Jacqueline Wilson, , illus. by Nick Sharratt. . Dell/Yearling, $4.50 (176pp) ISBN 978-0-440-41806-1
PW
called this tale of a 10-year-old who flees three bullying classmates and gets hit by a bus "tightly written. The author proves that bad girls can make for a good story." Ages 8-12. (Apr.)
Wilson (The Story of Tracy Beaker, reviewed July 23) here poignantly addresses a tragic and traumatic experience: the death of a friend. Narrator Jude and her Continue reading »
In Wilson's (The Story of Tracy Beaker) fast-paced first book in the Girlfriends Trilogy, ninth-grader Ellie describes why she's "feeling so fed Continue reading »
Tracy lives in a group home for children. She takes solace in writing and in a new friendship with a writer who visits the home for research. PW
called this Continue reading »
"In this fast-paced first book in the Girlfriends Trilogy, ninth-grader Ellie describes why she's 'feeling so fed up' and the sticky situations in which she finds herself. Continue reading »
"The author poignantly address a tragic and traumatic experience: the death of a friend," PW
said. "The narrative reaches an affirming, affecting Continue reading »
Feeling like she doesn't measure up to her "drop-dead gorgeous" friends, Ellie tries to take control of her weight, and ends up battling bulimia, in this follow-up to Continue reading »
In this final title of her Girls trilogy, Ella goes ga-ga over a new boy, but when she breaks her curfew to meet up with him, her plan backfires. Ages 12-up. Continue reading »
The latest from Britain’s former Children’s Laureate is vintage Wilson. Flora Barnes splits her week between her mother, who has remarried a successful executive, and her father whose Continue reading »
Popular British author Wilson’s latest may be a tough sell—a novel that looks cheery, with Sharratt’s trademark cartoonish illustrations, but contains much darkness. The Continue reading »
Sylvie has been best friends with Carl since forever. Now entering high school, however, handsome and sensitive Carl is drifting, while insecure and late-to-develop Sylvie is still trying to Continue reading »
Ten-year-old British twins Ruby and Garnet take turns narrating this broad comedy, a winner of the Smarties Prize; PW described it as ""an unexceptional mix of familiar plot devices."" Ages 9-12. Continue reading »
A far cry from traditional middle-grade fiction, this British import is an eye-opening but long-winded account of life in a dingy shelter hotel. Elsa, an aspiring performer who sprinkles her Continue reading »
An unexceptional mix of familiar plot devices, this British import is almost gratingly obvious. Ten-year-old twins Ruby and Garnet take turns narrating, and although their voices aren't especially Continue reading »
When Andy's parents get divorced, she finds herself spending alternate weeks at Mom's house, then at Dad's, and longs for the days when they were all at home together. Ages 9-12. Continue reading »
Wilson (Double Act) here introduces an animated heroine who delivers droll observations in a self-assured voice with a decidedly British accent. ""I love fooling around, doing crazy things and being Continue reading »
Wilson (The Suitcase Kid) opens this tightly written tale with a bang: 10-year-old Mandy, after being humiliated by three bullying classmates, dashes into the street and gets hit by a bus (she Continue reading »
Feeling like she doesn't measure up to her ""drop-dead gorgeous"" friends, Ellie tries to take control of her weight, and ends up battling bulimia, in Girls Under Pressure by Jacqueline Wilson, Continue reading »
British author Jacqueline Wilson presents the third title in her Girls trilogy, Girls Out Late. Ellie goes ga-ga over a new boy, but when she breaks her curfew to meet up with him, her plan Continue reading »
In Wilson's (The Story of Tracy Beaker) fast-paced first book in the Girlfriends Trilogy, ninth-grader Ellie describes why she's ""feeling so fed up"" and the sticky situations in which she finds Continue reading »
From teary-eyed teens to outer-space travelers, favorite characters return in new series installments. Girls in Tears wraps up Jacqueline Wilson's Girls quartet, continuing the story of Ellie and Continue reading »
Wilson (The Story of Tracy Beaker, reviewed July 23) here poignantly addresses a tragic and traumatic experience: the death of a friend. Narrator Jude and her Continue reading »
Tracy lives in a group home for children. She takes solace in writing and in a new friendship with a writer who visits the home for research. PW
called this Continue reading »
"The author poignantly address a tragic and traumatic experience: the death of a friend," PW
said. "The narrative reaches an affirming, affecting Continue reading »
To the likely delight of small children everywhere, Andreae (Giraffes Can't Dance) moves beyond "I See London, I See France" for a bouncy rhyme about Continue reading »
