Realistic yet uplifting—a testament to the power of STEAM.
Kachala considers dual and dueling problems—an acute worldwide housing shortage and construction-generated pollution—and offers some inspiring potential solutions.
The author emphasizes positive approaches such as construction automation, “upstream thinking,” and housing variety. She convincingly connects the origins of the shortfall to climate change, arguing that these aren’t necessarily conflicting issues; rather, they can and should be addressed together. Kachala boldly tackles political realities: NIMBYism, government inaction, zoning laws, and more. As she describes proposed fixes, readers will learn about robotics, machine feedback loops, digital tools such as virtual reality, and innovations in materials (especially mass timber) and design (for instance, 3-D printing using recyclable or even waste materials). Kachala bases her case on the universal human right to shelter and especially stresses the meaning and importance of “home” for kids. Bright photos, informative captions, and lucid summaries and sidebars offer easy entry to thorny issues. Precise, cheerful line-and-color graphics enlivening every spread often resemble a more realistic version of typical architectural projections. Final pages provide a dozen-plus ways for kids to get involved. Kachala’s expository flair, enthusiastic and informal tone, and her clear, in-depth content convey confidence in her readers’ ability to tackle the circumstances they are inheriting. Here they’ll learn what they need to know to grapple with that future. People depicted are diverse.
Realistic yet uplifting—a testament to the power of STEAM. (glossary, resources, index) (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: March 17, 2026
ISBN: 9781459839564
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2025
With young readers diagnosed with anxiety in ever increasing numbers, this book offers a necessary mirror to many.
Young Raina is 9 when she throws up for the first time that she remembers, due to a stomach bug. Even a year later, when she is in fifth grade, she fears getting sick.
Raina begins having regular stomachaches that keep her home from school. She worries about sharing food with her friends and eating certain kinds of foods, afraid of getting sick or food poisoning. Raina’s mother enrolls her in therapy. At first Raina isn’t sure about seeing a therapist, but over time she develops healthy coping mechanisms to deal with her stress and anxiety. Her therapist helps her learn to ground herself and relax, and in turn she teaches her classmates for a school project. Amping up the green, wavy lines to evoke Raina’s nausea, Telgemeier brilliantly produces extremely accurate visual representations of stress and anxiety. Thought bubbles surround Raina in some panels, crowding her with anxious “what if”s, while in others her negative self-talk appears to be literally crushing her. Even as she copes with anxiety disorder and what is eventually diagnosed as mild irritable bowel syndrome, she experiences the typical stresses of school life, going from cheer to panic in the blink of an eye. Raina is white, and her classmates are diverse; one best friend is Korean American.
With young readers diagnosed with anxiety in ever increasing numbers, this book offers a necessary mirror to many. (Graphic memoir. 8-12)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-545-85251-7
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 11, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2019
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere.
This book is buzzing with trivia.
Follow a swarm of bees as they leave a beekeeper’s apiary in search of a new home. As the scout bees traverse the fields, readers are provided with a potpourri of facts and statements about bees. The information is scattered—much like the scout bees—and as a result, both the nominal plot and informational content are tissue-thin. There are some interesting facts throughout the book, but many pieces of trivia are too, well trivial, to prove useful. For example, as the bees travel, readers learn that “onion flowers are round and fluffy” and “fennel is a plant that is used in cooking.” Other facts are oversimplified and as a result are not accurate. For example, monofloral honey is defined as “made by bees who visit just one kind of flower” with no acknowledgment of the fact that bees may range widely, and swarm activity is described as a springtime event, when it can also occur in summer and early fall. The information in the book, such as species identification and measurement units, is directed toward British readers. The flat, thin-lined artwork does little to enhance the story, but an “I spy” game challenging readers to find a specific bee throughout is amusing.
Friends of these pollinators will be best served elsewhere. (Informational picture book. 8-10)Pub Date: May 18, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-500-65265-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Thames & Hudson
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2021
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