What’s a kid to do when his dad’s thrown in jail for an unsuccessful act of ecoterrorism? Why, do it better, of course. Readers first meet Noah Underwood in the visiting room of the Florida Keys jail where his father proudly waits for justice to be done to the owner of the Coral Queen, the casino boat that regularly and illegally dumps raw sewage into the bay. Hiaasen surrounds Noah with his usual cast of supporting characters: a stoic little sister, a hard-drinking bleached-blonde bartender with a heart of gold, various thuggish lowlifes and a mysterious figure who appears from the jungle to save the day. The whole here is rather less than the sum of its parts, as the plot takes some time to take off and Noah’s first-person narration necessarily limits the loony heights (or depths) Hiaasen can attain in plumbing the psyches of his villains. But Noah’s determination and sense of right comes straight from the author’s heart, and readers will cheer as he and his cohorts scuttle once and for all the activities of the Coral Queen. (Fiction. 10+)
Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2005
ISBN: 0-375-82182-1
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2005
An extraordinary journey that speaks to the “before” and “after” of life-changing events.
A magical typewriter brings healing, reconnection, and new friends to a hurting family.
Olivetti, a silent but fully conscious typewriter, has been there since the beginning, living with parents Felix and Beatrice and their children, Ezra, Adalyn, Ernest, and Arlo, a “copper-colored family with eyes as rich as ink.” Olivetti, who even took part in Felix’s proposal to Beatrice, watched playfulness and creativity grow as the children arrived, and he faithfully remembers every single word the people have typed. Then, longing to communicate, he watched the family suffer through Everything That Happened. Which is exactly what seventh grader Ernest is still trying to forget. Constantly carrying his dictionary around, Ernest spends most of his time on the roof away from others, scared of getting close to people for fear of losing them. So, when Beatrice suddenly leaves after taking Olivetti to a pawn shop, grief-stricken Ernest seeks him out and confesses that he fears he’s to blame for her departure. Desperate to help, Olivetti takes the unusual action of breaking typewriterly code: He communicates with Ernest in order to help him. But will it be enough? The chapters are told from Olivetti’s and Ernest’s first-person perspectives and frequently contain flashbacks. Debut author Millington skillfully delivers a complex storyline that deals with heavy topics. With plenty of quotable wisdom, richly textured language, and dry humor, this work reads like a classic.
An extraordinary journey that speaks to the “before” and “after” of life-changing events. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: March 26, 2024
ISBN: 9781250326935
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
Some readers may feel that the resolution comes a mite too easily, but most will enjoy the journey and be pleased when...
Two sisters make an unauthorized expedition to their former hometown and in the process bring together the two parts of their divided family.
Dooley packs plenty of emotion into this eventful road trip, which takes place over the course of less than 24 hours. Twelve-year-old Ophelia, nicknamed Fella, and her 16-year-old sister, Zoey Grace, aka Zany, are the daughters of a lesbian couple, Shannon and Lacy, who could not legally marry. The two white girls squabble and share memories as they travel from West Virginia to Asheville, North Carolina, where Zany is determined to scatter Mama Lacy’s ashes in accordance with her wishes. The year is 2004, before the Supreme Court decision on gay marriage, and the girls have been separated by hostile, antediluvian custodial laws. Fella’s present-tense narration paints pictures not just of the difficulties they face on the trip (a snowstorm, car trouble, and an unlikely thief among them), but also of their lives before Mama Lacy’s illness and of the ways that things have changed since then. Breathless and engaging, Fella’s distinctive voice is convincingly childlike. The conversations she has with her sister, as well as her insights about their relationship, likewise ring true. While the girls face serious issues, amusing details and the caring adults in their lives keep the tone relatively light.
Some readers may feel that the resolution comes a mite too easily, but most will enjoy the journey and be pleased when Fella’s family figures out how to come together in a new way . (Historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: April 4, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-16504-7
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: Jan. 31, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
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