Byars (Disappearing Acts, 1998, etc.) will have young readers enthusiastically pounding their own chests with this hilarious tale of a child who discovers in herself the true Call of the Wild. After Dorothy beats out rival Dwayne Wiggert for the role of Tarzan in the class play (not missing the chance to add insult to injury by dropping the loser a note reading “Me Tarzan, you Dwayne”), she discovers that her already-stunning yell gets louder every time she rehearses it. It’s a genuinely primal scream too, for with each outburst—printed in sprays of ever-larger type—more dogs, cats, birds, and other pets escape their owners to gather ’round. Her holler at the performance not only leaves more than one pair of wet pants in the audience, it brings the elephants and other animals from a nearby circus bursting into the school auditorium. After being persuaded that the escapees aren't really safe wandering about loose, she lures them back to the big top with a final cry, then (figuratively) hangs up her loincloth, to speculate about future roles . . . say, Peter Pan. Great fun, and a champion candidate for reading aloud. (Fiction. 9-11)
Pub Date: May 31, 2000
ISBN: 0-06-028706-3
Page Count: 96
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2000
The book is a cute, but rather standard offering from Avi (Tom, Babette, and Simon, p. 776, etc.).
An adolescent mouse named Poppy is off on a romantic tryst with her rebel boyfriend when they are attacked by Mr. Ocax, the owl who rules over the area.
He kills the boyfriend, but Poppy escapes and Mr. Ocax vows to catch her. Mr. Ocax has convinced all the mice that he is their protector when, in fact, he preys on them mercilessly. When the mice ask his permission to move to a new house, he refuses, blaming Poppy for his decision. Poppy suspects that there is another reason Mr. Ocax doesn't want them to move and investigates to clear her name. With the help of a prickly old porcupine and her quick wits, Poppy defeats her nemesis and her own fears, saving her family in the bargain.
The book is a cute, but rather standard offering from Avi (Tom, Babette, and Simon, p. 776, etc.). (Fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-531-09483-9
Page Count: 147
Publisher: Orchard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1995
A rare venture into contemporary fiction for Bruchac (The Circle of Thanks, p. 1529, etc.), this disappointing tale of a young Mohawk transplanted to Brooklyn, N.Y., is overstuffed with plotlines, lectures, and cultural information. Danny Bigtree gets jeers, or the cold shoulder, from his fourth-grade classmates, until his ironworker father sits him down to relate—at length- -the story of the great Mohawk peacemaker Aionwahta (Hiawatha), then comes to school to talk about the Iroquois Confederacy and its influence on our country's Founding Fathers. Later, Danny's refusal to tattle when Tyrone, the worst of his tormenters, accidentally hits him in the face with a basketball breaks the ice for good. Two sketchy subplots: Danny runs into an old Seminole friend, who, evidently due to parental neglect, has joined a gang; after dreaming of an eagle falling from a tree, Danny learns that his father has been injured in a construction- site accident. A worthy, well-written novella—but readers cannot be moved by a story that pulls them in so many different directions. (Fiction. 9-11)
Pub Date: March 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-8037-1918-3
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1996
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