Jackson Jones is a true-blue city kid, down to the soles of his Nike Air Jordans; he loves apartment life, shooting hoops, and writing comic books with best buddy Reuben Casey. Thus it comes as a shock when his mother, who ``never got over'' growing up in the country, gives Jackson not a basketball but a community garden plot for his tenth birthday. Still, Jackson makes plans to grow flowers: they can be a birthday present for his mother—or sold to buy a basketball. Unfortunately, the garden also grows weeds and trouble—with friends like careful Reuben and principled Juana, and with enemies like bully ``Blood'' Green. When flowers finally bloom (``...BOOM! Zinnias zinging. Nasturtiums knocking. Marigolds gleaming like gold''), Jackson can feel that ball in his palm, but then disaster strikes. It takes an artistic garden transformation, confessions, and apologies all around to salve wounds in time for Mama's birthday. The author brings smart, snappy dialogue and characters both funny (e.g., Juana's hellbent-but-sweet siblings) and admirable (big Mailbags Mosely, who ``looks like a buffalo smiling at a violet'' as he labors in his garden, and goes to college when he isn't delivering mail) to this winner of the publisher's first annual Marguerite de Angeli prize for ``fiction that examines the diversity of the American experience.'' Illustrations not seen. (Fiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-385-31165-6
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1994
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
Budding billionaire Greg Kenton has a knack for making money and a serious rival. When he issues his first Chunky Comic Book at the beginning of sixth grade, his neighbor and classmate Maura Shaw produces an alternative. Their quarrel draws the attention of the principal, who bans comics from the school. But when they notice all the other commercial messages in their school, they take their cause to the local school committee. Without belaboring his point, Clements takes on product placement in schools and the need for wealth. “Most people can only use one bathroom at a time,” says Greg’s math teacher, Mr. Z. Greg gets the message; middle-grade readers may ignore it in favor of the delightful spectacle of Greg’s ultimate economic success, a pleasing result for the effort this up-and-coming young businessman puts into his work. Clements weaves intriguing information about comic book illustration into this entertaining, smoothly written story. Selznick’s accompanying black-and-white drawings have the appearance of sketches Greg might have made himself. This hits the jackpot. (Fiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: July 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-689-86683-6
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2005
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