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THE ONE AND ONLY ZOË LAMA

Name: THE ONE AND ONLY ZOË LAMA
Author: Tish Cohen
ISBN: 978-0-525-47891-1

by Tish Cohen & illustrated by Tish Cohen ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2008

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Readers will fairly hear a laugh track in the background of this pleasant-enough tween-girl-sitcom-script of a story, companion to 2007’s The Invisible Rules of the Zoë Lama. Seventh-grader Zoë Monday Costello, aka “the Zoë Lama,” is used to being a sort of middle-grade guru to whom her “clients”—kids and grown-ups alike—tell secrets and turn for guidance. While she’s out of school with the chickenpox, a usurper—the seemingly perfect, sparkly “sixer” Devon (who has a few secrets of her own)—assumes Zoë’s role, dispensing advice in direct contravention of Zoë’s many unwritten rules and even plying her wiles to steal Zoë’s turn to host the class guinea pig for the weekend. Peppered with amusing spot illustrations, occasional IM exchanges and once-in-a-while typeface changes, the fluffy story of dueling diva-ettes is dressing for a few truly serious worries—housing issues, elder-care concerns and the terminal illness of a parent among them—which underlie the book’s more sober message of compromise, cooperation and compassion. (Fiction. 8-11)

Pub Date: July 1, 2008

ISBN: 978-0-525-47891-1

Page Count: 256

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2008

Categories:

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
LITTLE BLACK LIES
by Tish Cohen

- BOOK REVIEW
THE INVISIBLE RULES OF THE ZOË LAMA
by Tish Cohen

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HOW TÍA LOLA CAME TO (VISIT) STAY

From the Tía Lola Stories series , Vol. 1

by Julia Alvarez ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2001

Simple, bella, un regalo permenente: simple and beautiful, a gift that will stay.

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Renowned Latin American writer Alvarez has created another story about cultural identity, but this time the primary character is 11-year-old Miguel Guzmán.

When Tía Lola arrives to help the family, Miguel and his hermana, Juanita, have just moved from New York City to Vermont with their recently divorced mother. The last thing Miguel wants, as he's trying to fit into a predominantly white community, is a flamboyant aunt who doesn't speak a word of English. Tía Lola, however, knows a language that defies words; she quickly charms and befriends all the neighbors. She can also cook exotic food, dance (anywhere, anytime), plan fun parties, and tell enchanting stories. Eventually, Tía Lola and the children swap English and Spanish ejercicios, but the true lesson is "mutual understanding." Peppered with Spanish words and phrases, Alvarez makes the reader as much a part of the "language" lessons as the characters. This story seamlessly weaves two culturaswhile letting each remain intact, just as Miguel is learning to do with his own life. Like all good stories, this one incorporates a lesson just subtle enough that readers will forget they're being taught, but in the end will understand themselves, and others, a little better, regardless of la lengua nativa—the mother tongue.

Simple, bella, un regalo permenente: simple and beautiful, a gift that will stay. (Fiction. 9-11)

Pub Date: March 1, 2001

ISBN: 0-375-80215-0

Page Count: 160

Publisher: Knopf

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
ALREADY A BUTTERFLY
by Julia Alvarez ; illustrated by Raúl Colón

- BOOK REVIEW
WHERE DO THEY GO?
by Julia Alvarez ; illustrated by Sabra Field

- BOOK REVIEW
HOW TÍA LOLA ENDED UP STARTING OVER
by Julia Alvarez

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DIARY OF A WIMPY KID

A NOVEL IN CARTOONS

From the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series , Vol. 1

by Jeff Kinney ; illustrated by Jeff Kinney ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2007

Certain to elicit both gales of giggles and winces of sympathy (not to mention recognition) from young readers.

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First volume of a planned three, this edited version of an ongoing online serial records a middle-school everykid’s triumphs and (more often) tribulations through the course of a school year.

Largely through his own fault, mishaps seem to plague Greg at every turn, from the minor freak-outs of finding himself permanently seated in class between two pierced stoners and then being saddled with his mom for a substitute teacher, to being forced to wrestle in gym with a weird classmate who has invited him to view his “secret freckle.” Presented in a mix of legible “hand-lettered” text and lots of simple cartoon illustrations with the punch lines often in dialogue balloons, Greg’s escapades, unwavering self-interest and sardonic commentary are a hoot and a half.

Certain to elicit both gales of giggles and winces of sympathy (not to mention recognition) from young readers. (Fiction. 9-11)