The author of the extraordinary The Silver Kiss (1990: a girl and a vampire in love) creates sure-fire entertainment for younger readers by melding at least four classic scenarios. Seventh-grader Robin Goodfellow (``Puck''), expelled in disgrace, heroically redeems herself en route to her parents...who are elsewhere in the universe, so events take place on a spaceship on which ``Hush''—a lovable, elongated gray ``Shoowa''—is going home after years of enslavement by Grakks, one of whom almost gains control of the ship...which is haunted by a host of Shoowa ghosts (also the foul work of the Grakks) that Puck and Hush hope to free so they can find peace on their own planet...but, meanwhile, the passengers and crew include (along with the disguised Grakk, who's after a powerful totem that Hush wants to return to his people) smugglers and plainclothes police, in the best whodunit tradition. Klause juggles all this with admirable aplomb while devising a poetically literal manner of speech for Hush, deftly creating memorable characters (whose playfully referential names can be red herrings), writing wonderfully suspenseful scenes (page one is a sure hook), and slipping in some thoughtful, quite beautifully written passages. Klause obviously has more resources than she's using here. What next? Meanwhile, this is great fun. (Fiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-385-30928-7
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1993
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Not villains but victims people this novel, originally published in Afrikaans and here in a second English translation. After his father's death in a farm accident, young Adam and of his family have been forced to move into a friend's already- crowded shack in Phameng. Their only source of income is Adam's job of selling newspapers; word has come that the houses of those caught leaving the townships to work in the city will be burned. Food runs low; Adam's mother gives birth to twins. Twins! How can they be clothed and fed? Desperate, Adam resolves to brave the terrorist threat for a weekend. Feverish after a night spent in the open, he receives some unexpected help selling his papers, then runs the gauntlet again to get home. Maartens takes readers into a world of grinding poverty charged with fear and anger, yet her touch is light. Violence stays offstage while Adam's heroism, the kindness of his two (white) fellow workers, and his affection for his family shine through, lit by a weak flicker of hope: ``Not everybody wants to burn and kill. There are lots of good people. Lots.'' (Fiction. 11-14)*justify no*
Pub Date: Sept. 23, 1991
ISBN: 0-395-56490-5
Page Count: 148
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1991
In another gripping novel about a boy forced to confront his values, the author of On My Honor (Newbery Honor, 1987) examines the role of guns in the imagination of a troubled youth. Michael has not seen his father, Bert, since Bert left the family farm eight years ago. Though Mom's new husband—pleasant but taciturn Dave—has adopted him, Michael has always resented Dave and treasured his memories of Bert, especially of their hunting together. Reluctantly, Dave and Mom give Michael a gun for his 13th birthday—a gun he promptly misuses, and loses, by letting his little sister shoot it. At the same time, Bert invites Michael to visit: he's now a white-water rafting guide in Colorado. Michael sets out full of hopes for a man-to-man relationship, but Bert doesn't match his fantasies: he's not tall; his trailer is cramped and uncomfortable; he's a rolling stone who still doesn't make his son the center of his world. Ironically, it's his macho qualities that Michael finds hardest to bear—especially during a terrifying raft trip. In the end, Michael goes home and finally turns to Dave—but not before he finds his confiscated gun and experiences the kind of impotent, disillusioned rage that can make a person turn a gun against others, or against himself. Bauer subtly modulates Michael's changing feelings—as he discovers who Bert really is, recollects the bitter truth about that long-ago deer hunt, and is finally able to integrate what he has learned so that he can throw down the gun—for a thoughtful, richly provocative story. (Fiction. 10-14)*justify no* In another gripping novel about a boy forced to confront his values, the author of On My Honor (Newbery Honor, 1987) examines the role of guns in the imagination of a troubled youth. Michael has not seen his father, Bert, since Bert left the family farm eight years ago. Though Mom's new husbandpleasant but taciturn Davehas adopted him, Michael has always resented Dave and treasured his memories of Bert, especially of their hunting together. Reluctantly, Dave and Mom give Michael a gun for his 13th birthdaya gun he promptly misuses, and loses, by letting his little sister shoot it. At the same time, Bert invites Michael to visit: he's now a white-water rafting guide in Colorado. Michael sets out full of hopes for a man-to-man relationship, but Bert doesn't match his fantasies: he's not tall; his trailer is cramped and uncomfortable; he's a rolling stone who still doesn't make his son the center of his world. Ironically, it's his macho qualities that Michael finds hardest to bearespecially during a terrifying raft trip. In the end, Michael goes home and finally turns to Davebut not before he finds his confiscated gun and experiences the kind of impotent, disillusioned rage that can make a person turn a gun against others, or against himself. Bauer subtly modulates Michael's changing feelingsas he discovers who Bert really is, recollects the bitter truth about that long-ago deer hunt, and is finally able to integrate what he has learned so that he can throw down the gunfor a thoughtful, richly provocative story. (Fiction. 10-14)*justify no*
Pub Date: Sept. 23, 1991
ISBN: 0-395-55440-3
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1991
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