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A CHAPEL OF THIEVES

Name: A CHAPEL OF THIEVES
Author: Bruce Clements
ISBN: 0-374-37701-4

by Bruce Clements ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 11, 2002

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This belated sequel to I Tell a Lie Every So Often (1974, reissued in 2001) takes young Henry Desant from mid-19th-century St. Louis all the way to Paris on a bid to rescue his naïve big brother from a gang of pickpockets and second-story men. Refused the flighty hand of Clemmy Burke, Clayton Desant suddenly announces a vocation to preach to the “great sinners” of France—“I will be known far and wide as The Tonsils of the Lord,” he declaims. As Henry quickly figures out from Clayton’s letter home, however, his brother’s rented chapel has become a front for a sinister band of crooks led by one “Deacon George.” What can Henry do but pull his savings from the bank, board a riverboat for New Orleans, and ship out for Paris, in hopes of persuading the scales to fall from Clayton’s eyes? It’s an adventure-laden trip; before his ultimately successful efforts to steer his brother back into Clemmy’s grip, Henry encounters several characters either dangerous or dead (or both), the great Victor Hugo, the inside of a jail, and, most important, the beautiful, elegant Cécile Gelineau, who, along with her kind brother Doctor Alexandre Gelineau, changes his life. But the tale starts more strongly than it finishes, and Henry tells it with such laconic, deadpan formality that less analytical readers may miss the fact that it’s supposed to be comical. For a more compelling story, with a similar setting, try Kathleen Karr’s Skullduggery (2000). (Fiction. 12-15)

Pub Date: April 11, 2002

ISBN: 0-374-37701-4

Page Count: 224

Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2002

Categories:

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT HISTORICAL FICTION

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THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS

by John Boyne ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 12, 2006

Certain to provoke controversy and difficult to see as a book for children, who could easily miss the painful point.

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After Hitler appoints Bruno’s father commandant of Auschwitz, Bruno (nine) is unhappy with his new surroundings compared to the luxury of his home in Berlin.

The literal-minded Bruno, with amazingly little political and social awareness, never gains comprehension of the prisoners (all in “striped pajamas”) or the malignant nature of the death camp. He overcomes loneliness and isolation only when he discovers another boy, Shmuel, on the other side of the camp’s fence. For months, the two meet, becoming secret best friends even though they can never play together. Although Bruno’s family corrects him, he childishly calls the camp “Out-With” and the Fuhrer “Fury.” As a literary device, it could be said to be credibly rooted in Bruno’s consistent, guileless characterization, though it’s difficult to believe in reality. The tragic story’s point of view is unique: the corrosive effect of brutality on Nazi family life as seen through the eyes of a naïf. Some will believe that the fable form, in which the illogical may serve the objective of moral instruction, succeeds in Boyne’s narrative; others will believe it was the wrong choice.

Certain to provoke controversy and difficult to see as a book for children, who could easily miss the painful point. (Fiction. 12-14)

Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2006

ISBN: 0-385-75106-0

Page Count: 224

Publisher: David Fickling/Random

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2006

Categories:

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FICTION | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT HISTORICAL FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE ELEMENTS
by John Boyne

- BOOK REVIEW
ALL THE BROKEN PLACES
by John Boyne

- BOOK REVIEW
A TRAVELER AT THE GATES OF WISDOM
by John Boyne

- SEEN & HEARD
Author in Twitter Feud with Auschwitz Museum

- SEEN & HEARD
‘Boy in the Striped Pajamas’ Sequel in the Works

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BAD GIRLS NEVER SAY DIE

by Jennifer Mathieu ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 19, 2021

Stronger books may exist about the 1960s, but female friendship tales never go out of style.

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For “bad girls,” hell can be a place on Earth.

In Houston in the early ’60s, girls only seem to have two choices: be a good girl and get married or be a bad girl and live your life. Fifteen-year-old Evie, from a working-class White family, became a bad girl after her sister’s shotgun wedding took her away from home. Mexican American neighbor Juanita, who smokes, drinks, wears intense eye makeup, and runs with the tough crowd, takes Evie under her wing, but despite the loyalty of this new sisterhood, Evie often feels uncertain of her place. When a rich girl from the wealthy part of town named Diane saves Evie from assault by killing the attacker, Evie finds a new friend and, through that friendship, discovers her own courage. This work borrows a few recognizable beats from S.E. Hinton’s 1967 classic, The Outsiders—class tensions, friendship, death, and a first-person narrative that frequently employs the word tuff—but with a gender-swapped spin. Overall, the novel would have benefited from a stronger evocation of the setting. During an era of societal upheaval, Evie struggles to reconcile her frustration at the limited roles defined for her and her friends, with many moments of understanding and reflection that will resonate with modern readers’ sensibilities—although sadly she still victim blames herself for the attempted assault.

Stronger books may exist about the 1960s, but female friendship tales never go out of style. (author's note, resources) (Historical fiction. 12-15)