Optimistic, empathetic, and nuanced—in short, required reading for young people navigating divorce.
Dealing with divorce isn’t easy, but this work offers some helpful guidance.
Scharff, an experienced psychotherapist, has arranged the book in roughly chronological order, discussing how young people might feel when they first learn their parents are separating and defining the term divorce before covering topics such as new living arrangements and the possibility of their parents dating again. Each brief section includes bright, cartoon-style images of children and adults. Le Large’s visual metaphors—a child literally being ping-ponged between two parents; kids walking a tightrope—help clarify Scharff’s sound explanations, often leavening the topic with humor. The illustrations depict families engaging in conversations, with realistic but compassionate dialogue conveyed through speech bubbles. Laudably, Scharff’s tone is positive and nonjudgmental; though she notes that readers will feel angry or upset, she writes that in the long run, young people may be even happier. She stresses that young people aren’t at fault and that they needn’t take sides in their parents’ conflict. The author acknowledges that every situation is different and that families have various options for moving forward. Images of young people working through their doubts to achieve a stable home life will reassure readers. While kids are the target audience, teens and even parents will find Scharff’s words of wisdom valuable. Characters depicted are diverse in terms of race, ethnicity, and culture, allowing many readers to see themselves in these pages.
Optimistic, empathetic, and nuanced—in short, required reading for young people navigating divorce. (Nonfiction. 8-14)Pub Date: March 4, 2025
ISBN: 9781684494484
Page Count: 64
Publisher: Neon Squid/Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Jan. 18, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2025
For every dreaming girl (and boy) with a pencil in hand (or keyboard) and a story to share.
A multiaward–winning author recalls her childhood and the joy of becoming a writer.
Writing in free verse, Woodson starts with her 1963 birth in Ohio during the civil rights movement, when America is “a country caught / / between Black and White.” But while evoking names such as Malcolm, Martin, James, Rosa and Ruby, her story is also one of family: her father’s people in Ohio and her mother’s people in South Carolina. Moving south to live with her maternal grandmother, she is in a world of sweet peas and collards, getting her hair straightened and avoiding segregated stores with her grandmother. As the writer inside slowly grows, she listens to family stories and fills her days and evenings as a Jehovah’s Witness, activities that continue after a move to Brooklyn to reunite with her mother. The gift of a composition notebook, the experience of reading John Steptoe’s Stevieand Langston Hughes’ poetry, and seeing letters turn into words and words into thoughts all reinforce her conviction that “[W]ords are my brilliance.” Woodson cherishes her memories and shares them with a graceful lyricism; her lovingly wrought vignettes of country and city streets will linger long after the page is turned.
For every dreaming girl (and boy) with a pencil in hand (or keyboard) and a story to share. (Memoir/poetry. 8-12)Pub Date: Aug. 28, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-399-25251-8
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2014
An authentic and moving time capsule of middle school angst, trauma, and joy.
Through the author’s own childhood diary entries, a seventh grader details her inner life before and after 9/11.
Alyssa’s diary entries start in September 2000, in the first week of her seventh grade year. She’s 11 and dealing with typical preteen concerns—popularity and anxiety about grades—along with other things more particular to her own life. She’s shuffling between Queens and Manhattan to share time between her divorced parents and struggling with thick facial hair and classmates who make her feel like she’s “not a whole person” due to her mixed White and Puerto Rican heritage. Alyssa is endlessly earnest and awkward as she works up the courage to talk to her crush, Alejandro; gushes about her dreams of becoming a shoe designer; and tries to solve her burgeoning unibrow problem. The diaries also have a darker side, as a sense of impending doom builds as the entries approach 9/11, especially because Alyssa’s father works in finance in the World Trade Center. As a number of the diary entries are taken directly from the author’s originals, they effortlessly capture the loud, confusing feelings middle school brings out. The artwork, in its muted but effective periwinkle tones, lends a satisfying layer to the diary’s accessible and delightful format.
An authentic and moving time capsule of middle school angst, trauma, and joy. (author's note) (Graphic memoir. 8-13)Pub Date: Aug. 17, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-250-77427-9
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2021
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