignettes show the pair playing several creative games together, like envelope (in which they are shown stuffed inside a mailbox) and meteor shower (played as Yellowbelly dumps miscellaneous small toys over his inanimate friend, who wears a glass jar for a space helmet). When it’s time to start school, Yellowbelly thinks it would be “a fun game to play.” However, when Plum is inadvertently taken from the slide, the fun stops for a frantic Yellowbelly. A full-color double spread offers a Where’s Waldo?-like, birds-eye playground scene where whimsical, animal-like and robotic monsters classmates mingle and play with realistically depicted children in a fanciful schoolyard setting. The friends are finally reunited after Plum “learns” several other games with his new friends—he’s been used as a Frisbee and a basketball while away from his monster companion. Heartwarming and clever, Yellowbelly and Plum’s school adventure encompasses a range of emotions that youngsters often feel and should particularly resonate with those who are attached to a stuffed animal. This tale of friendship and loyalty will have readers awaiting more from this likable twosome. Ages 3-up. (July)

The creator of the Minerva Louise books pens a short, catchy ode to what is a monumental event for many a kindergartener: that first ride on the big, yellow school bus. Three eager, smiling youngsters are each shown getting something ready for their trip to the bus stop. (Even the driver is shown readying the new bus with a wash.) The jaunty, albeit somewhat forced, rhymes evoke the feel of kids skipping out the door. “Stevie Beecher/ has a present for the teacher. And he can’t wait/ to bring it/ to the bus stop.” The trio of pupils meets at the stop where a large bus—its golden-yellow hue filling most of the two-page spread—and its smiling driver await. “The bus looks/ awfully big and tall./ Each kid feels/ kind of scared and small.” With only one spread depicting a cheery, busy classroom, most of the action is devoted to the journey there and back, reassuring even the most reticent riders that the bus will indeed return them to a parent’s embrace. Bright colors impart a cheerful, upbeat tone and a small trim size creates an innocent, child-friendly feel. This confidence-instilling book invites repeated readings—young audiences surely will want to revisit the final scene of the students being swept up in parental hugs at the bus ride’s end. Ages 3-up. (July)

Ashy girl named Lizzy uses her love of apples to assuage her fears about starting school in Kleven’s (The Wishing Ball) latest. Lizzy adores the apple tree on her family’s property throughout the year, particularly in the fall when it offers “apples for crunching, apples for munching, apples for applesauce, cider, and pies.” Nervous that she won’t have any friends at school, she picks her favorite apple to bring with her, giving it an “apple-twig body.” drawing a face on it and naming it Susanna. However, her classmates tease her about her unusual doll (“Her brains are apple seeds!”) and the next day Lizzy leaves Susanna at home, making her feel quite lonely. As could be expected, Susanna’s organic nature soon makes her less than “fresh” and Lizzy’s mother offers a solution—they peel the apple and soak it in lemon juice, resulting in a wrinkly, well-preserved doll (“She looks like a little grandma!” Lizzy excitedly exclaims). Lizzy proudly brings the new Susanna to school and inspires the entire class to make dried apple dolls of their own. Youngsters may be moved to do the same, and Kleven provides detailed instructions for parents and children to craft friends of their own to conquer heading-to-school fears. Ages 4-8. (Aug.)

Marin (of Cheech and Chong fame) follows his bestselling children’s album, My Name Is Cheech, the School Bus Driver, with a similarly titled first children’s book. In it, bus driver Cheech’s passengers are a group of mariachi-playing students who plan to enter a Battle of the Bands contest. Insecurities surface after Cheech drives the musicians to the contest and they see the gimmicks of several other bands. Worried that they don’t stand a chance, the racially diverse Cheecharrones (in a nod to Marin’s nickname) practice amplifying their music and dressing in crazy costumes, though nothing seems quite right for them. With Cheech narrating in the first person, older readers familiar with the actor should hear his gravelly voice coming through in comments like, “Groovanova!” and “I am a really, really, really, really good bus driver. I always get to school on time, and I never, ever, ever, ever get lost.” (The next spread shows his bus at a lonely desert intersection. “Well, almost never,” he admits.) Ramírez, in his debut children’s book, paints the characters in caricature style and does a fine job depicting Cheech’s zany, startled expressions. When the mariachi band members finally take the stage, they learn that being themselves and playing their own style of music proves a winning strategy—a worthy, if oft-told, lesson. Ages 4-8. (July)