The latest from Britain’s former Children’s Laureate is vintage Wilson. Flora Barnes splits her week between her mother, who has remarried a successful executive, and her father whose Continue reading »
This pop-up book is a cartoony guide to the circulatory and respiratory systems with plenty of boogers, blood and germs—as well as tabs, levers and flaps that provide pertinent information Continue reading »
Popular British author Wilson’s latest may be a tough sell—a novel that looks cheery, with Sharratt’s trademark cartoonish illustrations, but contains much darkness. The Continue reading »
Ten-year-old British twins Ruby and Garnet take turns narrating this broad comedy, a winner of the Smarties Prize; PW described it as ""an unexceptional mix of familiar plot devices."" Ages 9-12. Continue reading »
A far cry from traditional middle-grade fiction, this British import is an eye-opening but long-winded account of life in a dingy shelter hotel. Elsa, an aspiring performer who sprinkles her Continue reading »
An unexceptional mix of familiar plot devices, this British import is almost gratingly obvious. Ten-year-old twins Ruby and Garnet take turns narrating, and although their voices aren't especially Continue reading »
Wilson (Double Act) here introduces an animated heroine who delivers droll observations in a self-assured voice with a decidedly British accent. ""I love fooling around, doing crazy things and being Continue reading »
To the toilsome count of one, two, three, a boy commits an absurd crime and never grasps just how bad he has been. After Tom finds a can of red paint under the kitchen sink, ""It took him three Continue reading »
Wilson (The Suitcase Kid) opens this tightly written tale with a bang: 10-year-old Mandy, after being humiliated by three bullying classmates, dashes into the street and gets hit by a bus (she Continue reading »
Feeling like she doesn't measure up to her ""drop-dead gorgeous"" friends, Ellie tries to take control of her weight, and ends up battling bulimia, in Girls Under Pressure by Jacqueline Wilson, Continue reading »
A delightful duo of ``changing picture'' books, these sturdy, paper-over-board selections will more than hold up to the repeated readings that their diverting scenarios will insure. In the first Continue reading »
It's stripes vs. dots in this eye-boggling feast of extroverted colors and shapes. Simon, who stands out, ironically, because he wears that drabbest of hues, gray, observes that his mother loves Continue reading »
Space travel becomes as accessible and simple as a trip to the corner grocery store in this lift-the-flap, pull-the-tab counting book. Counting backward from 10, each number is teamed with a needed Continue reading »
Parents with single-minded, unconventional tastes are the source of much amusement for their conservatively dressed son; ""an eye-boggling feast of extroverted colors and shapes,"" said PW. Ages Continue reading »
What will it take to get Daisy to eat her peas? Mom starts out with a bribe of ice cream. But even when she cumulatively ups the ante to an inducement that includes never having to go to school again Continue reading »
Another princess appears in Once Upon a Time by Nick Sharratt. ""Once upon a time there was a beautiful princess,"" reads the opening. ""She lived on top of a hill, in a [blank]."" Illustrated Continue reading »
Inside a witch's kitchen, flaps incorporated into closeup images of household objects reveal surprises both naughty and nice: "Open it left or open it right,/ Will you want to shout yuck?/ Or will Continue reading »
Yawns are contagious among people, but what if animals could ?catch? yawns, too? Symes employs repeating rhymed verse to show a chain of yawns that pass from a boy to various animals, with a circular Continue reading »
In a companion to Yawn (2011), Symes and Sharratt ask readers to guess the identities of five animals, based on glimpses of their extremities. ?Whose tail? Whose toes? Whose twitchy nose?? reads the Continue reading »
A “The House That Jack Built” narrative structure gives a night of stargazing galactic dimensions in this expansive picture book. As the sun sets, a child cuddles on a blanket Continue reading »
Mushrooms provide an unconventional and earthy through line for this cozy bedtime book. Rhyming lines open with a simple introduction to different types of fungi (“This is a Continue reading »
Ogle pays clear-eyed tribute to his maternal abuela while covering heavy topics such as child abuse, financial precarity, and racism in this searing verse memoir, a standalone Continue reading »
Ireland (Dread Nation) delivers a knockout punch in this fantastical steampunk take on the Great Depression, in which the U.S. rebuilds after a magical blight throws the country Continue reading »