A Bike Like Sergio's by Maribeth Boelts, Noah Z. Jones, Paperback

Publishers Weekly

★ 09/05/2016
Ruben, the young narrator of this story from the team behind Those Shoes (2007), knows that his family can’t afford the bike he yearns for. “Wishes won’t make money appear,” he confides to readers. “Ask your parents again,” urges his bike-riding friend Sergio, who doesn’t seem to realize the limitations of Ruben’s circumstances. Then one day, a woman unknowingly drops a $100 bill in the grocery store. If Ruben doesn’t return it, he can buy the bike—but how will he explain it to his parents? Boelts lays out Ruben’s ethical dilemma and emotional turmoil without preaching, and his struggle and journey toward the moral choice—which includes an interlude in which he believes he has lost the money—is both dramatic and genuine. Jones’s mixed-media illustrations capture the scuffed-up feel of Ruben’s urban neighborhood, as well as the sweet earnestness of the bespectacled hero and his multiracial family. “I am happy and mixed up, full and empty, with what’s right and what’s gone,” says Ruben after returning the money. Readers will second those emotions. Ages 5–8. Author’s agent: Scott Treimel, Scott Treimel NY. Illustrator’s agent: Edward Necarsulmer IV, Dunow, Carlson & Lerner. (Oct.)

From the Publisher

Boelts lays out Ruben’s ethical dilemma and emotional turmoil without preaching, and his struggle and journey toward the moral choice—which includes an interlude in which he believes he has lost the money—is both dramatic and genuine. Jones’s mixed-media illustrations capture the scuffed-up feel of Ruben’s urban neighborhood, as well as the sweet earnestness of the bespectacled hero and his multiracial family. “I am happy and mixed up, full and empty, with what’s right and what’s gone,” says Ruben after returning the money. Readers will second those emotions.
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)

This tale of temptation, ethics, guilt, and family love is firmly grounded in the economic realities of today, as was the earlier collaboration between Boelts and Jones, Those Shoes (rev. 11/07)...The resolution is realistic for a kid with a loving, supportive fam- ily, and it leaves plenty of room for talking about what is most important in life from an authentically childlike perspective.
—Horn Book

Continuing from their acclaimed Those Shoes (2007), Boelts and Jones entwine conversations on money, motives, and morality...Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on children.
—Kirkus Reviews

The colorful mixed-media illustrations show a well- appointed school and a friendly urban setting with just the right amount of detail to allow the important interpersonal dynamics to be front and center.
—Booklist

The art, digitally assembled line and watercolor with touches of pencil, has some of Brian Karas’ homey naïveté but a texture and portraiture all its own, and the carefully chosen details of school, grocery, and home backgrounds effectively set the stage. Sure to elicit discussion among kids, this is a morality play that strikes at the heart.
—Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

Parents of all economic backgrounds can use this selection to start a conversation about right and wrong.
—School Library Journal

Maribeth Boelts's A Bike Like Sergio's honestly, lyrically captures the heat, sweat and rollercoaster nature of a child's ethical dilemma. Noah Z. Jones's watercolor, pen and ink artwork has a free and sketchy style, expressive and thoroughly charming. A true stand-out from the author-illustrator team behind Those Shoes.
—Shelf Awareness for Readers

A good one to share with children. Let them think on it a while. And then some.
—Kirkus Reviews (blog)

Maribeth Boelts captures the agony of a moral dilemma in “A Bike Like Sergio’s," a picture book for 5- to 8-year-olds...Noah Z. Jones’s expressive, naïve illustrations reinforce the sincerity of a boy’s valiant struggle with temptation.
—The Wall Street Journal

Children's Literature - Barbara L. Talcroft

What would you do if you found a hundred-dollar bill? That is the dilemma facing Ruben in this diverse picture book. Ruben longs for a bike like his friend Sergio’s orange one but knows that even though his birthday is coming up his family cannot afford such an expensive gift. When he picks up a dollar bill dropped by a lady in the grocery store, he tucks it into his backpack. Ruben’s stunned when he examines it later and finds it is not a one-dollar bill. Could he get a bike like Sergio’s? At the bike store they have turquoise, purple, and silver ones! At home, when he sees his mother crossing off items from her grocery list, he begins to feel uneasy; maybe the lady at the grocery needs her money, too. Later, Ruben thinks he has lost the bill; though he finds it, his panic makes him even more aware of a possible crisis for the lady without her money. Ruben’s decision makes for a poignant but very real moment that kids can appreciate and discuss. Jones’s mixed-media illustrations are bright and exuberant. The characters’ big round eyes are so expressive readers can follow each nuance of emotion. Colors rule in this urban environment: Ruben wears a red-orange shirt, the bike store’s green, while the lady with the bill carries a bright turquoise purse—the family home is warmed by softer colors. As Ruben tells his story to his parents, they hug him close. His father says, “What you did wasn’t easy…but it was right.” And it is right for Ruben, too—after all, he has his loving family around him. Reviewer: Barbara L. Talcroft; Ages 5 to 9.

School Library Journal

10/01/2016
K-Gr 2—Ruben wants a bike like Sergio's and ones his other friends ride, but his family cannot afford one. Fate seems to help him find a way to pay for a bike when a lady inadvertently drops a $100 bill while checking out at the grocery store. No one notices as Ruben stashes the bill in his backpack. The text is lively. "My hands are shaking. That money is enough for a bike like Sergio's. Then I won't have to run; I'll be riding." Semirealistic cartoon illustrations have readers rooting for Ruben to do the right thing. At first, he is excited, envisioning spending the money on a new bike, but eventually he starts feeling guilty. Ruben's conscience eats at him, especially when he cannot find the $100 bill. He searches everywhere before finally locating it in another pocket. Relieved, Ruben decides he will do the right thing and soon gets his chance to make things right. When doing an errand for his mom at the grocery store, he runs into the same woman who lost the bill. He returns it and goes home to tell his family what happened. The book ends as he basks in his parents' pride. This title hits on the issues of poverty, peer pressure, and self-control. VERDICT Parents of all economic backgrounds can use this selection to start a conversation about right and wrong, but kids might find the ending less than satisfying.—Robin Sofge, Alexandria Library, VA

Kirkus Reviews

2016-07-20
Continuing from their acclaimed Those Shoes (2007), Boelts and Jones entwine conversations on money, motives, and morality.This second collaboration between author and illustrator is set within an urban multicultural streetscape, where brown-skinned protagonist Ruben wishes for a bike like his friend Sergio’s. He wishes, but Ruben knows too well the pressure his family feels to prioritize the essentials. While Sergio buys a pack of football cards from Sonny’s Grocery, Ruben must buy the bread his mom wants. A familiar lady drops what Ruben believes to be a $1 bill, but picking it up, to his shock, he discovers $100! Is this Ruben’s chance to get himself the bike of his dreams? In a fateful twist, Ruben loses track of the C-note and is sent into a panic. After finally finding it nestled deep in a backpack pocket, he comes to a sense of moral clarity: “I remember how it was for me when that money that was hers—then mine—was gone.” When he returns the bill to her, the lady offers Ruben her blessing, leaving him with double-dipped emotions, “happy and mixed up, full and empty.” Readers will be pleased that there’s no reward for Ruben’s choice of integrity beyond the priceless love and warmth of a family’s care and pride. Embedded in this heartwarming story of doing the right thing is a deft examination of the pressures of income inequality on children. (Picture book. 5-8)

A Bike Like Sergio's

Paperback

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