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LITTLE BROTHER

Driven by a slim promise of safety plus the hope of finding his older brother Mang, 11-year-old orphan Muong Vithy makes his way across hundreds of miles of war-torn Cambodia to the Thai border, relying on his wits and the kindness of strangers to stay alive, evading the dreaded Khmer Rouge, and finding at last a chance for a new life in a distant country. Having passed through modern Phnom Penh and ancient Angkor Wat and finding both equally haunted, Vithy reaches Thailand. There, he meets Betty Harris, an Australian doctor, and begins to search for his brother, the last member of his family seen alive. Finally giving Mang up for dead, Vithy agrees to go with Harris to Australia—where he joyfully finds his brother awaiting him at the Sydney airport. The atrocities and privations that make Wartski's Boat to Nowhere (1980) and other refugee stories so searing are kept offstage here; this is a milder narrative (with something of a fairy-tale ending), but Baillie keeps the plot moving and his characters are deftly drawn and believable. (Fiction. 11-13)

Pub Date: March 1, 1992

ISBN: 0-670-84381-4

Page Count: 144

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1992

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PLAYING AMERICA'S GAME

THE STORY OF NEGRO LEAGUE BASEBALL

After black players were excluded from organized baseball near the end of the 19th century, they created leagues, barnstorming teams, and an annual All-Star Game (the East-West All-Star Classic) that often rivaled the Bigs in attendance and income. Combining sharp photos and a simply phrased text, Cooper reviews the era's great players—from Bud Fowler (.350 batting average in 1887) and Rube Foster (pitcher, team owner, and founder of the Negro National League) to Martin Dihigo (Hall of Famer in four countries) and the durable Satchel Paige. While acknowledging the prejudice black players faced, the author also points out how often they played against white teams; it was never a secret that the Negro Leagues fielded many stars of major-league caliber. Cooper devotes a chapter to the flow of players to and from Latin America and ends with a look at the heady post-WW II decades, during which the color barrier began to drop, the whole sport was revitalized, and Negro Leaguers were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. A tantalizing glimpse into the sport's checkered past, and a readable gateway to Dixon's pictorial Negro Baseball Leagues, 1867-1955 (1992) and Holway's oral histories (Black Diamonds, 1989, is the most recent). Photos; lists of books and other sources; index. (Nonfiction. 11-13)

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1993

ISBN: 0-525-67407-1

Page Count: 112

Publisher: Dutton

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1993

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UNMENTIONABLE!

MORE AMAZING STORIES

From a popular Australian writer, nine more stories in a follow-up to Uncanny! and Unreal! (both 1991). In ``Birdman,'' a scrofulous magic headpiece forces a bully to plunge his face into dung; Mr. Simpkin is trapped on ``The Velvet Throne'' in a public loo where graffiti comes true; ``Little Squirt'' finally wins a certain contest in the school restroom: ``Sam...blows his top. He hits the roof. But not in the same way that I do.'' Now and then, Jennings gets away from alimentary humor for effects macabre (a teenager compounding disasters when a magic ``Harmonica'' gets stuck in her mouth) and even tender (a clumsy ``Cry Baby'' helps his Grandpop find the elusive Water-Holding Frog). Broad plots, surprise endings, unsubtle humor, and just deserts all `round. (Short Stories. 11-13)

Pub Date: March 1, 1993

ISBN: 0-670-84734-8

Page Count: 112

Publisher: Viking

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1993

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