Hands readers a meaningful new take on family love.
Nathan, a young Navajo boy from Phoenix, Arizona, goes on an epic hero’s journey.
On the surface, 11-year-old Nathan is like many other boys. His parents are divorced, and he’s a little upset with his father. His paternal grandmother, Nali, is supportive, and he’s eager to spend the summer with her on the Navajo reservation in New Mexico, working on his science fair project. Nathan moves into her rural home, expecting a quiet summer. Instead, he has the adventure of a lifetime when he discovers something is eating Nali’s heirloom seeds. Wandering into the desert, he encounters Pond, an ailing water monster. Adults cannot see Holy Beings from the creation stories, but as a child, Nathan can; with the help of a communication stone, he enters a world of Navajo cosmology. He brings a message to his grandmother about the Enemy Way and helps his Uncle Jet, a traumatized Marine veteran skeptical about his family’s traditional ways, who is haunted by the shadow voice of an Ash Being. Healing—for the earth, the water monster, and Uncle Jet—is on the line as Nathan travels to the Third World to meet the most sacred Holy Being of all. The deeply grounded and original perspective of this story brings readers into both the worlds of Navajo blessing songs, rain songs, and traditional healing and everyday family relationships.
Hands readers a meaningful new take on family love. (glossary, author’s note) (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: May 11, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-299040-2
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Heartdrum
Review Posted Online: March 24, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Longing—for connection, for family, for a voice—roars to life with just a touch of magic.
A young girl bargaining for the health of her grandmother discovers both her family’s past and the strength of her own voice.
For many years, Lily’s Korean grandmother, Halmoni, has shared her Asian wisdom and healing powers with her predominantly White community. When Lily, her sister, Sam—both biracial, Korean and White—and their widowed mom move in with Halmoni to be close with her as she ages, Lily begins to see a magical tiger. What were previously bedtime stories become dangerously prophetic, as Lily begins to piece together fact from fiction. There is no need for prior knowledge of Korean folktales, although a traditional Korean myth propels the story forward. From the tiger, Lily learns that Halmoni has bottled up the hard stories of her past to keep sadness at bay. Lily makes a deal with the tiger to heal her grandmother by releasing those stories. What she comes to realize is that healing doesn’t mean health and that Halmoni is not the only one in need of the power of storytelling. Interesting supporting characters are fully developed but used sparingly to keep the focus on the simple yet suspenseful plot. Keller infuses this tale, which explores both the end of life and coming-of-age, with a sensitive examination of immigration issues and the complexity of home. It is at one and the same time completely American and thoroughly informed by Korean culture.
Longing—for connection, for family, for a voice—roars to life with just a touch of magic. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Jan. 28, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5247-1570-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Sept. 28, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2019
A poignant and achingly beautiful narrative shedding light on the price of a violent sport.
An African American preteen finds his world upended when his father, a retired professional football player, displays symptoms of traumatic brain injury.
Twelve-year-old Zachariah “ZJ” Johnson Jr. loves his dad but wonders who he would be if his dad was not a famous athlete. Although his dad is in the spotlight, he is full of love and attention for ZJ and his friends. And fortunately, ZJ has three friends who see him and not his father’s shadow. “Zachariah 44” was a fearless player who suffered many concussions during his playing career. The changes in his father begin slowly and intermittently. Soon the headaches and memory lapses grow increasingly frequent and scary for ZJ and his mom, since the doctors do not seem to have any answers. As his dad slips further away, ZJ’s memories of better times grow closer than ever. Using spare and lyrical language for ZJ’s present-tense narration, which moves back and forth through time, Woodson skillfully portrays the confusion, fear, and sadness when a family member suffers from brain injury and the personality changes it brings. Readers see Zachariah Sr. through ZJ’s eyes and agonize with him as the strong, vibrant athlete begins to fade. The well-rounded secondary characters complete a mosaic of a loving African American family and their community of friends. The tale is set in the early 2000s, as awareness of chronic traumatic encephalopathy and its catastrophic consequences was beginning to emerge.
A poignant and achingly beautiful narrative shedding light on the price of a violent sport. (author's note) (Historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-399-54543-6
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Review Posted Online: June 29, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2020
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