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Monninger, Joseph
6 Reviews
(3)
YA
When his high school's star quarterback suffers a season-ending injury, backup QB Zeb Holloway must step up to take over, weakening their chances of making the state championship. The story focuses less on the big game and more on Zeb as a seventeen-year-old trying to make his way in the world of school, relationships, sports, and family. A compelling coming-of-age novel for football fans.
Reviewer: Dean Schneider
(2)
YA
Dog Wally's owner has tied him to a post outside in the freezing-cold winter. Sixteen-year-old neighbor Clair sets out to free him and finds an unexpected ally in the dog-owner's seventeen-year-old son, Danny, whose tough exterior hides a sensitive soul and whose abusive father has made his life miserable. In Monninger's affecting but never mawkish story, the characters are fully realized.
Reviewer: Jennifer M. Brabander
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
November, 2015
(3)
4-6
To keep their beloved Speed from being put down, Hattie and Delores kidnap the elderly horse, put him in a trailer, and head for the Western prairie. The friendship between the girls and each one's struggle to choose a direction for her life sustain the arc of the road journey. Horse lovers will empathize with the girls' emotions and cheer Speed's eventual release into a wild herd.
Reviewer: Anita L. Burkam
(4)
YA
Because of her younger brother Tommy's cystic fibrosis, a wish foundation sends fifteen-year-old Bee's family to San Francisco to swim with sharks (Tommy's obsession). After a lackluster expedition, Bee and Tommy end up surfing with some likable California dudes, giving Tommy an unforgettable day after all. Peppered with interesting shark facts, the novel features an endearing (though almost too saintly) sibling duo.
Reviewer: Rachel L. Smith
(2)
YA
In this riveting survival tale, Lolly's sailboat turns turtle in a Florida bay. As she's about to yield to the waves, a manatee appears. The text's revelation early on that Lolly makes it to safety allows readers to live with her, moment by moment, and focus more intently on the concepts she ponders: fate, enlightenment, and our relationship with animals.
Reviewer: Tanya D. Auger
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
November, 2008
(2)
YA
Fifteen-year-old Baby finds herself in foster care in New Hampshire with a family who races sled dogs. Though she bonds with the dogs, she still takes off--bringing a puppy with her--when her boyfriend shows up. Baby's first-person narration modulates between tough-girl and little-girl. Monninger gives her the space to find beauty and confidence in the thrill of racing.
Reviewer: Vicky Smith
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
January, 2008
6 reviews
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