Dizzy hears from her mother only once a year—on her birthday. On her 12th birthday, Storm suddenly appears and whisks Dizzy away to live the life of a New Age hippie. Several aspects of this new life are disturbing, but teenaged Finn becomes her friend, mentor, and partner as they care for Mouse, the troubled young son of Storm’s boyfriend. Assured that her father has given permission for the summer experience, Dizzy nonetheless is concerned when he does not answer the postcards she has entrusted to her mother to mail. Then Storm takes off for India, leaving Dizzy and Mouse in the care of Finn’s mother. Dizzy longs for a loving relationship with her mother, but she slowly realizes that Storm is a manipulator who can only be a shadowy figure in her life. Although Cassidy’s melodramatic plot twists are over-the-top, she succeeds in making her characters believable and sympathetic. Not the stuff of which classics are made, but a good read nonetheless. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-670-05936-6
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2004
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Downing constructs his children's-book debut around an odd, but riveting, premise: a young Colorado orphan finds fame, fortune, and a loving family thanks to a helping hand—literally—from Leonardo da Vinci. Leonard, or "Nard," as he prefers to be called, often finds ingenious ways to cope with his lack of a left hand (he was born that way), but his brain really goes into high gear when a detached hand scuttles up, takes a pencil, and proclaims in mirror writing that it's been waiting 500 years for him to be reincarnated, and now it's time to get down to the business of changing the world. Visions of big bucks and a national tour dance in Nard's head, but the hand, dubbed "Vinci," stubbornly counsels a higher purpose—and displays the speed and cleverness to stay out of Nard's reach until he sees the light. The author surrounds his spirited, basically good-hearted protagonist with an unconventional foster family for a strong, colorful supporting cast, stirs in a generous but not over-ambitious helping of subplots, and brings the tale to a (literally, again) soaring climax in which Nard's human-powered flying machine competes for a hefty prize. The plotting does tend toward the predictable, but it's grand entertainment, with an unalloyed happy ending and a memorable fantasy element to give it a leg up. So to speak. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-618-07893-2
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
Farrell’s (Bradley and the Billboard, 1998, etc.) latest, about a young teenage boy who suddenly discovers that his best friend, a girl, has become not only a looker, but a looker with fabulous legs, is a thoroughly delightful confection. In the space of what seems like moments, Chris Moffett, a jock, has gone from wearing an old T-shirt that says “I stink therefore I ran” to a tennis outfit and makeup. Obviously from best friend Jack Jordan’s point of view, this abrupt departure from the familiar cannot be borne, and if it must be, certainly not with good grace. Besides, it’s disturbing to find your best buddy attractive. Poor Jack gets no comfort from his family either. His father recently moved out of the house, and his mother, once “the steadiest, most grounded individual” in Jack’s life, is so thrown by his departure that she seems to be on some kind of “extended sightseeing tour of La-La Land.” What’s fun about this, besides the fact that it’s witty and knowing, are the little, telling character details. For instance, when Chris’s dad, a construction worker turned hairdresser, pours himself some juice, Jack notices that even that tiny motion “crunched up his right biceps until it was roughly the size of a cantaloupe.” Farrell also has some perceptive things to say about the interplay between people’s expectations regarding love and friendship, but her observations are delivered with a generous dollop of humor and never feel forced or preachy. A winner. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: April 24, 2001
ISBN: 0-374-32289-9
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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