Not Feelin' Groovy! Pete the Kitty Goes to the Doctor by Kimberly and James Dean

PETE THE KITTY WAKES UP. IT'S TIME TO GO TO SCHOOL.

HE STRETCHES. OUCH!

Pete's dad comes in to see why he's not up.

"MY BELLY DOES NOT FEEL GROOVY," PETE SAYS.

Dad tells Pete to rest, and Pete soon feels a little better, so he gets out of bed to play with his trains. He's expecting a groovy day playing at home. But in a while Pete's dad comes back and tells him he has an appointment with the doctor. Now Pete has a tummyache and he's a little scared, too!

Dad tries to make him feel better.

"THE DOCTOR IS COOL. SHE IS NOT SCARY," DAD TELLS HIM ON THE WAY.

The doctor's waiting room has lots of cool, far-out toys to keep Pete busy. Soon the nurse comes to take him to the doctor's examination room, where she checks his temperature and looks in his ears and eyes with cool tools. She feels his tummy and then listens to his heart with a stethoscope and lets him listen to hers.

THE DOCTOR GAVE PETE A COOL STICKER!

It's all new and interesting to Pete, and he's glad when the doctor tells him he only needs to rest at home until he feels well, and sure enough, he soon does.

Dad knows best, in Kimberly and James Dean's Pete the Kitty Goes to the Doctor (My First I Can Read, a beginner reader than takes Pete to the doctor for an actual illness. A chance trip to the doctor for Pete serves as a vicarious experience to prepare real children for more than the routine "well-child examination," one in which they actually feel unwell and may fear what will happen in the medical office.

A Wider World: Will You Be My Friend? by Sam McBratney

LITTLE NUTBROWN HARE WANTED TO PLAY, BUT... BIG NUTBROWN HARE WAS VERY BUSY.

"CAN I GO AND PLAY BY MYSELF?" ASKED LITTLE NUTBROWN HARE."

"WELL, YES," SAID BIG NUTBROWN HARE," BUT DON'T GO TOO FAR."

Little Nutbrown Hare happily hops off up the stony path to explore the path up Cloudy Mountain. He stops at a puddle to study his own reflection staring back at him.

"YOU'RE ONLY ANOTHER ME!" HE SAYS.

He runs on up the path, racing his shadow keeping pace with him and only stopping when he stops.

"YOU'RE ONLY ANOTHER ME!" HE THINKS.

But up the heathery hill he sees a a more surprising sight, staring back at him!

"SOMEONE REAL!"

It's another little hare, just his size, but one with white fur, and she wants to play!"

And play they do, chasing each other, digging a hole big deep enough to hide both of them, and having a game of hide-and-seek in the heather. But when it is Little Nutbrown Hare's turn to hide, Tipps doesn't come to find him.

Sadly, he heads down the path to find Big Nutbrown Hare, who asks if he has enjoyed his explorations. But before Little Nut Brown Hare can answer, they hear the sound of someone else on the path. It's Tipps, smiling! Surprised, Big Nutbrown Hare wonders aloud where this little snow hare came from.

"HER NAME IS TIPPS--" ANSWERED LITTLE NUTBROWN HARE. "SHE'S MY FRIEND."

Little Nutbrown Hare discovers a wider world in Sam McBratney's latest in his best-selling series, Will You Be My Friend? (Guess How Much I Love You) in which Little Brown Hare finds his first friend, very lucky to have a father who loves him well and wisely enough to let him venture out to find that friend.

Sweet and subtle, author Sam McBratney's newest tale portrays the moment in which a youngster begins to move outside the parental circle toward independence in the wider world. Skillfully crafted, the author's carefully-shaped storytelling lets the lovely pen and watercolor artwork of Anita Jeram, reminiscent of Beatrice Potter's The Tale of Peter Rabbit books, visually tell the story of a first friendship found. In a long series such as this one, it's a pleasure to see the depth of meaning that this author continues to bring to his wise father and son tales. Says Kirkus Reviews, "Readers are likely to love it to the moon and back."

Where the Heart Is: The Blue House by Phoebe Wald

Leo lived with his dad, in a old blue house next to a tall fir tree.

The old house has its problems. There are creaks and leaks, and the paint is peeling in some places.

