Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

A standout teacher and mysterious new student open the minds and notebooks of Gina Filomena and her fellow classmates. Eleven-year-old Gina has always felt different from the other students. She has a bright imagination and a vibrant wardrobe to match. In new neighbor Antonio she finds a friend whose wild mind seems connected with hers. At school, their English teacher, Miss Lightstone, poses questions that ask students to imagine both who they are and who they could be. Through her writing prompts, Gina, her classmates, and readers simultaneously discover that with most people there is far more than meets the eye. Newbery-winning Creech skillfully catches Gina at the point in life when a child’s small world opens up into a much wider adult one. As Gina navigates this transition, the line between real and imagined is blurred. What is Antonio really seeing when he spins his tales? How much havoc is her Italian Nonna’s fabled Angel Lucia actually responsible for? Gina’s eventual revelations about how the lives of her family, neighbors, and classmates unfold flesh some of this out, but the story never feels wholly complete. Fans of Creech’s hallmark beautiful writing won’t be disappointed even if the story reads like an idea not fully realized. Main characters default to White; some names cue diversity in secondary characters. A shallow but engaging dip into a story and characters worthy of a deeper dive. (sources) (Fiction. 9-12) Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

A standout teacher and mysterious new student open the minds and notebooks of Gina Filomena and her fellow classmates.Eleven-year-old Gina has always felt different from the other students. She has a bright imagination and a vibrant wardrobe to match. In new neighbor Antonio she finds a friend whose wild mind seems connected with hers. At school, their English teacher, Miss Lightstone, poses questions that ask students to imagine both who they are and who they could be. Through her writing prompts, Gina, her classmates, and readers simultaneously discover that with most people there is far more than meets the eye. Newbery-winning Creech skillfully catches Gina at the point in life when a childs small world opens up into a much wider adult one. As Gina navigates this transition, the line between real and imagined is blurred. What is Antonio really seeing when he spins his tales? How much havoc is her Italian Nonnas fabled Angel Lucia actually responsible for? Ginas eventual revelations about how the lives of her family, neighbors, and classmates unfold flesh some of this out, but the story never feels wholly complete. Fans of Creechs hallmark beautiful writing wont be disappointed even if the story reads like an idea not fully realized. Main characters default to White; some names cue diversity in secondary characters.A shallow but engaging dip into a story and characters worthy of a deeper dive. (sources) (Fiction. 9-12) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Horn Book
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Gina Filomena, eleven, has been told that she has an overactive imagination. Few teachers or classmates have seen this as a gift until the new language arts teacher, Miss Lightstone, asks her students to think about the question "Who are you?" and later adds, "Who could you be?" With these two simple yet enormous questions, Gina begins to study and understand herself. Creech's (Love That Dog, rev. 11/01; Saving Winslow, rev. 11/18) newest novel is an invitation to the reader, as much as it is to Gina, to see the world through fresh eyes. What is her friend Antonio talking about when he says he saw a porcupine eating red licorice? How is it that a new kid with an openhearted smile can transform an entire classroom? This is a story about the small events of a child's life -- presents arrive from Gina's grandmother in Italy, neighbors move in and out, relatives visit -- but through it all Gina discovers, thanks to Miss Lightstone, that she is a writer. "At night I dreamed that I was writing my life. I would be writing rapidly -- long, detailed passages about places and people...When I woke, the feeling of that mystery, of that ability to create my life, lingered." Creech's prose is inviting, and the introspective reader will easily relate to Gina's observations of her world; but the book also holds appeal for a wider audience of readers who long for adults to challenge and stretch them as Miss Lightstone challenges her students. (c) Copyright 2021. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.