Samara Rubin and the Utility Belt by Sharon Giltrow (GiltWrote Publishing), RRP $15.00 Junior Fiction ISBN 9-781765-547307
Reviewed by Susan Hancy
Samara Rubin and the Utility Belt is
the first book in The Utility Belt Series, self-published by Sharon
Giltrow with intriguing illustrations by Thu Vu. Gecko-loving Samara Rubin is
about to turn 11, and she has one wish – to be courageous enough to stand up to
Toby King, the meanest boy in school. Little does she know that when she receives the curious gift of a utility belt from Uncle Steve for her birthday, she’ll discover the confidence to not allow herself to be bullied.
The utility belt used to belong to Samara’s deceased
father, and turning 11 is the age that Uncle Steve and Mum have agreed on for
Samara to inherit it. But it’s not just the belt she’s received. To Samara’s
and Mum’s surprise, it’s come with a Madagascar Day Gecko, whom Samara names
Madi and who guides Samara on how to use the belt. She has 7 days to use all 11 secret gadgets
that it contains – or else! What that “or else” is, is anybody’s guess, but it
sounds pretty ominous.
Over the following chapters, the reader is pulled into
Samara’s world of 11-year-old life challenges, wondering what Madi is going to
recommend as the next utility from the belt, how Samara will decide to use it
and how she’ll overcome Toby as her class nemesis. Even though this book is
positioned as speculative junior fiction for 6 to 12-year-olds, I think it will
be a great read for the 7 to 10-year-old age range of kids who have surpassed
typical junior fictions but are not quite ready to take on the length and
smaller print size of middle grade fictions. It was a hit with my 9-year-old
daughter, who took a sneak peek at the end of the book, which introduces book two
of the series about Toby King and his utility belt. That got her – and
me – even more curious to find out what is going to transpire between Samara
and Toby, why he also has a utility belt, and how his perspective will
either confirm or change our opinion of him as the class bully. We can’t wait
to read book 2!