But when the heater breaks down, Dad bakes apple pie so that the oven can warm the kitchen, and Dad plays guitar and old records and they dance to warm up in the living room. In the backyard, the house has a clothesline, his trampoline, and a garden for his cat to hide in and a place to grow tomatoes, and Leo has a window high up in his backyard where he can watch new apartments being built all over the neighborhood.

One day Leo's dad picked him up from school. They got ice cream instead of going home.

"I got a letter from our landlord," Leo's dad said. They have sold our house and are tearing it down. We are going to have to move."

Leo is so angry that he says he will not leave his room so they can't tear it down. Dad is mad, too, and they have a screaming, guitar-shredding, dancing around wildly, MAD party. They feel a little better but they still have to move. Gradually their things begin to disappear into big boxes. Their cat peers suspiciously at the cat carrier in the living room. Soon their house is not really their house, just empty closets and cold floors and bare walls.

"Let's paint on them!" said Dad."

Their mural of their garden makes both of them a little less sad, but soon it was time for the move to a little white house. It is small, and everything looks out of place in the different rooms. But the cat is happy to get out of the carrier, Leo jumps on his trampoline and swings in his swing in the new backyard, and Leon and Dad play their music and dance like they always liked to do. And looking at the bare walls in his new bedroom, Leo has a new idea. He and his dad paint the little blue house with its tall fir tree there, just as they remember it, theirs to remember together always.

It's home, again, a new beginning, in Phoebe Wald's, The Blue House (Alfred A. Knopf, 2020), in a poignant story of making a house a home which has been likened to Virginia Lee Burton's class Caldecott Medal book, The Little House. Wald's charming illustrations and sensitive look at a father and son who learn that the important thing is not where they live, but to be together wherever they live, to make common memories of their lives together. Home is where the heart is, and the heart is wherever the ones you love are. This book shares a timeless but reassuring message that helps children deal with change. In their starred review, Horn Book calls this one “An affecting story about loss and starting over.”

Eco-Spy in the Sky! Squirm by Carl Hiaasen

This one kid, he got kicked out of school. The kid's name was Jammer, and I got his locker.

Who knows what he kept in there, but he must've given out his combination to half the school. Kids were always messing with my stuff. So I put a snake inside the locker. Problem solved.

It was an Eastern diamondback, a serious reptile. The freak-out factor was high.

Don't worry. I taped its mouth shut. That's a tricky move, not for rookies. I wouldn't try it again. I just wanted kids to stay out of my locker.

Which they now do.

It's no surprise Billy is called Snake Boy wherever he lives. Billy Dickens' family moves around central Florida a lot because his mom is a serious bald eagle freak, so whenever her eagles move their nest, the Dickenses move, too. Billy likes eagles, but snakes are his passion. Once when he saw a guy swerve his motorcycle to run over a snake, Billy tracked him down and made sure his bike wound up at the bottom of a canal. Whatever school he goes to, he seems to keep the nickname "Snake Boy."

So it's no surprise that when Billy he discovers that his father is living with his new family in Montana, doing something mysterious in nature preserves "for the government," he buys his own airplane ticket and heads for Montana solo to ask his dad some important questions.

Billy hasn't seen his father since he was four, and barely remembers him, but somehow he's not surprised when he learns that his father is actually stalking an ultra-rich, self-proclaimed great white hunter, Lincoln Baxter, who preys on the most endangered animals, in this case a male grizzly. The griz gets away, but Billy only gets a cryptic note, dropped from his dad's drone, saying "Sorry for the lost years."

And with the help of his new-found step-sister, Summer, the next time Billy follows his father's drone into the mountains, he also finds his dad, wounded and staked out with a dead deer as grizzly bait for trophy hunter Baxter. And when the showdown with Baxter comes, Baxter seems to hold all the cards.

"So, your plan was to let the grizzly kill my dad," I say, "and then you'd shoot the bear and tell the game wardens... "

"Justified," says Baxter. "It's completely legal to take a grizzly in self-defense."

Suddenly the birds stopped singing. Something heavy is advancing through the woods. It's not trying to be sneaky. Baxter raises his rifle to his shoulder, while I reach for the pocket where I put the can of bear spray. At the same moment Baxter takes aim at the fierce commotion, I take aim, too...

Blasting the poacher point blank in the face.

"Good shot, Billy," Dad says, as he lurches out of a thicket, trailing cut ropes "How'd you know it was me?"

