Built on an interesting factual base, but patchy, too long, and unevenly paced.
A community of Italian immigrants in Boston’s North End is devastated by the collapse of an immense tank filled with deadly goo.
Debut author Schoedinger draws on historical records, but in this fictionalized account of Boston’s Great Molasses Flood of 1919 the disaster itself seems squeezed between an excruciatingly slow build up and a sketchy, anticlimactic aftermath. Continual mentions of how it leaks, creaks, and sheds fragments signal that there’s plainly something amiss with the 50-foot-tall molasses silo in 10-year-old Luca Ciotti’s neighborhood. But distracted by dazzling 14-year-old Nevi Pavone, his wish for a nickel box of Cracker Jack, and his dreams of an apartment with indoor plumbing, Luca doesn’t consider the dangers—after all, “the monster was a free candy store” and the leaking “thick, brown syrup coated his belly in sweetness.” That is, until the tower explodes, releasing an estimated 2,000,000 gallons of molasses. Badly injured and having also lost a sister and best friend in the flood, he agrees to a lawyer’s request to testify in court. From that point, the tale rushes to a conclusion through a few truncated courtroom scenes, perfunctory references to the massive efforts required to clean up the mess, and an ending that comes across as maudlin. Readers interested in this topic may wish to seek out Deborah J. Kops’ nonfiction account, The Great Molasses Flood (2012). Final art not seen.
Built on an interesting factual base, but patchy, too long, and unevenly paced. (Historical fiction. 10-13)Pub Date: Oct. 6, 2026
ISBN: 9781963714135
Page Count: 274
Publisher: Peter E. Randall
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
BOOK TO SCREEN
Problem-solving through perseverance and friendship is the real win in this deeply smart and inspiring story.
Leaving Brooklyn behind, Black math-whiz and puzzle lover Bree starts a new life in Florida, where she’ll be tossed into the deep end in more ways than one. Keeping her head above water may be the trickiest puzzle yet.
While her dad is busy working and training in IT, Bree struggles at first to settle into Enith Brigitha Middle School, largely due to the school’s preoccupation with swimming—from the accomplishments of its namesake, a Black Olympian from Curaçao, to its near victory at the state swimming championships. But Bree can’t swim. To illustrate her anxiety around this fact, the graphic novel’s bright colors give way to gray thought bubbles with thick, darkened outlines expressing Bree’s deepest fears and doubts. This poignant visual crowds some panels just as anxious feelings can crowd the thoughts of otherwise star students like Bree. Ultimately, learning to swim turns out to be easy enough with the help of a kind older neighbor—a Black woman with a competitive swimming past of her own as well as a rich and bittersweet understanding of Black Americans’ relationship with swimming—who explains to Bree how racist obstacles of the past can become collective anxiety in the present. To her surprise, Bree, with her newfound water skills, eventually finds herself on the school’s swim team, navigating competition, her anxiety, and new, meaningful relationships.
Problem-solving through perseverance and friendship is the real win in this deeply smart and inspiring story. (Graphic fiction. 10-13)Pub Date: May 17, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-305677-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: HarperAlley
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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