Lola and the Troll by Connie Schultz (review)
2024; Johns Hopkins University Press; Volume: 77; Issue: 6 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/bcc.2024.a917197
ISSN1558-6766
Autores Tópico(s)Themes in Literature Analysis
ResumoReviewed by: Lola and the Troll by Connie Schultz Amanda Toledo Schultz, Connie Lola and the Troll; illus. by Sandy Rodriguez. Razorbill, 2024 [40p] Trade ed. ISBN 9780593527634 $18.99 E-book ed. ISBN 9780593527658 $10.99 Reviewed from digital galleys M Gr. K-2 En route to school each morning, children pass the house of Tom the Troll—a horned, shaggy monster who holds up handwritten signs with insulting messages and accusations of smelly feet and even ugly eye color. Other kids reroute or go in pairs to avoid the troll, while Lola instead sticks to her path past his home, changing [End Page 227] aspects of herself to appease the troll. She puts cornstarch in her shoes, changes how she dresses, and wears sunglasses to hide her eyes, but the obstinate creature regularly crafts new ways to tear her down. After a heart to heart with a bookstore owner, Lola faces Tom the Troll, and a Scooby-Doo-like revelation proves the troll to is actually Mitch, a new kid in costume, wanting friends. There’s plenty here that should be good: the art is merry, a watercolor softness mixed with a colored pencil scratchiness that makes spunky Lola adorable, even when retreating further and further into herself. Standing up to bullies unfortunately will be an evergreen and needed topic in stories for children, but here the story itself lack cohesion and depth. It’s not clear why Lola believes the jeers so immediately, opting to change herself on the Troll’s opinion, and little explanation is given for his instant remorse when Lola stands up to him. Lola’s immediate forgiveness seems more convenient than earned, and the book misses the difference between a practiced niceness and a genuine empathy. Too much about this outing is puzzling for it to be satisfying; for a beautifully illustrated, thoughtful book on self-acceptance, Woodson’s The Day You Begin (BCCB 09/18) and plenty of other classics will capture the silliness and emotional resonance that this good faith effort strives, yet fails, to embody. Copyright © 2024 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
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