Rinaldi (Millicent’s Gift, p. 740, etc.) enlarges upon the story of the real Oney Judge who was Martha Washington’s favorite slave and lived in relative privilege. Her father has escaped, and Oney says, “It was all Patrick Henry’s fault that my daddy left. That’s what my Mama said.” All of that “fancy speechifying in Richmond” planted ideas of liberty in her father, and this is the story of how these ideas slowly grew in his daughter as well. It’s one thing to escape the horrors of slavery, but slavery was not so horrible for Oney. When General Washington became President Washington and lived in New York, Oney lived on the third floor in a cozy room with her own fireplace. The elegant house, overlooking the Hudson River, welcomed such luminaries as Abigail Adams and Thomas Jefferson, and Oney met them and felt part of their circle. Her mother has told her to run, but Oney says, “Why would I want to be free, wandering on the howling cold streets, wondering where I would work and live?” Fascinating and well-written, this weaves in much history: the Revolution, George Washington’s conflicted views of slavery, plantation life, life in New York City and Philadelphia, the yellow fever epidemic of 1793, abolitionism, and the free Negro community of Philadelphia. It opens with a fine premise: Oney’s narration of her story to a reporter for the famous abolitionist newspaper, the Liberator. What follows is an exploration of the will toward freedom, even for a young woman who knows freedom is likely to be more difficult than her enslavement. (author’s note, Washington’s writings about slavery, bibliography) (Historical fiction. 12+)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-689-85187-1
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2002
A brilliant novel with characters that linger long after the screams fade.
A brooding manor house hides more than family secrets in Cañas’ YA debut.
Minerva Treviño is accustomed to hardship—after all, she’s grown up in an impoverished part of the Capital with many siblings, a resentful stepmother, and an abusive father who mines chispa, the mysterious sparks of energy that power the city. A chance to escape appears when Minerva answers an ad for a lady’s maid. Soon, she becomes the sole companion to Encarnación del Valle, an aging socialite with connections to the recently deposed Viceroy’s family. Political unrest has consumed the unnamed Latin American country ever since Valbuenista guerrillas seized power, only for the newly installed president to be assassinated in a coup. Hoping to flee the chaos of the Capital, Minerva and her employer retreat to the family’s remote manor, la Casa de las Gardenias, that lies deep within the mountainous jungle. The looming house fills Minerva with unease. Strange occurrences, hostile servants, and sinister residents convince her that something far darker lurks within its walls. The atmospheric worldbuilding and steadily mounting tension create a delicious genre-blended mix of gothic horror, historical fantasy, and anti-colonial fiction. The complex characters and a propulsive plot will keep readers riveted through the feverish climax. Minerva, who is “mixed-blood” with Indigenous ancestry, is a compelling and relatable teen hero who struggles with self-confidence.
A brilliant novel with characters that linger long after the screams fade. (Paranormal. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
ISBN: 9780593620410
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2026
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
SEEN & HEARD
A delightfully captivating swatch of autobiography from the author of Kiss. Kiss, Switch Bitch and many others. Schoolboy Dahl wanted adventure. Classes bored him, there was work to be had in Africa, and war clouds loomed on the world's horizons. He finds himself with a trainee's job with Shell Oil of East Africa and winds up in what is now Tanzania. Then war comes in 1939 and Dahl's adventures truly begin. At the war's outbreak, Dahl volunteers for the RAF, signing on to be a fighter pilot. Wounded in the Libyan desert, he spends six months recuperating in a military hospital, then rejoins his unit in Greece, only to be driven back by the advancing Germans. On April 20, 1941, he goes head on against the Luftwaffe in the Battle of Athens. On-target bio installment with, one hopes, lots more of this engrossing life to come.
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1986
ISBN: 0142413836
Page Count: 209
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Oct. 16, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1986
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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