Charlie’s cleareyed account delivers a powerful anti-war statement without a hint of pedantry
All things considered, Charlie had been having a pretty good summer.
He had a new friend in his refugee neighbor Pavel “Pav” Duda, a new man cave (actually an old shed), and a new way to get Erin F’s attention. But his life changes completely when Old Country tries to bomb Little Town to smithereens. It is tempting to overlay current political unrest onto this novel, but by naming the warring regions Little Town and Old Country, Conaghan creates a timeless allegory. The differences between the people of Little Town and Old Country are not disclosed, but Pav’s name, speech, and blue eyes are used to mark him as an “Old Country bastard.” Charlie and the other Little Town citizens speak a “lingo” characterized by idioms and colloquialisms that separates them both from our reality and from Old Country refugees like Pav, whose command of the grammar is shaky. This lingo, together with Charlie’s sense of humor, makes the tone deceptively light. The slow pace allows the tension to build imperceptibly, like a crane lifting an anvil over the heads of unsuspecting readers. Conaghan tackles the complexities of war, occupation, and totalitarianism in a direct and accessible way, portraying violence frankly but without sensationalism. Charlie’s understanding of what is taught about others versus what is actually the truth speaks volumes.
Charlie’s cleareyed account delivers a powerful anti-war statement without a hint of pedantry .(Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-61963-838-9
Page Count: 376
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: June 27, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Well-educated American boys from privileged families have abundant options for college and career. For Chiko, their Burmese counterpart, there are no good choices. There is never enough to eat, and his family lives in constant fear of the military regime that has imprisoned Chiko’s physician father. Soon Chiko is commandeered by the army, trained to hunt down members of the Karenni ethnic minority. Tai, another “recruit,” uses his streetwise survival skills to help them both survive. Meanwhile, Tu Reh, a Karenni youth whose village was torched by the Burmese Army, has been chosen for his first military mission in his people’s resistance movement. How the boys meet and what comes of it is the crux of this multi-voiced novel. While Perkins doesn’t sugarcoat her subject—coming of age in a brutal, fascistic society—this is a gentle story with a lot of heart, suitable for younger readers than the subject matter might suggest. It answers the question, “What is it like to be a child soldier?” clearly, but with hope. (author’s note, historical note) (Fiction. 11-14)
Pub Date: July 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-58089-328-2
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2010
A satisfying story of family, friendship and small-town cooperation in a 21st-century world.
Sent to stay with octogenarian relatives for the summer, 14-year-old Mike ends up coordinating a community drive to raise $40,000 for the adoption of a Romanian orphan. He’ll never be his dad's kind of engineer, but he learns he’s great at human engineering.
Mike’s math learning disability is matched by his widower father's lack of social competence; the Giant Genius can’t even reliably remember his son’s name. Like many of the folks the boy comes to know in Do Over, Penn.—his great-uncle Poppy silent in his chair, the multiply pierced-and-tattooed Gladys from the bank and “a homeless guy” who calls himself Past—Mike feels like a failure. But in spite of his own lack of confidence, he provides the kick start they need to cope with their losses and contribute to the campaign. Using the Internet (especially YouTube), Mike makes use of town talents and his own webpage design skills and entrepreneurial imagination. Math-definition chapter headings (Compatible Numbers, Zero Property, Tessellations) turn out to apply well to human actions in this well-paced, first-person narrative. Erskine described Asperger’s syndrome from the inside in Mockingbird (2010). Here, it’s a likely cause for the rift between father and son touchingly mended at the novel's cinematic conclusion.
A satisfying story of family, friendship and small-town cooperation in a 21st-century world. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: June 9, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25505-2
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: April 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2011
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