"Wild guess."

It's another wild ride through the wilds in Carl Hiaasen's latest eco-thriller, Squirm (Alfred A. Knopf, 2018), with the author's off-beat Florida ecological heroes meeting the big-time rare animal poaching industry in a timely novel--with the engaging and resourceful Billy Dickens and his weird but dedicated dad trying to preserve grizzlies and Florida panthers and along the way find a new relationship based on their mutual love of wild animals. Not many writers for middle readers offer outdoor survival skills, family loyalties, and a place for characters with unusual qualities, but in his books for young people Hiaasen manages to remain the master of the maverick hero whose ecological mission finds danger and adventure in the wild. Says Bulletin, "Hiaasen's ecological passion shows no sign of abatement, and neither does his faith in kid resourcefulness and family resilience."

Carl Hiaasen's earlier humorous and exciting eco-novels also star young protagonists (mostly boys and indispensable sisters or step-sisters) who manage to foil ecological villains in his top-selling, Newbery-winning Hoot and Flush, (see reviews here), Chomp (review here), Scat (review here), and Skink--No Surrender (Skink Series) (review here).

Nutbrown Bunny Valentines! Guess How Much I Love You: A Book of Valentines by Sam McBratney and Anita Jeram

WHO KNOWS HOW TO SAY...

"HOPPY VALENTINE'S DAY?"


Who could be better than Sam McBratney's Big Nutbrown Hare and Little Nutbrown Hare, that father-and-son pair who played a delightful game of can-you-top-this? in the evergreen best-seller, Guess How Much I Love You, first published by Candlewick Press in 2008. Continued in Guess How Much I Love You in the Winter (Walker, 2017),  (read review here) artist Anita Jeram's lovely and loving comic watercolor illustrations catch just the right balance of rivalry and love between the two.

In this Valentine's Day special edition, Guess How Much I Love You: A Book of Valentines (Candlewick Press, 2017), there are 36 full-color, removable Valentine's Day cards and special stickers, featuring scenes of this charming father-and-son duo from McBratney's and Jeram's books and capturing the droll humor and endearing affection of these classics,  just right for giving Valentines on "Hop and Hug Day."

Peter Pan Syndrome! I Don't Want to Be Big by Dev Petty

It all began with a nice bowl of worm-and-fly soup.

"YOU NEED TO EAT YOUR DINNER!" SAID BIG FROG. "DON'T YOU WANT TO GROW?"

"I DON'T WANT TO BE BIG!" SAID LITTLE FROG.

Ever since Peter Pan strutted across the stage, singing "I'll never grow up, never grow up--NOT ME!" kids have had an argument for staying kids.

Big Frog points out to benefits of growing up.

"DON'T YOU WANT TO BE ABLE TO TO JUMP HIGH ENOUGH TO MEET THE TREE FROGS?"

Little Frog takes one look at the horde of scary red-eyed tree frogs staring down at him. and pointedly takes a pass on that.

Being a grown up is not all it's cracked up to be! Being big makes it hard to win at hide-and-seek. Ask Elephant! There's not enough leg room and you hit your head on stuff. You're too close to the sun.

Seriously? Too close to the sun? Pig scoffs at Little Frog's dissent, pointing out that being big gets him the biggest muddle puddle and bucket of garbage in the barnyard.

Not an incentive, thinks Little Frog. Then Pig points out something that he hasn't considered.

"GROWING BIGGER DOESN'T MEAN THAT YOU HAVE TO GROW UP."

Maybe he will have that dinner after all, thinks Little Frog, as long as it doesn't come with a mandatory bath, in Dev Petty's latest about his contrary kid frog, I Don't Want to Be Big (Doubleday and Company, 2016), in this sequel to Petty's oppositional juvenile frog, who made his first appearance in Petty's hit picture book I Don't Want to Be a Frog, (See review here).

In this sequel author Petty again uses the cantankerous preschooler model to good effect, assisted by artist Mike Boldt, whose clever book design (with much of the dialog carried out in thought or speech balloons) and hilarious cartoon illustrations put this one over the top. Boldt's textless, two-page spread of scary red-eyed tree frogs glaring down en masse guarantees giggles from young listeners, especially the ones inclined to negotiate each deal with impatient parents.

