A comical, witchy, and sweetly affirming read.
Jazzy is the least witchy witch in her entire school.
Jazzy just doesn’t have it. When Madame Melcha, her teacher, takes the class for their first flying lesson, Jazzy barely leaves the ground. It’s pretty humiliating for a girl whose family runs St. James Besom Co., the local broommakers. Jazzy confides in her familiar, a purple bat named Fiona, that she doesn’t have the “spark for the craft.” But later that evening, Jazzy finds her spark while watching a bike race on television. Cycling begins to occupy all of Jazzy’s time. Her pale-skinned, green-haired friend Aggie encourages her to keep practicing flying and studying spells, but Jazzy doesn’t make the time. Instead, she focuses on cycling—and hides her lack of progress from her family. But will Jazzy learn to fly in time for the upcoming supermoon parade, or will she be outed as a bad witch? In this series opener, readers meet Jazzy, who, along with her two loving mothers and grandmother, presents as Black. Jazzy’s story is lighthearted but still explores deeper themes of being honest and finding your place. This graphic novel features lively, cartoon-style, full-color illustrations that accentuate the characters’ emotions and expressions. The color palette skews toward darker tones of charcoal, purple, and grayish green.
A comical, witchy, and sweetly affirming read. (how to make a besom and spore prints, mini comic, author’s note) (Graphic adventure. 7-10)Pub Date: July 15, 2025
ISBN: 9781665922326
Page Count: 232
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: today
Dizzyingly silly.
The famous superhero returns to fight another villain with all the trademark wit and humor the series is known for.
Despite the title, Captain Underpants is bizarrely absent from most of this adventure. His school-age companions, George and Harold, maintain most of the spotlight. The creative chums fool around with time travel and several wacky inventions before coming upon the evil Turbo Toilet 2000, making its return for vengeance after sitting out a few of the previous books. When the good Captain shows up to save the day, he brings with him dynamic action and wordplay that meet the series’ standards. The Captain Underpants saga maintains its charm even into this, the 11th volume. The epic is filled to the brim with sight gags, toilet humor, flip-o-ramas and anarchic glee. Holding all this nonsense together is the author’s good-natured sense of harmless fun. The humor is never gross or over-the-top, just loud and innocuous. Adults may roll their eyes here and there, but youngsters will eat this up just as quickly as they devoured every other Underpants episode.
Dizzyingly silly. (Humor. 8-10)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-545-50490-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 3, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2014
A dramatic, educational, authentic whale of a tale.
After a tsunami devastates their habitat in the Salish Sea, a young orca and her brother embark on a remarkable adventure.
Vega’s matriarchal family expects her to become a hunter and wayfinder, with her younger brother, Deneb, protecting and supporting her. Invited to guide her family to their Gathering Place to hunt salmon, Vega’s underwater miscalculations endanger them all, and an embarrassed Vega questions whether she should be a wayfinder. When the baby sister she hoped would become her life companion is stillborn, a distraught Vega carries the baby away to a special resting place, shocking her grieving family. Dispatched to find his missing sister, Deneb locates Vega in the midst of a terrible tsunami. To escape the waters polluted by shattered boats, Vega leads Deneb into unfamiliar open sea. Alone and hungry, the young siblings encounter a spectacular giant whale and travel briefly with shark-hunting orcas. Trusting her instincts and gaining emotional strength from contemplating the vastness of the sky, Vega knows she must lead her brother home and help save her surviving family. In alternating first-person voices, Vega and Deneb tell their harrowing story, engaging young readers while educating them about the marine ecosystem. Realistic black-and-white illustrations enhance the maritime setting.
A dramatic, educational, authentic whale of a tale. (maps, wildlife facts, tribes of the Salish Sea watershed, environmental and geographical information, how to help orcas, author’s note, artist’s note, resources) (Animal fiction. 8-10)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-299592-6
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
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