by Kathleen Karr ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 2007
Karr’s latest is a fictionalized account of Henry Morton Stanley’s Expedition for the Relief of Emin Pasha of 1887. Sixteen-year-old Tom Ormsby knows he’s born for adventure and spends much of his time reading penny dreadfuls. Tom can’t believe his good luck when he secures a position as general dogsbody with the illustrious explorer Henry Morton Stanley on his latest expedition into deepest, darkest Africa. The expedition has many hardships (glaring heat, lack of food and water, attacks by angry tribes), which test even Tom’s good nature. Tom begins to wonder if he’ll ever see his beloved mother and two younger sisters again. Tom is a likable hero whose adventures read like a dime novel. Lucky for Tom, his quick thinking and resourcefulness make him indispensable and, along with his kindness toward the African porters, save him from several near-fatal mishaps. Karr’s story has plenty of humor and gives readers a front-row seat in one of Stanley’s thrilling yet perilous expeditions. (author note) (Historical fiction. 12-15)
Pub Date: April 1, 2007
ISBN: 0-7614-5348-2
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Marshall Cavendish
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2007
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by Kathleen Karr & illustrated by Malene Laugesen
by John Boyne ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 12, 2006
Certain to provoke controversy and difficult to see as a book for children, who could easily miss the painful point.
After Hitler appoints Bruno’s father commandant of Auschwitz, Bruno (nine) is unhappy with his new surroundings compared to the luxury of his home in Berlin.
The literal-minded Bruno, with amazingly little political and social awareness, never gains comprehension of the prisoners (all in “striped pajamas”) or the malignant nature of the death camp. He overcomes loneliness and isolation only when he discovers another boy, Shmuel, on the other side of the camp’s fence. For months, the two meet, becoming secret best friends even though they can never play together. Although Bruno’s family corrects him, he childishly calls the camp “Out-With” and the Fuhrer “Fury.” As a literary device, it could be said to be credibly rooted in Bruno’s consistent, guileless characterization, though it’s difficult to believe in reality. The tragic story’s point of view is unique: the corrosive effect of brutality on Nazi family life as seen through the eyes of a naïf. Some will believe that the fable form, in which the illogical may serve the objective of moral instruction, succeeds in Boyne’s narrative; others will believe it was the wrong choice.
Certain to provoke controversy and difficult to see as a book for children, who could easily miss the painful point. (Fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2006
ISBN: 0-385-75106-0
Page Count: 224
Publisher: David Fickling/Random
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2006
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by John Boyne
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by John Boyne
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by John Boyne
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SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
by Jenny Han ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 5, 2009
The wish-fulfilling title and sun-washed, catalog-beautiful teens on the cover will be enticing for girls looking for a...
Han’s leisurely paced, somewhat somber narrative revisits several beach-house summers in flashback through the eyes of now 15-year-old Isabel, known to all as Belly.
Belly measures her growing self by these summers and by her lifelong relationship with the older boys, her brother and her mother’s best friend’s two sons. Belly’s dawning awareness of her sexuality and that of the boys is a strong theme, as is the sense of summer as a separate and reflective time and place: Readers get glimpses of kisses on the beach, her best friend’s flirtations during one summer’s visit, a first date. In the background the two mothers renew their friendship each year, and Lauren, Belly’s mother, provides support for her friend—if not, unfortunately, for the children—in Susannah’s losing battle with breast cancer. Besides the mostly off-stage issue of a parent’s severe illness there’s not much here to challenge most readers—driving, beer-drinking, divorce, a moment of surprise at the mothers smoking medicinal pot together.
The wish-fulfilling title and sun-washed, catalog-beautiful teens on the cover will be enticing for girls looking for a diversion. (Fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: May 5, 2009
ISBN: 978-1-4169-6823-8
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2009
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by Jenny Han
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by Jenny Han
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by Jenny Han ; Siobhan Vivian
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BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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