McGinty (Ten Little Lambs) offers a twist on a well-worn solution to separation anxiety. The imaginary parental-kiss-in-a-child’s-pocket is meant to soothe and comfort on the first day of school, but to Eliza, “her pocket felt empty, too empty inside,” after her mother slips a pretend kiss inside it. The new kindergartener then goes through the day collecting various items in the pocket of her jumper (which has a symbolic pink heart appliqué on the outside) that remind her of Mommy: “she found a pebble, smooth and bright like Mommy’s skin.” With the pocket full, but her heart still feeling empty, Eliza finally uses her assorted treasures to craft a miniature clothespin doll resembling her mother. While few five-year-olds could independently create such a clever stand-in, the message here is one of resourcefulness and perseverance. Speir’s illustrations are rendered in cheery, uplifting colors, with a vibrant yellow backing many of the spreads. A spare, cartoon quality evokes an easygoing, childlike feel. The reassuring penultimate scene of Eliza’s mother withdrawing a photo of her daughter from her own suit pocket ably demonstrates to apprehensive students-to-be that their parents, too, have homesick feelings and similar ways of coping. Ages 5-8. (July)

This energetic, comical collaboration rounds up seven new stories about the spunky siblings from Blume’s The Pain and the Great One. First-grader Jake calls his older sister the Great One, “because she thinks she’s so great.” Abigail, in turn, has dubbed him the Pain “because that’s what he is.” In distinct, equally sassy voices, the two take turns narrating the tales, which capture slices of Saturday life. The Great One provides an imaginative solution when her brother refuses to get a haircut (because he’s afraid that the barber will cut his ears off), and describes her disastrous half-birthday sleepover party, at which the one friend who shows up refuses to spend the night. The Pain explains how he successfully wiggles out of playing goalie for his bungling soccer team, and tells of pet-sitting for his aunt’s dog and giving the malodorous mutt a shampoo and a tooth-brushing. And the Great One proudly recounts how she finally overcomes her fear of falling and learns to ride a bike. (“I can jump rope, turn an almost-perfect cartwheel, and make pancakes with hardly any help. The Pain is hopeless at those things. So how come he can ride a bike?”) Blume fills the duo’s narratives with playful bickering, banter and baiting, while slyly and satisfyingly revealing their mutual affection. Further animating the kids’ antics are Stevenson’s (No Laughing, No Smiling, No Giggling) wispy illustrations, which feature many funny flourishes. Ages 5-9. (Aug.)

Orr’s (Ark in the Park) energetic if uneven tale introduces Mokie and Bik, feisty twins who live on a boat, where they are “always overboard and underfoot” and constantly “yabber jabber yackety gabber” in a dialect that only their nanny can understand. Their mother, a painter, is often “Arting” in the wheelhouse or riding her “botormike” and their captain father is off “illy-ally-o-ing” on his “ship-at-sea with clouds of sails.” Though the narrative provides definitions for some of the twins’ jargon, readers must decipher most of their jabbering, which kids may find off-putting. In passages filled with wordplay that ranges from witty to inane, the author chronicles the youngsters’ harbor-side adventures. Mokie and Bik help a fisherman unload his catch of “fisk,” after which they come home smelling like “icky sticky fisky bits” and their nanny “rub-a-dub-dubbed” them clean. Bik rescues Mokie by rowboat when his sister falls in the water while she “scotch-hopped” on the wharf. The fisherman ties ropes around the kids’ middles to teach them to swim “fast as fisk” and Bik has a tug-of-war with a “normous scormous eee-normous fisk” that eventually pulls his rowboat back to the wharf. Making his chapter book debut, Bean contributes black-and-white illustrations that have a timeless feel and comically convey the siblings’ mischievous spirit. Ages 7-10. (June)

