North of Tibet, bordering on Pakistan and Afghanistan, lies Xinjiang: a vast 20% of China's area, comprised of the terrible Taklamakan Desert (home to untapped petroleum and China's nuclear tests) ringed with oases fed by mountain snows. Through two valleys north and south of the desert ran the most difficult portion of the medieval Silk Road from Xian in central China to Damascus; today, irrigation tunnels from the surrounding mountains—some in use for 500 years—supplement local water to grow prized fruits and vegetables, supporting 1% of China's total population—mostly the predominant Uighurs; nomadic Kazakhs, who crossed the long border with the USSR in the 30's; and more recently arrived Han Chinese settlers from the east. The Conklins (Paul took his sons on this Smithsonian- sponsored expedition as a college graduation gift) traveled by train from Xian through Xinjiang, photographing the forbidding desert, the friendly people, and the colorful oasis culture. Ashabranner (who did not go along) sets the journey in historical and cultural context, enlivening his account with direct quotes and the Conklins' personal experiences. Though it lacks the immediacy of a firsthand account, his narrative is informative and intelligent. The photos, on almost every spread, are excellent; like the text, they leave the reader thirsting to know more about this fascinating, little-known area. Bibliography; index. (Nonfiction. 10+)
Pub Date: May 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-525-65086-5
Page Count: 84
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1992
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A world-class charmer, Clements (The Janitor’s Boy, 2000, etc.) woos aspiring young authors—as well as grown up publishers, editors, agents, parents, teachers, and even reviewers—with this tongue-in-cheek tale of a 12-year-old novelist’s triumphant debut. Sparked by a chance comment of her mother’s, a harried assistant editor for a (surely fictional) children’s imprint, Natalie draws on deep reserves of feeling and writing talent to create a moving story about a troubled schoolgirl and her father. First, it moves her pushy friend Zoe, who decides that it has to be published; then it moves a timorous, second-year English teacher into helping Zoe set up a virtual literary agency; then, submitted pseudonymously, it moves Natalie’s unsuspecting mother into peddling it to her waspish editor-in-chief. Depicting the world of children’s publishing as a delicious mix of idealism and office politics, Clements squires the manuscript past slush pile and contract, the editing process, and initial buzz (“The Cheater grabs hold of your heart and never lets go,” gushes Kirkus). Finally, in a tearful, joyous scene—carefully staged by Zoe, who turns out to be perfect agent material: cunning, loyal, devious, manipulative, utterly shameless—at the publication party, Natalie’s identity is revealed as news cameras roll. Selznick’s gnomic, realistic portraits at once reflect the tale’s droll undertone and deftly capture each character’s distinct personality. Terrific for flourishing school writing projects, this is practical as well as poignant. Indeed, it “grabs hold of yourheart and never lets go.” (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: June 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-82594-3
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2001
This profoundly moving story is all the more impressive because of its basis in fact. Although the story is fictionalized, its most harrowing aspects are true: “Today, more than two hundred million children between the ages of five and seventeen are ‘economically active’ in the world.” Iqbal Masih, a real boy, was murdered at age 13. His killers have never been found, but it’s believed that a cartel of ruthless people overseeing the carpet industry, the “Carpet Mafia,” killed him. The carpet business in Pakistan is the backdrop for the story of a young Pakistani girl in indentured servitude to a factory owner, who also “owned” the bonds of 14 children, indentured by their own families for sorely needed money. Fatima’s first-person narrative grips from the beginning and inspires with every increment of pride and resistance the defiant Iqbal instills in his fellow workers. Although he was murdered for his efforts, Iqbal’s life was not in vain; the accounts here of children who were liberated through his and activist adults’ efforts will move readers for years to come. (Fiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-689-85445-5
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2003
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