Excitement, romance, local color, powerful women and authentic cultural details make this novel a well-balanced alternative...
Drugs, gems, money, power, honor and lives are at stake in the contentious Kokang region of Southeast Asia.
Matt Erickson is living a reasonably successful life as a Hong Kong businessman in the early 1980s when he receives a telegram that upends his life: His brother Luke, a Marine, has gone missing in Burma, and a body that might be his has been found. Matt, also a Marine, resolves to find Luke. The challenges during his search include a dicey political situation with warring armed factions financed by drug and gem trades, as well as difficult-to-penetrate terrain. At the same time, Florence Chen—the woman Matt loves—is being tapped to serve as a clan chief for Kokang, the ethnic-Chinese area of Burma that jealously guards its global financial interests—including heroin. How will her clan responsibilities affect her relationship with Matt? And Ty Matson, leading the mission from which he’d ejected Luke for killing another member, is investigating a Burmese gem mine that might actually be extracting uranium. Though in different ways Matt, Ty, and Florence can be said to achieve their goals, it’s always at great personal cost. Wittenborn (Center for Asian & Pacific Studies/San Diego State University) clearly knows his subject, making the tangled political situation interesting and understandable. Every location comes alive, whether it’s crowded Hong Kong, depressing Mandalay, the steaming jungle or a backcountry trading post: “Ty smelled the fusty odor of burnt tobacco, mingled with the scent from a mélange of herbs and the sting of diesel fuel. Shouts of vendors hawking their Chinese wares—Zebra toothpaste, Seagull batteries, Tiger Head flashlights, Flying Horse blankets—were overheard above the roar of passing lorries….Lepers with no faces and emaciated drug addicts without legs scurried around on little wheeled stools, pulling at coat sleeves.” Nitty-gritty details, such as the portrayal of a gem auction—as much gambling as buying—also fascinate. Strong female characters add interest as well. Matt’s romantic difficulties are less compelling than the emphasis given them, but Wittenborn handles his complicated plot well.
Excitement, romance, local color, powerful women and authentic cultural details make this novel a well-balanced alternative to the typical techno-heavy thriller.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Aug. 7, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.
A fifth-grade New Orleans girl discovers a mysterious chrysalis containing an unexpected creature in this middle-grade novel.
Jacquelyn Marie Johnson, called Jackie, is a 10-year-old African-American girl, the second oldest and the only girl of six siblings. She’s responsible, smart, and enjoys being in charge; she likes “paper dolls and long division and imagining things she had never seen.” Normally, Jackie has no trouble obeying her strict but loving parents. But when her potted snapdragon acquires a peculiar egg or maybe a chrysalis (she dubs it a chrysalegg), Jackie’s strong desire to protect it runs up against her mother’s rule against plants in the house. Jackie doesn’t exactly mean to lie, but she tells her mother she needs to keep the snapdragon in her room for a science project and gets permission. Jackie draws the chrysalegg daily, waiting for something to happen as it gets larger. When the amazing creature inside breaks free, Jackie is more determined than ever to protect it, but this leads her further into secrets and lies. The results when her parents find out are painful, and resolving the problem will take courage, honesty, and trust. Dumas (Jaden Toussaint, the Greatest: Episode 5, 2017, etc.) presents a very likable character in Jackie. At 10, she’s young enough to enjoy playing with paper dolls but has a maturity that even older kids can lack. She’s resourceful, as when she wants to measure a red spot on the chrysalegg; lacking calipers, she fashions one from her hairpin. Jackie’s inward struggle about what to obey—her dearest wishes or the parents she loves—is one many readers will understand. The book complicates this question by making Jackie’s parents, especially her mother, strict (as one might expect to keep order in a large family) but undeniably loving and protective as well—it’s not just a question of outwitting clueless adults. Jackie’s feelings about the creature (tender and responsible but also more than a little obsessive) are similarly shaded rather than black-and-white. The ending suggests that an intriguing sequel is to come.
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943169-32-0
Page Count: 212
Publisher: Plum Street Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.
In the ninth book in the Bluford young-adult series, a young Latino man walks away from violence—but at great personal cost.
In a large Southern California city, 16-year-old Martin Luna hangs out on the fringes of gang life. He’s disaffected, fatherless and increasingly drawn into the orbit of the older, rougher Frankie. When a stray bullet kills Martin’s adored 8-year-old brother, Huero, Martin seems to be heading into a life of crime. But Martin’s mother, determined not to lose another son, moves him to another neighborhood—the fictional town of Bluford, where he attends the racially diverse Bluford High. At his new school, the still-grieving Martin quickly makes enemies and gets into trouble. But he also makes friends with a kind English teacher and catches the eye of Vicky, a smart, pretty and outgoing Bluford student. Martin’s first-person narration supplies much of the book’s power. His dialogue is plain, but realistic and believable, and the authors wisely avoid the temptation to lard his speech with dated and potentially embarrassing slang. The author draws a vivid and affecting picture of Martin’s pain and confusion, bringing a tight-lipped teenager to life. In fact, Martin’s character is so well drawn that when he realizes the truth about his friend Frankie, readers won’t feel as if they are watching an after-school special, but as though they are observing the natural progression of Martin’s personal growth. This short novel appears to be aimed at urban teens who don’t often see their neighborhoods portrayed in young-adult fiction, but its sophisticated characters and affecting story will likely have much wider appeal.
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2004
ISBN: 978-1591940173
Page Count: 152
Publisher: Townsend Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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