An author must be either very confident or very foolish to attempt another novel about a fish-out-of-water boy sent to a school of witchcraft and wizardry. Laybourn is evidently the former, as she laces her U.S. debut with heaps of humor and a strong moral message. Eleven-year-old Ned is “magically challenged”—in a world where everyone uses magic to meet their every need, he is totally devoid of magical ability. Despite this, he is accepted into Leodwych School, largely thanks to the efforts of his influential Uncle Kelver, a powerful mage. At school, he is bullied for being different—pelted with flying food, his hair turned into snakes—and in time he runs away, homesick for the simple life on his parents’ farm. Under pressure from his father, he returns to school, only to be one of several school children kidnapped by the airships of the Necromancers. There he discovers that his Uncle Kelver is not the benevolent man he thought he was and learns the reason he cannot perform magic. Comparisons to Harry Potter may abound; indeed, Laybourn seems to invite them at times. But the moral of the story—that laziness and stagnation are truly dangerous—elevate this little book to a grand parable. Ages 8-up. (June)

Stead’s debut novel rests on an intriguing premise—that a group of people with unusual powers was forced to flee England generations ago to live peacefully below the ice in the “cold world” of Greenland. Fourteen-year-old Thea is a strong-willed resident of Gracehope, named after the woman who sacrificed her life to fulfill her dream of resettling her community safely under the glaciers. However, Thea, the last woman in Grace’s direct bloodline, insists that her ancestor’s intention was never to stay in Gracehope forever, but to rejoin life on the surface. Her life is forever changed the day she and her cousin find a secret tunnel to the world above and meet Peter, the 12-year old son of two scientists from New York who are ostensibly researching global warming. Peter is a reticent child who, like his mother, suffers from headaches and unusual ailments. After a long build-up, including a seemingly ancillary scientific puzzle about DNA, the story takes on a livelier pace as the central mystery unfolds—the connection between Peter and Thea. It is a testament to the storytelling that the existence of this parallel world and the convergence of Peter and Thea’s stories, told in separate chapters, are both credible and absorbing. Young readers will find this a journey worth taking. Ages 9-12. (June)

Kluger’s first novel for young readers is a fully imagined fantasy with a twist of magic. The village of Yole, once a bustling seaport, is now an arid village, following the “Great Drying” when locals drained the sea, (wrongly) suspecting that fertile land lay beneath it. Now, a greedy landowner rules over a handful of hardscrabble villagers, though Nacky Patcher, an unsuccessful thief, believes that the ballad of the Dry-Land Boats (which he’s heard since he was in the cradle) holds the key to the village’s redemption. When Nacky and his young sidekick, orphan Teedie Flinn, come upon the wreckage of a ship in the dried-up sea, Nacky believes it is one of these legendary boats. To reverse the curse that has befallen Yole (“This here is a ghost boat turned real.... There’s a way to break the charm what’s holdin’ this town, and we just spotted it”), Nacky insists the villagers help him reconstruct the ship—all “forty thousand and one” pieces of it. The tension mounts as Nacky and his crew work against impossible odds and deadlines to finish the ship. There are memorable characters aplenty and Nacky’s swashbuckling adventure should be of special interest to those interested in shipbuilding and the seafaring life. Readers will want to follow the story with a careful eye so as not to miss any clues of the dry-land boats prophecy. Ages 10-up. (June)

This unique fantasy, written in 1922 and first translated from the Italian in this edition, takes readers to an imaginary world, perhaps earning this tale a spot on the bookshelf between Alice in Wonderland and Where the Wild Things Are. The narrator, now an adult, recalls a tale from when he was a rather insouciant 10-year- old and locked in a room as punishment for a forgotten offense. In the room, resting on the mantle is a large mirror in front of which is a chess set. While gazing at the chess pieces’ reflections, the boy is startled when the White King suddenly speaks to him, inviting him into the mirror. Once the narrator is inside, the king explains many of the mirror’s secrets—most notably that the reflection of everyone who has ever looked into the mirror now inhabits the vast expanse within. After meeting an assortment of people (including his own grandmother and the artisan who crafted the mirror) and exploring the vast landscape on his own, the boy, tired of the inhabitants’ inactivity, is ready to return home (“Sure enough, there they all were... sitting around, some here and some there, looking upward with that bored look of theirs”). By simply falling asleep, the boy is able to leave home, leaving readers to wonder if the adventure was simply a dream. The narrator’s dry wit, reminiscent of P.G. Wodehouse, makes for an appealing journey and, coupled with the whimsical pen-and-ink drawings, a charming package with an timeless air. Ages 10-up. (June)

