A succinct historical war novel that combines thorough research with a moving family tale.
Self’s debut Civil War novel fictionalizes the true story of his ancestors and their place in United States history.
Alabaman Jon Self is a true American patriot with relatives who fought proudly in the Revolutionary War, but he attempts to remain neutral when the Civil War breaks out. He takes up blacksmithing to avoid the draft, but three years into the war, conscript hunters urgently need to fill the dwindling Confederate ranks. After they threaten to take Jon’s oldest son, Jon signs up with the 58th Alabama Regiment, leaving his beloved Mary and their five children behind. Against his will, and caught up in something far beyond his power, Jon fights in a series of intense skirmishes, surviving alongside his buddy John Laster. “Numb and dangerous” after so much violence, death and pain, Jon is captured in a final confrontation with Union troops at Missionary Ridge in Georgia and loaded with his fellow POWs onto a train heading north to the “frozen hell” of the Rock Island prison camp. The camp held more than 12,000 Rebel soldiers during the 20 months of its brutal existence, and such specifics don’t escape the author’s notice. In well-researched and footnoted tangents, he discusses such subjects as training and leadership issues within the Confederate States Army, the splintered nation’s burgeoning railway system and the importance of the new technology of photography. Self also excels at depicting the unusual behavior of men at war; for example, he describes opposing troops laying down their arms to observe the Sabbath when distant church bells pealed. Later, similar chimes, when heard from the prison camp, “seemed to be a mockery of God’s injustice.” The author mentions the frequency of the letters between Jon and Mary, but he only quotes a few snippets; readers may wish that he showed more of their correspondence. The lives of tenacious Mary and her brood don’t come into focus until the final chapters, at times making the book feel a bit like Gone with the Wind from Ashley’s perspective. But Self’s decision to concentrate primarily on Jon’s travails helps keep the book at a steady, readable pace.
A succinct historical war novel that combines thorough research with a moving family tale.Pub Date: Dec. 31, 2012
ISBN: 978-1478162094
Page Count: 164
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: March 18, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
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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