Publisher's Weekly
Nina, the 11-year-old protagonist of Korelitz's first novel for children, struggles with school but loves art and music. When a substitute art teacher recommends she jazz up a picture by adding some interference powder (in real life, it's a medium that adds luster to paints and inks), Nina gets more than she bargained for: the powder "interferes" with reality. Suddenly it is Nina, not her friend Isobel, who has the top score on a class test-and who is entered, reluctantly, in a "brain-buster" competition. Later, when Nina uses the powder to wish for singing lessons, she finds herself singing beautifully-even when she wants simply to talk. Korelitz brings little novelty to familiar conventions. The magic predictably misbehaves even as it teaches Nina valid lessons about being true to herself; a cooling-off period between Nina and a newly jealous Isobel ends with apologies that forge an even stronger friendship. Tepid entertainment. Ages 8-12. (Oct.) FYI: Korelitz's novels for adults include Sabbathday River; she is also the wife of poet Paul Muldoon. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Children's Literature - Claudia Mills
In this debut novel for young readers, eleven-year-old Nina Zabin stumbles upon a strange powder in the art-class substitute's worn leather satchel. Labeled "interference powder," it turns out indeed to have the power to "interfere" with Nina's ordinary life, by causing whatever drawing she makes to come true-but, of course, as happens in most wish-come-true stories, to come true in a literal but contrary-to-desire way. So when Nina draws a picture of herself with a 100 on her social studies exam, rather than her earned 62, she ends up having to represent the class in the dreaded Brain Busters competition, thereby alienating her high-achieving best friend. When she draws a picture of herself singing, to advance her cherished goal of getting her mother to give her voice lessons, she ends up unable to do anything with her voice other than sing, thereby dooming herself to ridicule during the Brain Busters event, when she sings out every answer. The resolution of the story turns on a series of unlikely coincidences: the voice teacher that Nina's mother finally engages for Nina turns out to be none other than the art-class substitute and none other than the one patient Nina's therapist-mother ever discussed with her daughter. But Nina's first-person voice is fresh and funny, and her predicament is real and absorbing with plenty of frank wisdom dispensed along the way, about knowing and being true "to the person I really am, deep down." 2003, Marshall Cavendish,
School Library Journal
Gr 4-6-The day Nina Zabin finds a luminous bottle of mysterious powder in her substitute teacher's art bag, she inadvertently wreaks havoc on her world. Suddenly, the 62 she got on her social studies test turns into a 100, and she is representing her fifth-grade class in the Brain-Busters Extravaganza. Her best friend, Isobel, always the smart one, is green with envy, while her clueless mother is pleased as punch. Resigned to losing Isobel's friendship, she tries to use the magic to get the singing lessons she so desperately wants. The day of the competition, she is unable to talk without sounding like a radio jingle or an operatic aria. Her tears cause an inexplicable flood onstage, and she runs home, mortified. Her widowed mom takes her to a child psychologist; his wise words help Nina to finally use the magic one last time to fix things. The powder's power is never really explained, but Nina ends up with her old best friend and a couple of new ones, a happy mom, and singing lessons with the substitute teacher who started it all. The novel's strands tie together in a satisfying resolution, and the singing fiasco is truly hilarious. Despite the magical element, this is largely realistic fiction about knowing oneself and being true to one's dreams.-Barbara Auerbach, New York City Public Schools Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
A powder with magical properties changes a fifth-grade girl's life in unexpected ways. Nina Zabin, who is talented in art and music, longs to take singing lessons, but her mother won't allow it until her grades improve. After getting a dismal 62 on a social studies test, Nina draws a picture of her fantasy, her mother proudly beaming at her daughter's 100. To enhance her drawing, Nina sprinkles it with some shimmering powder in art class, and later discovers that her test score has inexplicably changed. But instead of being thrilled, Nina is horrified as it means that she now has the highest mark in her class and is compelled to be in a grade-wide history contest. Worse, her closest friend, who is academically competitive, shuns her. Nina tries to use the powder again, but it works in ways she hasn't anticipated, which deepens her various dilemmas. Some touching moments and a lightly humorous first-person voice helps the life lessons go down easy in this neatly structured, if somewhat familiar, story. (Fiction. 8-12)
Genre: Children's Fiction