Rabin’s story takes a while to hit its stride, but once it does it becomes a fine historical time-travel adventure. The year is 1916 and 12-year-old Alexei Romanov is the last heir to the Russian throne; he is also a hemophiliac, kept under lock and key by his reigning parents and given unconventional medical treatments by the “Mad Monk” Rasputin. The monk’s dark side emerges, and he is killed for his treachery. But he doesn’t stay dead, returning to attack Alexei; when the young heir awakens, he finds himself in New York in the year 2010, where he meets 15-year-old Varda, a young scientist working on a cure for hemophilia. While attending school with Varda, Alexei learns that his whole family will be killed in 1918; the increasingly frightening Rasputin turns up in New York, too, and Alexei and Varda jump back to 1918, just days prior to the execution of the royal family. There are only a few moments of fish-out-of-water humor, but they are priceless, if perhaps dated for the year 2010. (“Captain Underpants? Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants? Lots of pants. Rich Dad, Poor Dad. That one must be about revolution,” Alexei quips.) The book ends with a clever twist explaining why Alexei’s bones were never found and features a lengthy set of endnotes about Russian history, the Romanov family and hemophilia. This is a great trip for lovers of historical fiction. Ages 12-up. (July)

Kerr (Your Eyes in Stars) gives a sensitive rendering of a biracial romance in this timely novel about a white teen’s infatuation with an illegal immigrant. Understated yet emotionally charged prose expresses 17-year-old Annabel Brown’s initial attraction to Esteban Santiago as she watches him play soccer and listens to him sing at a local night club. Their first few encounters are blissful, but complications soon arise due to their families’ mutual disapproval. Esteban’s older sister, Gioconda, calls Annabel a “white whore” and Annabel’s father, who runs a construction company, views Esteban with as little regard as he does other “muchacho” laborers, especially when Esteban bungles a roofing job when substituting for one of Mr. Brown’s workers. Forbidden to date Esteban or even talk to him on the phone, Annabel meets him secretly, but as with most Romeo and Juliet-type tales, their relationship cannot withstand social pressures and prejudice. Showcasing the tension created by resentments and fear of that which is different, the author pointedly conveys the plight of immigrants and the ineffectiveness of government policies. Although Annabel is heartbroken when Esteban joins the army as a means to obtain a green card, she gains deep respect and affection for another culture and for new immigrants striving to attain the American dream. Ages 12-up. (July)

Arebellious demon (who prefers the term ”fallen angel”) named Kiriel takes over the body of 17-year-old Shaun Simpson moments before the teen steps in front of a speeding cement mixer in Jenkins’s (Beating Heart) latest. Eager to experience life as a human being—and feeling long overdue for a vacation from his duties of subjecting souls to eternal torment—Kiriel quickly gets underway living Shaun’s life. (There is no conflict between the two personalities—in Jenkins’s story, Kiriel’s takeover sends Shaun’s soul on to the afterlife.) Shaun was a prototypical slacker, brushing off his younger brother Jason (whom he calls a “jerkwad”), dressing and living like a slob and barely engaging at school. With funny and heartwarming results, Kiriel tries to engineer a lasting, positive impact on Shaun’s family and friends, confronting a school bully—as a demon, Kiriel knows where the teen’s actions will land him in the afterlife—and taking the reclusive Jason under his wing. Jenkins displays a wry sense of humor throughout—Jason catches his older brother “French-kissing his shirt” as Kiriel relishes the tactile sensation, and later Kiriel receives an IM from his demonic superiors who have discovered his transgression. Kiriel’s own spiritual crises (he himself questions a “Creator” whom he’s never seen or heard from) may mirror readers’ uncertainties, and the demon’s winning mix of cocksureness and inadvertent bungling should resonate with teens. Ages 12-up. (June)