For those weary elders, it must be noted that author Dev Petty slyly ends each book with the contentious tot eating his dinner, which is the primary premise behind the whole thing. Score: Big Frog 2, Little Frog 0!

Says School Library Journal, "An amusing book about why getting big doesn't necessarily mean you have to grow up."

Back to School: Dad School by Rebecca Van Slyke

WHEN I GO TO SCHOOL, I LEARN HOW TO WRITE MY NAME, PAINT PICTURES, AND PLAY GAMES. MY DAD SAYS HE WENT TO SCHOOL, TOO.

I THINK HE WENT TO DAD SCHOOL.

And the endearing narrator Lucas approves of his dad's curriculum. He studies fixing boo-boos, making multi-decker ham-and-cheese sandwiches with pickles and potato chips for the lunch box, and how to toss his son high into the air and never drop him (he practices with plush toys, of course, until he's error-free.) Of course, all that tossing requires BIG muscles, so all the dads have to spend some time in Dad gym class pumping iron! And then there's that absolutely essential parenting skill--multitasking!

AT DAD SCHOOL, THEY EARN HOW TO DO MORE THAN ONE THING AT A TIME, LIKE MAKING BREAKFAST AND CHECKING MY HOMEWORK.

Dad can even play Go-Fish and pay the bills at the same time.

But Dad's education does have a few deficiencies--

DAD MISSED THE DAYS THEY TAUGHT ABOUT MATCHING COLORS, BRUSHING HAIR, AND CLEANING THE BATHROOM.

But what's a little messy hair and toilet paper and toothbrushes on the floor when your dad is so good at fixing your bike and climbing the monkey bars at the park?

Rebecca Slyke's delightful Dad School (Doubleday and Company, 2016) shows an adorable father and son, backpacks and lunch sacks and all, as youngsters learn how dads learn to do it all. Lucas is proud as Dad graduates in cap and gown and gets an appropriate trophy, all portrayed engagingly by artist Priscilla Burris's just-right illustrations done in blackline and flat intense colors. Burris even contributes winsome endpapers, with three-hole-punch lined notebook paper with repeat patterns of Dad's school supplies--from bandaids to wrenches to a deck of Go-Fish cards. This one is a sly way to approach the off-to-school jitters for preschoolers, pointing out that even Dads need their schooling. "Sweetly funny and full of paternal devotion," adds Publishers Weekly.

Pair this one with Van Slyke's and Burris's equally winning companion book, Mom School.

Mega Hero: Super Jumbo by Fred Koehler

FOR LITTLE JUMBO, BEING A SUPER HERO WAS NOT AN EASY JOB.

NO ONE SEEMED TO APPRECIATE HIS SUPER STRENGTH,

HIS SPEED,

OR HIS EXPERT CRIME-FIGHTING TECHNIQUES.

Little Jumbo seems to have watched a lot of super hero cartoons. He cuts himself a chunk of the living room drapes to serve as a cape. SHAZAM! Instant caped crusader! Dad is not impressed.

LITTLE JUMBO HAD TO ACT QUICKLY TO EVADE CAPTURE.

Outside, Little Jumbo takes his heroics out on the street, vowing to right wrong and fight crime wherever he finds it. No mission is too minute for Super Jumbo! Noticing a family of snails on the curb, he charges into the crosswalk, both hands extended to stop traffic from both directions. A few fender-benders and the snarled traffic threaten to ignite a touch of road range, but our hero is off to another challenge.

A small cat is beginning to climb a tree. Little Jumbo "borrows" a ladder and leans it against the tree for the cat's convenience. The cat looks confused. But it's on to more good deeds for our hero. He spots a man with a bag of popcorn, some spread out on the ground around him, and a flock of pecking pigeons scarfing it up. Super Jumbo springs into action, his cape billowing behind him.

HE TIRELESSLY CRUSADED AGAINST THE FORCES OF EVIL!

Charging into the scene, Little Jumbo scatters the pigeons, picks up the popcorn, and presents it to the man with a flourish. No need for thanks.

BEING A SUPER HERO IS A THANKLESS JOB!

Feeling that he's earned a little reward, Little Jumbo spots the goodies in the display window of a bakery. But there is a little boy with a red wagon with a wheel which has just fallen off. Foregoing cupcakes, Super Jumbo pulls out his handy wrench and throws himself into the task at hand! Soon the rubber hits the road as super hero and boy climb the hill, jump into the wagon, and hurtle downhill--heading for Dad, happily fishing on a pier and totally unaware of what is about to happen next.

