A sweet, often poignant tale of survival that may spur interest in a magnificent species.
Inspired by the years he spent in Canada’s Kananaskis Provincial Park, Robson (The Prophecy, 2014, etc.) crafts an anthropomorphic story of a young grizzly named Shasta and her day-to-day struggles to raise her first litter of cubs.
Written in third-person with a focus on mother Shasta, this story of survival begins when her cubs—Kodiak (a strong male), Koda (a strong female), and Mato (a small, weak male)—are but a few days old. The tale continues into the cubs’ fourth year, when they will set out on their own. Shasta’s memories—such as her reasons for coupling with a majestic male named Ursus—are sprinkled throughout the narrative. Even though the bears are given human personalities, the book is intended for “a more mature nature enthusiast,” writes the author. Indeed, the attribution of human emotions to grizzlies makes the tone feel juvenile at times; for example, “Shasta smiled as she considered her choice of such a good den in which to give birth to her first cubs.” Nevertheless, Robson succeeds in realistically portraying the difficulties of grizzly survival—e.g., little Mato is attacked by an eagle—as well as the triumphs, as when Shasta manages to kill two elk for sustenance during a drought. Survival is paramount, and Shasta is determined to continue her bloodline. The narrative voice flows smoothly, and language is often poetic, as in a vivid description of Shasta’s smallest cub, Mato: “He would likely darken with time, but for now, his fur was the color of the tall blonde stalks of dry meadow grass that covered the ground after the snow melts and before the new green shoots emerged.” In fact, the adult vocabulary—shadows at dusk “had coalesced into the darkness of night”—is sometimes better suited for older teens and adults. A short discussion of basic grizzly behavior follows the story, as do footnotes, a nature glossary, and references for further reading.
A sweet, often poignant tale of survival that may spur interest in a magnificent species.Pub Date: Sept. 11, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4602-6955-8
Page Count: 126
Publisher: FriesenPress
Review Posted Online: Nov. 12, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2015
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
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