John Brown spent the summer before his quixotic 1859 raid on the Harpers Ferry arsenal secretly marshalling men and weapons on a nearby farm, with two women, one his 15-year-old daughter Annie, to keep house and present the appearance of normality to prying eyes. Spinning Annie's character from sparse contemporary accounts, Rinaldi (The Second Bend in the River, p. 63, etc.) fleshes her out as a severe young woman who shares her driven father's strong-mindedness, loving and hating him with equal intensity. Aware of her father's few successes and many failures in life, Annie watches him and the two dozen followers he gathers come to terms with the fact that many of them are about to die. The author sticks closely to the record, inventing few if any characters or events (although Brown anachronistically refers to his band as ``Young Turks''); Annie recalls her family's struggles and her father's exploits as an anti-slavery militant in Kansas, then describes the Harpers Ferry raid in bitter, clinical, death-by-death detail. There are parallels here with modern episodes of vigilantism, but the author's real focus is on a daughter's relationship with her iconic father, and in the end she becomes his witness. It's a powerful story, and for readers who find the large cast hard to keep track of, Rinaldi recapitulates in an afterword, and appends a bibliography. (Fiction. 12-15)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-590-54318-0
Page Count: 274
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1997
Vail captures the complexity of middle school social challenges, insightfully addressing the issues of friendships and...
Eighth-grader Truly’s foray into popularity spirals into a tempest of deceit and betrayal.
Upon turning 13, Truly is given a measure of technological freedom: a cellphone and access to social media. But this soon evolves into a quagmire of problems for Truly. When former BFF Natasha invites her to join the Popular Table during lunchtime and to collaborate on a school assignment, Truly is surprised but thrilled. However, Natasha’s overtures hide an ulterior motive. In the pursuit of popularity, Truly neglects her friendship with Hazel, who retaliates by plotting revenge utilizing social media. The Truly/Hazel dynamic is just one component of this interwoven story. Vail explores the motivations and private quandaries of the six characters who narrate the tale, from Jack, the quiet advocate for those excluded, to the socially conscious and manipulative Natasha, who yearns to be the most popular. With keen insight, Vail reveals the internal struggles with uncertainty and self-doubt that can plague young teens regardless of popularity status. Natasha’s schemes and Hazel’s misdeeds lead to a relentless barrage of bullying via social media for Truly. While a dramatic moment reveals the extent of Truly’s anguish, Vail concludes the tale with a resolution that is both realistic and hopeful.
Vail captures the complexity of middle school social challenges, insightfully addressing the issues of friendships and integrity. (Fiction. 12-15)Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-670-01307-4
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: July 28, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
What if James Bond had started spying as a teenager? This thriller pits 14-year-old Alex Rider against a mad billionaire industrialist. Non-stop action keeps the intrigue boiling as Alex tries to stop the remarkably evil Herod Sayles from murdering Britain’s schoolchildren through biological warfare. Alex begins as an innocent boy shocked by the death of his Uncle Ian in a traffic accident. Suspicious of the official explanation, he investigates and finds Ian’s car riddled with bullet holes. He narrowly escapes being crushed in the car as it’s demolished, then climbs out of a 15-story window to break into Ian’s office. He learns that Ian was a spy, and reluctantly joins Britain’s MI6 intelligence agency. After surviving brutal training and armed with stealthy spy tools, Alex infiltrates Sayles’s operation as the teenage tester of the “Stormbreaker,” a new computer Sayles is giving to British schools. Thereafter he survives murderous ATV drivers, an underwater swim in an abandoned mine, and an encounter with a Portuguese man-o-war jellyfish before hitching a ride on an already airborne plane. The plot is, of course, preposterous, but young readers won’t care as they zoom through numerous cliffhangers. This is the first book in a series planned by the author, and may prove useful for reluctant readers looking for excitement. (Fiction. 12-14)
Pub Date: May 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-399-23620-1
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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