Being a caped crusader is a thankless job, in Fred Koehler's newest, Super Jumbo (Dial Books, 2016). Fred Koehler's super-hero wannabe means to do great things, but as illustrator Koehler shows in his clever sight gags, his do-good adventures leave comic mini-disasters in the wake of his cloak for young readers to enjoy. As Publishers Weekly puts it, "[Koehler's] thick black outlines give his characters a reassuring emotional groundedness, and he finds the comic sweet spot in each composition."

Fred Koehler's previous book was the well-reviewed How to Cheer Up Dad (see my review here).

Are We There Yet?: Following Papa's Song by Giana Marino

AT DAWN LITTLE BLUE NUZZLED ALONGSIDE PAPA AND ASKED, "IS IT TIME?"

Papa says it is time to make their annual journey north to their seasonal territory. But Little Blue has never made that swim and can hardly conceive of what it means to go so far.

"PAPA, HOW WILL WE KNOW WHICH WAY TO GO?"

"WE'LL FOLLOW THE SOUND OF THE WHALES, LITTLE BLUE, JUST LIKE OUR FAMILY HAS FOR YEARS AND YEARS."

Little Blue hears the whale song, but the ocean seems so big and Papa swims so fast. What if he falls behind? Papa answers.

"IF YOU LISTEN CLOSELY, YOU WILL ALWAYS HEAR MY SONG."

Little Blue hears the song of the others ahead, and he sticks very close to Papa, swimming as hard as he can. But soon he begins to look around at all the new and fascinating sights as they pass--all sorts of fish, giant sea turtles, jellyfish, and kelp. And then Little Blue looks beneath him and Papa. It is a very dark blue and seems to go down forever. Papa tells him to look but stay near the surface with him.

Then Little blue glimpses just a flash of silvery light below. Could he just go a bit deeper and see what it is?

He dives down, toward the flicker of light.

EVERYTHING WAS MAGIC, JUST LIKE PAPA SAID.

Down, further in the deep, where few rays of sunlight filter, he sees beautiful creatures, dolpins, luminescent fish, and huge rays that seem to soar through the depths on giant, graceful wings.

But then Little Blue realizes that it is very silent in the deep and that he is feeling cold, very cold. He looks up to where Papa was just a minute ago, but he sees no bulky silhouette against the glittering surface. Little Blue calls for Papa. He calls and calls. All he hears are his own frightened sounds.

What was it that Papa had said for him to do?

Giana Marino's newest, Following Papa's Song (Viking Books, 2014), is a lovely and lyrical salute to fatherhood and to the wonders of the sea. Her exquisite double-page underwater scenes glow with silver, green, and then blue and her shifts in perspective show first the enormity of the humpback whale father and son and the vastness of the ocean depths in which they are indeed small, especially Little Blue, as alone in the dark depths, he listens for his father's song to show him the way, The premise of the young runaway and his safe return to the fold have never had a more moving or splendid setting, which ends, as all prodigal stories should, with the father and child soaring into the sunlight as they breach with joy at their reunion. A beautiful parable of parenthood and a splendid salute to the sea.

See also Giana Marino's noted earlier book, Meet Me at the Moon (Viking, 2012).

Cool Together! One Cool Friend by Toni Buzzeo

Elliot was a very proper young man.

So, on Saturday, when his father said, "Family day at the aquarium. Shall we go?"

Elliot thought, Kids, masses of noisy kids.

But he only said, "Of course; thank you for inviting me."

At the aquarium, Elliot's father is the quintessential detached dad, plopping onto a bench and instantly lost in his National Geographic, leaving Elliot, sober in his dark suit and formal bow tie, to his own devices. Eschewing the usual kid-pleasing, squeal-producing, hands-on exhibits, he takes the road not taken, down a quiet hall to a display that takes his breath away.

"PENGUINS!"

In their tidy black feather tuxedos, with their proper posture, the penguins reminded Elliot of himself.

Even Ferdinand Magellan looked like his kind of guy.

Suddenly Elliot falls in love with one little penguin, whom he christens "Magellan," and hot foots it back to where his dad is still reading.

"Are you having fun?" Dad asks.

"Yes, thank you. May I have a penguin?"

