Review by Booklist Review
Illustrations using gouache, colored pencil, and ink depict a school filled with children of different races who experience an unpleasant incident. A "bad-something" was written in a school bathroom, and the girls are chagrined when they're all called into the principal's office as she tries to figure out who is responsible. Four girls sneak into the forbidden lavatory, see the offensive remark, and tell others--soon, everyone is aware of the writing. Parents are informed about the issue and are as shocked as the children. The atmosphere in the school changes, and the children are not as kind as they were pre-episode. But when a teacher devises a solution for eliminating the "bad-something," all the children take part in an art project that helps soothe and smooth over their varied, complicated feelings. The appealing pictures feature backgrounds with splotches of colors and patterns. The faces of both kids and adults clearly reveal the emotions they feel, from concerned and sorrowful to proud, as their school turns a negative situation into a learning experience with a positive conclusion.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The toughest moment in this classroom story by the previous collaborators (Adrian Simcox Does Not Have a Horse) comes when the narrator beholds the "bad-something" on the wall of the girls' bathroom. She and her friends have been wondering how bad it could really be, and when they see it, "Tanisha turned around and ran out. Kiyoko kicked a stall really hard, and the sound made us cover our ears." After the children react with a range of emotions--"No one felt nothing," Campbell writes--the school focuses on efforts at healing by making "something good." The adults appeal to the students as a body, giving them each ribbons in the school's colors "to remember who we are." Then a teacher brings all his students into the defaced bathroom ("We were all in this together"), where the ethnically inclusive group paints a big, beautiful mural over the bad-something, rendered by Luyken in a boldly saturated riot of florals and dragons. A valuable resource that might serve to equip classrooms for crisis. An author's note describes the book's origins. Ages 4--8. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Sept.)
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Review by School Library Journal Review
K-Gr 4--Campbell sets children down in the middle of something serious. What if someone did something bad at your school? How would you feel? How would you act? How would you move forward? The principal talks to the students individually. The kids really want to know what the bad thing is, so they sneak into the girls' bathroom to find out. Even though Campbell never says what's written on the wall, it's apparent that it's really offensive. The parents are told and talk about it in hushed tones, and the kids find themselves being a little meaner to everyone. But then the process of moving forward begins. The principal gives the kids ribbons to remind them about their belonging and their community. The teachers help to recreate the space in the bathroom by having everyone come in and make it beautiful. This is a wonderful story about the power of positive action and about the power of community. Luyken's artwork adds to the communal feel of the story, showing lots of different kinds of kids with loving energy. This will be a wonderful book to share with students to help build school community as well as to cope with some of the negative energy that sometimes arises. VERDICT With the current emphasis on SEL, this book would be an excellent starting point for many conversations.--Debbie Tanner, S. D. Spady Montessori Elem., FL
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Review by Horn Book Review
When a "bad-something" is scrawled on a wall in one of the girls' bathrooms, how does a school community handle it? In Campbell's story, the principal speaks to a group of girls -- "This kind of thing won't be tolerated at our school" -- but no one confesses. Curious about what exactly the "bad-something" is, four friends (including the book's unnamed narrator) sneak into the closed bathroom for a peek. Shocked and upset, they tell others what they saw, and before long the entire school feels "horrible." Students cast suspicious glances, and everyone acts "meaner." But the perpetrator of the "bad-something" is never identified, and the specific hate-speech content is never revealed. Instead, Campbell focuses on how to process and move forward -- together -- a goal underscored by the book's first-person-plural narration. An all-school assembly reminds students "that we were kind, even if we forgot sometimes," and special pins boost school spirit. But it's only after students paint a vibrant mural on the bathroom wall and write poems about their artwork and the world ("how there was more good than bad, more love than hate") that true healing begins. Expressive and sketchlike, Luyken's (My Heart, rev. 3/19) gouache, colored-pencil, and ink illustrations pulse with red as tempers flare and fear pervades the community, then burst with golden-yellow as students appreciate the "good-somethings" they have created. An appended note explains the book's inspiration (two hate-speech incidents at the author's children's schools); website resources are also mentioned. Tanya D. Auger November/December 2021 p.65(c) Copyright 2021. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
When something bad is found on the wall in the girls' bathroom at school, an entire class must learn what it means for their community. A first-person narrator tells the tale of the day "the bad-something" was found on the wall. All the girls are called to the principal's office. Mrs. Martínez asks them who did it and tells them that this will not be tolerated. The narrator and her friends sneak into the bathroom to see what was written, and seeing it makes them feel worse. Everyone finds out what the "bad-something" was (readers do not), and people begin to eye one another suspiciously, wondering who is guilty. Parents are affected, and the classroom dynamic is strained, but slowly, the school takes steps to remind the community that they are better than this incident. The children spend days making art on the wall. When they worry that the "bad-something" is still there under their beautiful contributions, they talk and write poems about how their painting has more good than bad in it, and so does the world. The honest, matter-of-fact narration places readers squarely in the shoes of the child in the troubled class and offers multiple ways to look at one's roles in the world and in one's communities. The smudgy, scratchy illustrations effectively use color and tone to convey mood, with realistically diverse characters and abstract representations of the joyful art they create. (This book was reviewed digitally.) A valuable conversation starter. (author's note) (Picture book. 4-12) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
