An earnest, entertaining tale of adolescence and fantasy fandom.
A young boy in 1980s Ohio embarks on a harrowing journey of self-discovery in Rapino and Grate’s middle-grade coming-of-age novel.
It’s 1988, and it’s 11-year-old Tommy Grant’s last summer before entering junior high. It turns out to be a memorable season for all the wrong reasons, though, as his incessantly feuding parents mull over divorce and his best friend dumps him. Things don’t get better during the new school year, as bullies target him and he becomes a social outcast. Tommy takes solace in his fandom of Order of Cosmic Champions, a canceled animated SF TV series that lives on in comic books and action figures. He also pins his hopes on a contest in which a winning design for a new OoCC character could score him a college scholarship and the chance to see his design made into a toy. The eventual results of this competition lead him to a rash decision: to secretly travel to Brooklyn, New York, alone to convince a stranger to make a dream come true. Along with the inherent dangers of hitchhiking, the imaginative 12-year-old faces inner demons that manifest as menacing OoCC villains, including Mechani-Ghoul, the rather vicious robotic character that he created. He’ll have to fight off these baddies if he wants any shot at reaching his destination. Meanwhile, back in Ohio, Miranda Vitalis, a new girl in school who’s taken a shine to oblivious Tommy, is worried about him. As she hunts for clues to where he’s gone, she may have to confront his parents, who’ve all but ignored their now-runaway child.
The fantasy sequences in Rapino and Grate’s story revel in ambiguity. Readers may wonder if these battles are just playing out in Tommy’s head or if they’re somehow real, which the narrative hints is possible. Although these sequences are exhilarating, the novel is at its best when it centers on real-world troubles. Tommy’s father, for example, is losing a struggle with alcohol addiction, and some readers may find the accounts of bullying difficult to read. Likable, intelligent Miranda is a welcome reprieve from this darkness, and she has more in common with Tommy than either of them initially realizes. The authors root the story in familiar popular culture; the cartoon and toy line, for instance, have more than a passing resemblance to He-Man and the Masters of the Universe. The villains sport such names as Skullagar and EyeSpy, and Tommy’s own dazzling (and terrifying) bad guy has a metal claw and an arm that’s a giant cleaver. Likewise, references to popular films, video games, and classic ’80s tech, such as VHS tapes and the Sony Walkman, often appear. The authors’ prose colorfully details everything from fantastical clashes to Tommy’s breakfast: “The pancakes were as fluffy as cartoon clouds, and the maple syrup with tiny puddles of melting butter was ambrosia.” The lively story, however, never loses sight of its main theme, as Tommy grows up and learns that one can’t always fight change.
An earnest, entertaining tale of adolescence and fantasy fandom.Pub Date: Oct. 18, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-62634-966-7
Page Count: 392
Publisher: Greenleaf Book Group Press
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A prototypical survival story: after an airplane crash, a 13-year-old city boy spends two months alone in the Canadian wilderness. In transit between his divorcing parents, Brian is the plane's only passenger. After casually showing him how to steer, the pilot has a heart attack and dies. In a breathtaking sequence, Brian maneuvers the plane for hours while he tries to think what to do, at last crashing as gently and levelly as he can manage into a lake. The plane sinks; all he has left is a hatchet, attached to his belt. His injuries prove painful but not fundamental. In time, he builds a shelter, experiments with berries, finds turtle eggs, starts a fire, makes a bow and arrow to catch fish and birds, and makes peace with the larger wildlife. He also battles despair and emerges more patient, prepared to learn from his mistakes—when a rogue moose attacks him and a fierce storm reminds him of his mortality, he's prepared to make repairs with philosophical persistence. His mixed feelings surprise him when the plane finally surfaces so that he can retrieve the survival pack; and then he's rescued. Plausible, taut, this is a spellbinding account. Paulsen's staccato, repetitive style conveys Brian's stress; his combination of third-person narrative with Brian's interior monologue pulls the reader into the story. Brian's angst over a terrible secret—he's seen his mother with another man—is undeveloped and doesn't contribute much, except as one item from his previous life that he sees in better perspective, as a result of his experience. High interest, not hard to read. A winner.
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1987
ISBN: 1416925082
Page Count: -
Publisher: Bradbury
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1987
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