Absentmindedly, Dad's glance falls on the museum shop's Today's Special poster advertising large plush penguins for only $19.95. Peeling off a twenty, Dad generously agrees to the seemingly reasonable request and goes back to his article. And the amazed Elliot is off on his mission of penguin adoption, giving the amiable Magellan a ride home in his backpack.

Back home, Elliot sets out to make Magellan comfortable in his room, where he turns the heat down low enough to turn his plastic wading pool into a skating rink for his new pet. In the window comes the garden hose to fill the pool. "GRACK," says Magellan gratefully. With his buddy settled in, Elliot requests permission to head for the library to do some research on a school report on, um, Ferdinand Magellan.

"When I was in fourth grade, I got Captain Cook," his dad remarks companionably from his map-plastered study.

Back from his fact-finding mission on Magellanic penguins, Elliot requests frozen pizza for his dinner, and after apologetically pointing out that all they have is anchovy pizza, his father goes back to his own research, and Elliot zips back to his own room with his frigid result of his foraging for Magellan's dinner.

All is cozy and cool up in Elliot's room, with Magellan stuffed on anchovies and swimming contently in a tub floating with ice cubes, until his Dad blunders into the bathroom and discovers just what kind of penguin his son has broght home.

"ELLIOT!!!"

But all's well that ends well, when Elliot discovers that he has another soul mate in his family besides Magellan in Toni Buzzeo's delightful new book, One Cool Friend (Dial Books, 2012), as his father reveals his own unusual pet in a surprising (but deftly foreshadowed) ending that will leave kids satisfied and grinning from ear to ear.

Caldecott winner David Small turns out the perfect illustrations for Buzzeo's skillfully written text with just right touches of humor throughout to make this a not-to-be-missed new offering for the new year. In addition to the boy-brings-home-unusual-pet premise, there is another subtle theme here, felt more than stated, as the Publishers Weekly reviewer slyly points out: "Though very much a boy-and-his-pet story, it’s just as much about two gentlemen who appear to be orbiting entirely different planets. The revelation that they’re not so dissimilar after all is about as sweet as it gets."

Killer Thriller? Hero by Mike Lupica

"POWERS?" Kate said.

"Yeah."

She smiled then. not the way she did when she was making fun of him. Just a smile that told Zach that she believed him.

It was the kind of smile that made him feel as if everything was going to be all right, even though he knew that probably wasn't true, that nothing was going to be the same for him ever again.

"I guess that leaves me with only one question," Kate said.

"Shoot."

Kate Paredes smiled at him again and said, "Are you going to have to wear a cape?"

Zach Harriman is devastated when the father he idolizes dies in an unexplained plane crash, returning from a special mission for the government, presumably against foreign terrorists. But when Zach is drawn to the site of the crash far out on Long Island, he meets a strange old man who calls himself Mr. Herbert, a man who seems to know everything about him and why his father died.

"You should trust me because I was the one who first told your father he had the magic in him," Mr. Herbert said.

"Don't be afraid, boy." the old man said. "You've got the magic, too."

And, then, just like that, the old man was gone.

Zach ran after him, ignoring the high grass, feeling as if all the wind of the day were at his back now. Closed his eyes and ran, faster. Feeling like he was the one flying now.... Like he'd become invisible.

When he opened his eyes--Zach saw that he was running across the Sheep Meadow in Central Park. As if he'd texted himself home.

As if by magic.

It's a kid's dream to be suddenly reborn a hero, a superhero, the inheritor of his father's supernatural powers, the hoped-for avenger and redeemer to vanish the forces of evil, here known simply as The Bads. Harry Potter and Percy Jackson are just two recent heroes who struggle with assuming the mantles of their renowned fathers in an eons-old tradition going back past Beowulf to Jason and before, and Mike Lupica, master of the middle-school sports hero story, has decided to cast his current literary lot with these supernatural second-generation heroes.

