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TAG IN THE DARK

Name: TAG IN THE DARK
Author: Ofer Agam
ISBN: 978-1480296589

by Ofer Agam ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 8, 2013

A modest, charming bildungsroman that should satisfy readers of all ages.

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Agam’s (The Agili Wellness Routine, 2004) novel explores childhood, friendship and mentorship, from the perspective of a young California boy.

Dexter stands over the fresh grave of his grandfather as he holds his son’s hand, and with subtlety and deft narrative care, the story glides into Dexter’s past and why his grandfather’s death deserves to open this small but engaging tale. Though the grown man is the narrator, his voice slyly takes on the earnest, open emotionalism of his younger self, a boy who grew up relying on his grandfather and grandmother to raise him. This need for mentorship in his youth made Dexter prime picking for charismatic and dangerous Reeve, a beautifully wild boy from the farmland who recruits the diminutive Dexter into a special “tag-in-the-dark club” with other schoolmates. Reeve has concocted a game of Foxes and Chickens that’s terrifying and thrilling for the young boys as they sneak into the school and enact the fantastic trials the game demands. Hazards abound, and each member has a task to win the game. Though the rules are somewhat Byzantine, they’re appropriately dissonant; only the young minds of children in the rapture of fantasy could make so much out of darkness. But it’s not all fun and games: Jealousies and power struggles abound. Reeve, like all charismatic leaders, runs the club not so much for pure delight but the maintenance of his own power and security. His home life is poisoned by his father’s alcoholism and sadness. Ostensibly, the story seems to be about Dexter and Reeve’s negative form of mentorship, but a positive parallel thread runs throughout, as Dexter relates the entire story to his then-living grandfather. With subtly crafted prose, this concise, touching story probes psychology and miniature dramas that can sometimes distract from the central relationship and, because of so much setup, too often telegraph what comes next. Nevertheless, Dexter is so likable and his motivations so clearly outlined, readers will be happily engaged both with Dexter the boy and the man he becomes.

A modest, charming bildungsroman that should satisfy readers of all ages.

Pub Date: March 8, 2013

ISBN: 978-1480296589

Page Count: 188

Publisher: CreateSpace

Review Posted Online: Nov. 25, 2013

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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MAGIC HOUR

by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2006

Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.

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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

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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THE CATCHER IN THE RYE

by J.D. Salinger ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 15, 1951

A strict report, worthy of sympathy.

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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.