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From Booklist

February 15, 2024
Grades K-2 Author Schultz won the Pulitzer Prize in Commentary in 2005 for her advocacy of the underdog in her writing for Cleveland's The Plain Dealer. Now, her debut children's book represents child underdogs, the victims of bullying. Heroine Lola loves school, but she and the other kids dread the walk there and back because of one "scary, hairy" reason: Tom the Troll, a huge creature in a kind of scarecrow outfit who makes fun of the kids who walk (or run) past his house. The kids' avoidance methods, showcased on two pages, are sometimes arduous, sometimes comical, and Lola is a special target of the bully, who creates signs just for her. The problem is that she buys into the taunts and chooses the worst avoidance tactic, changing herself to escape his criticisms. But when an adult convinces her to confront him, Lola learns the bully is far more frightened than she is. The illustrations, done with watercolor, ink, and colored paper, are filled with comic details, sure to keep readers engaged. Thought-and-action provoking.

COPYRIGHT(2024) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

From School Library Journal

February 1, 2024

K-Gr 3-Lola is a girl who adores everything about school. Getting to school, however, is decidedly unenjoyable. Lola's walk is plagued by Tom the Troll. Tom torments the neighborhood children, holding up insulting signs and laughing as they hurry past. Despite trying her best to be brave, Lola takes Tom's taunts to heart. When he calls her feet smelly, she fills her shoes with cornstarch. When he makes fun of her hair, she ties it up tight. Lola becomes less and less herself until a kind bookstore owner intervenes, giving Lola the confidence to stand up to the troll. It turns out the troll is just the new kid on the block, seeking attention from the other children. A little lecture from Lola and the offer of friendship easily wraps everything up, making readers wonder what was so scary about the troll in the first place. The illustrations are adorable, but are discordant with and even struggle to depict the text. Tom may terrify Lola but his appearance is silly; and while much is made of Lola's wild curls, her hair appears straight on the pages. VERDICT An oversimplified take on trolls and incongruent illustrations keeps this from being a bully book worth purchasing.-Alia Shields

Copyright 2024 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

From Kirkus

December 15, 2023
A group of kids take a troll to task. A troll named Tom lives in Lola's neighborhood. In Rodriguez's delicate artwork, he's tall and bizarre looking, with party hats for ears and oven mitts over his hands, and as kids walk past, he holds up signs plastered with insulting messages tailored to what he sees. No one likes the troll, but his comments cut. Most try to avoid Tom, but a light-skinned girl named Lola takes the messages to heart and slowly changes herself in an attempt to avoid criticism. After Lola has a heartfelt conversation with a bookstore owner about how bullies are the ones who are really afraid, she and the other kids stand up to the troll, revealed to be a short, light-skinned boy who's "new to this neighborhood" and "just wanted...attention." Many pages are crammed full of text, and one central metaphor feels overexplained as Lola describes herself as "tall on the inside," which is apparently "what counts." This story attempts to deliver an old-fashioned message about bullying through the modern concept of an internet troll, but neither element works especially well in this earnest text that na�vely imagines that all conflicts can be resolved through conversation and that trolls can be scared away through honesty and confidence. Too idealistic by half. (Picture book. 5-8)

COPYRIGHT(2023) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

From Publisher's Weekly

November 20, 2023
In a chapter book—scale story that's full of moral conviction, Schultz (The Daughters of Erietown, for adults) writes about a child learning how to stand up to a bully. Each morning, tan-skinned Lola and her classmates hurry past Tom the Troll, who stands costumed in a doorway holding handmade signs that bear pointed personal insults. Accused of having "too big" hair, a loud voice, and more, Lola tries to change, tying her curls in a bun "the size of one of Grandma's drop biscuits" and speaking in whispering tones. "Is this still... me?" she wonders. When Lola's favorite bookseller, Ms. Sneesby, sees the change in Lola and names the problem ("What a bully. He must be very afraid of you"), it gives Lola the courage to unmask Tom. With doll-like cuteness, Rodriguez draws Lola; her tiny, often-invisible dog Tank ("small on the outside means mighty on the inside"); and her peers, portrayed with various skin tones, in the end rendering Tom as more hapless than menacing. Though wobbly logic undercuts the telling, this double picture book debut offers up a sparky protagonist and an instructive model of confronting cruelty head-on. Ages 4—8.