Nina, the 11-year-old protagonist of Korelitz's first novel for children, struggles with school but loves art and music. When a substitute art teacher recommends she jazz up a picture by adding some interference powder (in real life, it's a medium that adds luster to paints and inks), Nina gets more than she bargained for: the powder "interferes" with reality. Suddenly it is Nina, not her friend Isobel, who has the top score on a class test-and who is entered, reluctantly, in a "brain-buster" competition. Later, when Nina uses the powder to wish for singing lessons, she finds herself singing beautifully-even when she wants simply to talk. Korelitz brings little novelty to familiar conventions. The magic predictably misbehaves even as it teaches Nina valid lessons about being true to herself; a cooling-off period between Nina and a newly jealous Isobel ends with apologies that forge an even stronger friendship. Tepid entertainment. Ages 8-12. (Oct.) FYI: Korelitz's novels for adults include Sabbathday River; she is also the wife of poet Paul Muldoon. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Children's Literature - Claudia Mills
In this debut novel for young readers, eleven-year-old Nina Zabin stumbles upon a strange powder in the art-class substitute's worn leather satchel. Labeled "interference powder," it turns out indeed to have the power to "interfere" with Nina's ordinary life, by causing whatever drawing she makes to come true-but, of course, as happens in most wish-come-true stories, to come true in a literal but contrary-to-desire way. So when Nina draws a picture of herself with a 100 on her social studies exam, rather than her earned 62, she ends up having to represent the class in the dreaded Brain Busters competition, thereby alienating her high-achieving best friend. When she draws a picture of herself singing, to advance her cherished goal of getting her mother to give her voice lessons, she ends up unable to do anything with her voice other than sing, thereby dooming herself to ridicule during the Brain Busters event, when she sings out every answer. The resolution of the story turns on a series of unlikely coincidences: the voice teacher that Nina's mother finally engages for Nina turns out to be none other than the art-class substitute and none other than the one patient Nina's therapist-mother ever discussed with her daughter. But Nina's first-person voice is fresh and funny, and her predicament is real and absorbing with plenty of frank wisdom dispensed along the way, about knowing and being true "to the person I really am, deep down." 2003, Marshall Cavendish,
School Library Journal
Gr 4-6-The day Nina Zabin finds a luminous bottle of mysterious powder in her substitute teacher's art bag, she inadvertently wreaks havoc on her world. Suddenly, the 62 she got on her social studies test turns into a 100, and she is representing her fifth-grade class in the Brain-Busters Extravaganza. Her best friend, Isobel, always the smart one, is green with envy, while her clueless mother is pleased as punch. Resigned to losing Isobel's friendship, she tries to use the magic to get the singing lessons she so desperately wants. The day of the competition, she is unable to talk without sounding like a radio jingle or an operatic aria. Her tears cause an inexplicable flood onstage, and she runs home, mortified. Her widowed mom takes her to a child psychologist; his wise words help Nina to finally use the magic one last time to fix things. The powder's power is never really explained, but Nina ends up with her old best friend and a couple of new ones, a happy mom, and singing lessons with the substitute teacher who started it all. The novel's strands tie together in a satisfying resolution, and the singing fiasco is truly hilarious. Despite the magical element, this is largely realistic fiction about knowing oneself and being true to one's dreams.-Barbara Auerbach, New York City Public Schools Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.
Kirkus Reviews
A powder with magical properties changes a fifth-grade girl's life in unexpected ways. Nina Zabin, who is talented in art and music, longs to take singing lessons, but her mother won't allow it until her grades improve. After getting a dismal 62 on a social studies test, Nina draws a picture of her fantasy, her mother proudly beaming at her daughter's 100. To enhance her drawing, Nina sprinkles it with some shimmering powder in art class, and later discovers that her test score has inexplicably changed. But instead of being thrilled, Nina is horrified as it means that she now has the highest mark in her class and is compelled to be in a grade-wide history contest. Worse, her closest friend, who is academically competitive, shuns her. Nina tries to use the powder again, but it works in ways she hasn't anticipated, which deepens her various dilemmas. Some touching moments and a lightly humorous first-person voice helps the life lessons go down easy in this neatly structured, if somewhat familiar, story. (Fiction. 8-12)
Genre: Children's Fiction
Used availability for Jean Hanff Korelitz's Interference Powder