Returning with a sequel to the well- received What My Mother Doesn’t Know, Sones delivers another engaging story about young love, this time from the boy’s perspective. This free-verse novel opens with 14-year-old Robin worrying that he will soon be dumped by his girlfriend, Sophie (star of the previous book), who is being ostracized at school for dating “the guy whose last name people use as a diss.” (“Let’s face it./ I’m the type of guy/ who doesn’t even have any buddies/ on my buddy list,” Robin says.) But Sophie is her own person and together they form a plan to rise above the derision by laughing at themselves. Robin is believable and endearing as he struggles to make sense of his devotion to his “amazing girlfriend,” his nascent sexuality and his attraction to Tessa, a girl in his art class at Harvard who is refreshingly unaware that he is the butt of jokes at his high school. When Sophie catches him kissing Tessa, Robin has to do something dramatic to win her back. Concrete poems and comics punctuate the text, adding interest to the form. The author’s fans will be delighted to have a new installment written with the same raw honesty and authentic voice as the original. Final art not seen by PW. Ages 12-up. (June)

Gabel’s debut novel centers on two longtime best friends with very different perspectives about entering ninth grade. Shy, timid Nola, who “usually went unnoticed in a crowd,” is terrified of starting high school. Self-confident, boy-crazy Marnie, who has always lived in the shadow of her popular older sister, is excited to “totally reinvent herself.” She assures Nola that they will soon become “two of the most popular girls in our class.... And of course, no matter what happens, we’ll always have each other.” The story follows a predictable path, as Marnie worms her way into the popular posse, led by mean girl Lizette, who possesses the power to decide “what’s in and what’s out, not to mention who’s in and who’s out.” Nola, of course, is “out,” and is crushed when her “in” pal increasingly ignores her. She finds solace in the attention that a kind, cute boy pays her, yet again feels let down when she discovers that he has a long-distance girlfriend. Meanwhile, Marnie reels in a “preppie demigod and all-around amazing” sophomore, who of course (Nola discovers) is a bit of a cad. The tale brims with references to fashion and pop culture. Gabel ably captures each girl’s point of view and she leaves several strands of plot hanging—unresolved issues that will be taken up in the second installment, due this fall. Ages 12-up. (June)

When Katy’s mother leaves for an archeological expedition, the Canadian teen is sent to live with her father—a legendary punk rock drummer and recovering drug addict nicknamed The Rat—in Los Angeles. Katy knows she is “incurably uncool,” and does not connect with her father’s lifestyle or his music; it’s Lake, the daughter of the lead singer in her father’s band who calls her “beige,” a nickname Katy adopts. But she slowly finds a place in their world, affecting them with her kindness and “learning to be loud” so she can release some of her bottled anger. The plot holds few surprises: she gets to know her father—who really does try hard to understand her, even after she tells him “I guess I don’t really like music that much”—and she begins to see another side of her mother, who was also an addict. Castellucci (The Queen of Cool) has rendered Katy as a believable character, and teens will sympathize with her as she finally starts to reveal her true feelings. The book seems scripted at times, but readers will certainly learn something about the history of punk music and, like Katy, can consider what it means to “live on [one’s] own terms without conforming to society’s expectations.” Ages 14-up. (June)

Giles (What Happened to Cass McBride?) returns with another riveting nail-biter. Kip and his father live a spartan life in Alaska until nine-year-old Kip, in a jealous rage, sets a neighboring boy afire, killing him. Put in a psychiatric hospital for criminal juveniles, he is released four and a half years later and moves to Indiana with his father and new stepmother. Kip and his family assume new identities (Kip now goes by Wade). As Wade, who is by all accounts observant, articulate and intelligent, struggles with the sins of his past and finding his place in the outside world, he becomes a star swimmer at the school and even gets a girlfriend, who he nicknames “Absolutely Cutest.” However, one drunken evening, Wade reveals his secret to his friends and soon after he and his family are forced to relocate once more, this time to Texas. There he finds a kindred spirit in his new neighbor Sam, a beautiful girl who considers herself to be “damaged goods” of a sort, as well. This story explores, with sympathy and compassion, the nature of guilt, atonement and forgiveness. As Giles delicately handles these delicate issues and questions (“Do you get to kill someone and say, 'Oh, really sorry now,’ and everything is fine?”), readers should be glued to Wade’s story, hoping for his redemption. Ages 15-up. (Sept.)