He partly succeeds. Lupica is skillful in writing credible dialog and creating believable boys, torn by the responsibility to remain true to their powers, be it fast ball, hail Mary pass, or sudden superheroics and of reconciling their ambitions and drives to the vicissitudes of growing up in the world in which they find themselves. Lupica's parental figures are supportive and sensitive, and yet detached enough so that his characters operate pretty much without their interference within their own world. His characters are often blessed also with lovely, dewy-eyed girlfriends who are smart, independent, but unquestioning, and unfailingly unselfish and supportive as well. In his latest, Hero, (Philomel, 2010) Lupica offers up both of these stock characters as fairly-fleshed out minor characters in the form of Zach's mom and his friend Kate, not to mention another staple, two conflicting mentors, the mysterious Mr. Herbert, with "powers" of his own, and "Uncle John," an avuncular family friend who somehow knows of his father's powers and who also seeks to control his super skills against the nebulous "Bads" who threaten Zach daily.

Some kids will love the vicarious thrill of suddenly inhabiting a body equipped with supersonic speed, super-sharp vision and hearing, the ability to detect evil before it appears, and the overwhelming rush of transformative fighting power when it does. After all, it's better than Peter Parker morphing into Spiderman; it's like realizing that you're Superman or the Incredible Hulk with no need for those uncomfortable tights.

Of course, some kids may see through this formulaic novel, finding it all too familiar, with an uncomfortable "Here we go again" feeling. Additionally, unlike Harry and Percy and their literary cousins, Lupica's hero has no intriguing alternative world, no Hogwarts or Camp Half-Blood populated with like beings, in which to mature his powers, and unlike Harry and Percy, whose dark lords are the very essence of good gone wrong, the vision of evil against which Zach is supposed to contend remains fairly nebulous, limited for most of this novel to the occasional goombahs who try to rough him up. Are they the henchmen of some evil but earthly empire, suicide terrorists, minions of some Machiavellian overlord, or spirits from some as-yet undelineated other world? Tune in for the sequel, sure to follow, for further enlightenment.

Horse Time: Fear of Falling by Laurie Halse Anderson

This is totally weird. How come they're not getting on my case? How come Dad's not telling me how badly I messed up?

And then I hear the strangest thing. Dad is apologizing--apologizing to me. "God, I'm so sorry, David," he says. "It's all my fault."

I blink, suddenly feeling dizzy. "Your fault? But--"

"I was stupid," he says harshly. "I pushed you too hard, too fast. You never would have tried that jump in a million years if I hadn't pushed you to do it. I--I just wanted--" he holds out his hands helplessly. "I'm sorry." He turns to Mom. "I'm so, so sorry."

David loves horses and riding. He desperately wants to learn to jump, hoping to please his estranged father whose chance to compete as an Olympian was ended in the boycott of the 1980 games. But David is haunted by a recurring nightmare in which his horse refuses a jump and he has a disastrous fall.

When his father, who has been absent and uncommunicative for over a year, suddenly reappears at the barn with a expensive jumper, King's Shadow, David is both elated and fearful--eager to show off his beginning skills but afraid that he will never equal his father's expectations. Quinn, his riding teacher, advocates a go-slow technique, what he calls "horse time," allowing both the rider and horse to learn at a comfortable pace, but David's father urges him to try an advanced jump which causes a bad fall with potentially severe injuries.

And then David learns that his father's return to Pennsylvania stems not from a desire to be with his family, but a desperate attempt to obtain a job with a local friend's help. David realizes that the money his dad should have sent for child support has gone into the purchase of a pricey jumper, and his conflict only grows when he sees his father force his unwilling mount into a difficult jump which causes the horse an injury as well.

Torn and confused by his father's behavior, David resolves to give up jumping and confesses his decision to Quinn:

"I don't want to be anything like him. I'm even thinking about giving up jumping. Who needs it? It's just for show, anyway."

"Well," Mr. Quinn says, gazing at Trickster rather than me. "I hope you won't do that, David. As much as you may not want to hear it, you do have your father's gift with horses. Only you have an advantage."

"We can't help being like our parents in some ways," Mr. Quinn says. "But you just showed that you're different from your father. You've got a lot of respect for these animals, David. You've also got good intuition--when you stop and listen to it."

In her new edition of Fear of Falling #9 (Vet Volunteers) (Puffin, 2009) Newbery author Laurie Halse Anderson continues her popular Vet Volunteers series with the continuing story of David Hutchinson, first featured in Trickster #3 (Vet Volunteers). (See my review here.) As in the other titles in this notable series, the young protagonist has solid support from adults like Quinn and veterinarian Dr. Mac, as well as his young friends who volunteer regularly at her animal clinic, as they work their way through the middle school years--on, as Quinn puts it, the slow but steady pace of "horse time."