From the author of The Wish Giver (Newbery Honor, 1984) and other stories that blend lively humor with dark magic, a grim fable about a seventh grader whose wings cause him more anguish than joy. Though Ian has never caused trouble, his parents have neglected him while pampering his accomplished sister Diane. Even when fierce pain in his shoulders mystifies the family doctor, their response is annoyance, not sympathy. When Ian's huge, batlike wings emerge, they're horrified: Dad's sure the ``freak'' will spoil his new political career. Once the secret leaks out, Ian tries school but is cruelly teased; only six-fingered pariah Anita is concerned about his plight. She and her mother wisk Ian to their primitive mountaintop home and suggest that he try to fly—which he does; it's a grand experience. Meanwhile, Dad has found a surgeon to amputate; he and Mom tearfully divulge feeble reasons for their callousness (Diane was a sickly baby, and overprotection became a bad habit; Grandpa forced Dad to be a banker: running for mayor is the first thing he's ever done on his own). Reluctantly, Ian agrees to part with his beloved wings. It's true that wings would be an inconvenience, and Brittain imagines their logistical consequences with skill. But Ian's persecution by his family and classmates is disagreeably overdrawn, while the gun Anita and her mom use to clinch arguments with importunate reporters adds a gratuitously jarring note. An aggressively unfunny fantasy, depressing with or without its subtext—which is sure to elude children. (Fiction. 9-12)*justify no*
Pub Date: Aug. 30, 1991
ISBN: 0-06-020648-9
Page Count: 144
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1991
BOOK REVIEW
Eleven-year-old Griffin Bing is “the man with the plan.” If something needs doing, Griffin carefully plans a fix and his best friend Ben usually gets roped in as assistant. When the town council ignores his plan for a skate park on the grounds of the soon-to-be demolished Rockford House, Griffin plans a camp-out in the house. While there, he discovers a rare Babe Ruth baseball card. His family’s money worries are suddenly a thing of the past, until unscrupulous collectables dealer S. Wendell Palomino swindles him. Griffin and Ben plan to snatch the card back with a little help. Pet-lover Savannah whispers the blood-thirsty Doberman. Rock-climber “Pitch” takes care of scaling the house. Budding-actor Logan distracts the nosy neighbor. Computer-expert Melissa hacks Palomino’s e-mail and the house alarm. Little goes according to plan, but everything turns out all right in this improbable but fun romp by the prolific and always entertaining Korman. (Fiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: March 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-439-90344-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2008
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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