A fast, positive, athletically aspirational read.
The characters from The Competition Begins (2018) face choices and unexpected curveballs along the path to the Junior Ninja Champion finals.
The premiere episode of the reality TV competition is such a hit that the producers decide to add a twist. There will be one more round of semifinals, a wildcard episode, which will send up to 10 new competitors to the finals. Hypercompetitive sports superstar Ty Santiago’s furious—as an alternate, he’s not eligible for another try at one of those new spots. He’s quite grumpy when an aspiring wildcard joins the team at the kid-oriented gym his parents own: Noah Dhawan, a dancer with hidden motives. Despite Ty’s hostility and Izzy’s indifference, Noah (supported enthusiastically by Mackenzie) progresses well using his dancer athleticism and balance against the obstacles (described efficiently in the compact text). As the finals bear down on the cast, Izzy must make a choice between friendship and popularity or being a responsible competitor, and Ty’s in the uncomfortable position of needing something bad to happen to someone in order to compete. When it comes down to it, though, these are good, maturing kids who make good choices. Of the central characters, implied-Latinx Ty, black Kevin, and biracial (Indian/white) Noah balance Izzy, Mackenzie, and JJ, all default white; competing teams display a fair amount of diversity as well. The ending notes the show’s renewal for another season, prompting another installment.
A fast, positive, athletically aspirational read. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-328-85901-3
Page Count: 160
Publisher: HMH Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 29, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2018
Fast-paced and plot-driven.
In his latest, prolific author Gratz takes on Hitler’s Olympic Games.
When 13-year-old American gymnast Evie Harris arrives in Berlin to compete in the 1936 Olympic Games, she has one goal: stardom. If she can bring home a gold medal like her friend, the famous equestrian-turned-Hollywood-star Mary Brooks, she might be able to lift her family out of their Dust Bowl poverty. But someone slips a strange note under Evie’s door, and soon she’s dodging Heinz Fischer, the Hitler Youth member assigned to host her, and meeting strangers who want to make use of her gymnastic skills—to rob a bank. As the games progress, Evie begins to see the moral issues behind their sparkling facade—the antisemitism and racism inherent in Nazi ideology and the way Hitler is using the competition to support and promote these beliefs. And she also agrees to rob the bank. Gratz goes big on the Mission Impossible–style heist, which takes center stage over the actual competitions, other than Jesse Owens’ famous long jump. A lengthy and detailed author’s note provides valuable historical context, including places where Gratz adapted the facts for storytelling purposes (although there’s no mention of the fact that before 1952, Olympic equestrian sports were limited to male military officers). With an emphasis on the plot, many of the characters feel defined primarily by how they’re suffering under the Nazis, such as the fictional diver Ursula Diop, who was involuntarily sterilized for being biracial.
Fast-paced and plot-driven. (Historical fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9781338736106
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2025
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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