March 8, 2010

STARRED REVIEW . . . FROM KIRKUS!

My editor just shared the delightful news that my new novel, HOW TO SURVIVE MIDDLE SCHOOL, garnered a starred review from Kirkus. What a wonderful way to STARt the week!

HOW TO SURVIVE MIDDLE SCHOOL (star)

David Greenberg, would-be future anchor of The Daily Show, enters middle school with problems: Longtime best friend Elliott has abandoned him for new, nastier and bigger friends, David hasn’t spoken with his runaway mother in months and he’s dumbstruck by a sudden crush on adorable, peppermint-scented redhead Sophie Meyers. Sophie shares David’s funny videos—in which he apes Jon Stewart’s style and tone as only a burgeoning sixth-grade comedian can—with her homeschooling friends, launching David into sudden Internet fame. Real life intrudes in the forms of merciless teasing by Elliott and his friends and David’s desperate desire to connect with his mentally ill mother, who abandoned the family for life in rural Maine two years ago. Sensible and loving win out over mean and bullying, giving David space to balance his real and online lives. Gephart maps the hormonal, emotionally torturous terrain of pubescent boyhood with realistic dialogue, well-developed secondary characters and age-appropriate humor and insight, placing this title in the same august league as Jordan Sonnenblick’s Girls, Drums and Dangerous Pie (2004). (Fiction. 10-13)

8 comments:

Jill said...

Donna,that's fantastic!! It's all true. This book is fantastic and it's going to be huge. Congratulations.

Sylvia said...

Yay for that starred review! How exciting and thrilling and glorious and superbly well-earned! I'm delighted for you. A great launching for your second novel.

Linda said...

Congratulations, Donna! This is wonderful news! The star is well deserved.

Anonymous said...

This is a wonderful review! I'm looking forward to getting my copy. One thing though, can you help me out with what/who is a "Kirkus"

Vonna said...

Wow! A starred review! Congratulations.

Wild About Words said...

Thanks, Sylvia, Linda, Vonna and Photonz. (Kirkus is a review journal, on which librarians and booksellers often base their buying decisions.)

Unknown said...

Congrats, Donna! And also about your 3rd novel. You're definitely on a roll!

Wild About Words said...

Thanks, Loreen! And thanks for visiting the blog. Hope you and your books are doing quite well!