Seventh-grader has questions about god, everything
Published: Thursday, October 7, 2010 at 8:00 a.m.
Last Modified: Monday, October 4, 2010 at 9:57 a.m.
Capsule reviews of recent children’s book releases.
“Octavia Boone’s Big Questions About Life, the Universe and Everything,” by Rebecca Rupp, $15.99. Seventh-grader Octavia has a lot on her mind.
Does life have a purpose? What is it? Why do the people at her mother’s new church hate Halloween and Christmas? Why is there algebra? If God is everywhere, is he with you in the bathroom?
When Octavia’s formerly bon vivant mother leaves her family to join a fundamentalist Christian sect, it sends Octavia’s list of queries into overdrive. At the top of that list: Can’t things go back to the way they were?
And if Octavia’s science-fair project can prove that prayer has no effect on the growth of Phaseolus vulgaris, the common bean, will her mother finally come home, and go back to sticking funny notes on the refrigerator and drawing goofy self-portraits? Ages 9 and up.
“Stalker Girl,” by Rosemary Graham, $16.99.
Here’s another big question: Why does someone leave you when clearly you’re soul mates? Carly is bereft when her beloved Brian dumps her for the gorgeous, talented Taylor. She’s obsessed with discovering what Taylor’s got that she doesn’t.
Carly’s consuming jealousy begins long before Brian untangles himself from her possessive grip. She compulsively monitors the website for Brian’s band, spending hours reading the messages from fans, “trying to measure the threat level” posed by the girls.
Finally, Carly watches an “older girl” corner Brian after a set, and then goes a little nuts when the woman hands Brian her phone number.
But this particular woman happens to be a recording executive, and Carly’s aggressive behavior may jinx Brian’s chance to sign up with her company. When Brian severs connections with Carly soon afterward, the result leads to a lesson in the difference between jealous curiosity and the sort of stalking that carries legal penalties. Age 13 and up.
“Art and Max,” by David Wiesner, $17.99.
Three-time Caldecott Award-winner Wiesner’s newest tale has more layers than a multitiered cake.
On one level, it’s the story of an artist who gets more than he anticipated when he agrees to mentor an enthusiastic student.
On another, Wiesner literally removes layers of media — paint, pastel, watercolor, pen and ink — to reveal what lies beneath, then reconstructing everything again. But once something is dismantled, it’s permanently changed, as the charming conclusion reveals. Don’t miss the YouTube video of Wiesner explaining his creative process. Ages 4 and up.
“Hereville: How Mirka Got Her Sword,” written and illustrated by Barry Deutsch, $15.95.
The wry subtitle — “Yet Another Troll-Fighting 11-Year-Old Orthodox Jewish Girl” — sets up the droll story of this graphic novel. (Too bad the current overrun of vampire and werewolf books don’t carry similar subtitles.)
Rebellious young Mirka, who lives in the Jewish Orthodox enclave of Hereville, grudgingly learns the “womanly arts” that her stepmother insists on teaching. But as she counts stitches, Mirka dreams of fighting a dragon, an ambition whose challenges she begins to fully appreciate only after a tangle with a willful hog.
A daunting sorceress offers Mirka some help with her goal, but first Mirka is obliged to do her Sixth Day chores. The mix of magic and Jewish life is lively and fresh. Maybe in her next adventure, Mirka can start cutting down on the overpopulation of angst-ridden adolescent werewolves and vampires. Ages 10 and up.
“Jim, Who Ran Away from His Nurse, and Was Eaten by a Lion,” by Mini Grey and Hilaire Belloc, $19.99.
The title pretty much tells the tale, but read it anyway to appreciate the sly rhymes, realistically exhaustive warnings and naughty Jim’s slow-mo demise.
Most children are apt to find it hilarious, but expect fretting from the alarmist adults who think the “Harry Potter” books constitute an instruction manual. Ages 4 and up.
Reader comments posted to this article may be published in our print edition. All rights reserved. This copyrighted material may not be re-published without permission. Links are encouraged.