A heartbreaking, uplifting ode to staying true to family even in the worst of times.
What wouldn’t a desperate man do to help his children? What wouldn’t desperate kids do to save their dad and themselves?
White siblings Jack, 12, and Pippa, 10, are drowning in grief after their adored mother’s recent death. They reveal themselves in alternating first-person, present-tense chapters filled with keenly self-aware yet realistic-sounding observations not entirely devoid of humor. Jack’s crushing pain often manifests itself in angry confusion and isolation; Pippa covers her despair with elective mutism. As if bereavement weren’t awful enough, they soon learn that their financially strapped father has lost his business; there’s no money for necessities and the mortgage on their lakefront house. Then comes another tremendous blow. Out of funds, credit, and options, Dad robs a bank while Jack waits, horrified, outside. In time Pippa pieces clues together and realizes what happened. In empowering Jack to prevent their father from committing another crime she discovers the strength finally to speak out; appalled and contrite, Dad surrenders and is imprisoned. This well-written novel isn’t unremittingly cheerless. A sense of hope springs from two other well-realized characters—a white, teenage, new neighbor who’s Jack’s crush; and a kindly, white family friend and confidante. Each in her own way helps the children slowly emerge from darkness and allow their inner resilience to blossom. The novel’s ending is most satisfying and touching.
A heartbreaking, uplifting ode to staying true to family even in the worst of times. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: June 27, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-338-04296-2
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: March 28, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2017
Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious.
If you made a recording to be heard by the aliens who found the iPod, what would you record?
For 11-year-old Alex Petroski, it's easy. He records everything. He records the story of how he travels to New Mexico to a rocket festival with his dog, Carl Sagan, and his rocket. He records finding out that a man with the same name and birthday as his dead father has an address in Las Vegas. He records eating at Johnny Rockets for the first time with his new friends, who are giving him a ride to find his dead father (who might not be dead!), and losing Carl Sagan in the wilds of Las Vegas, and discovering he has a half sister. He even records his own awful accident. Cheng delivers a sweet, soulful debut novel with a brilliant, refreshing structure. His characters manage to come alive through the “transcript” of Alex’s iPod recording, an odd medium that sounds like it would be confusing but really works. Taking inspiration from the Voyager Golden Record released to space in 1977, Alex, who explains he has “light brown skin,” records all the important moments of a journey that takes him from a family of two to a family of plenty.
Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-18637-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
An endearing protagonist runs the first, fast leg of Reynolds' promising relay.
Castle “Ghost” Cranshaw feels like he’s been running ever since his dad pulled that gun on him and his mom—and used it.
His dad’s been in jail three years now, but Ghost still feels the trauma, which is probably at the root of the many “altercations” he gets into at middle school. When he inserts himself into a practice for a local elite track team, the Defenders, he’s fast enough that the hard-as-nails coach decides to put him on the team. Ghost is surprised to find himself caring enough about being on the team that he curbs his behavior to avoid “altercations.” But Ma doesn’t have money to spare on things like fancy running shoes, so Ghost shoplifts a pair that make his feet feel impossibly light—and his conscience correspondingly heavy. Ghost’s narration is candid and colloquial, reminiscent of such original voices as Bud Caldwell and Joey Pigza; his level of self-understanding is both believably childlike and disarming in its perception. He is self-focused enough that secondary characters initially feel one-dimensional, Coach in particular, but as he gets to know them better, so do readers, in a way that unfolds naturally and pleasingly. His three fellow “newbies” on the Defenders await their turns to star in subsequent series outings. Characters are black by default; those few white people in Ghost’s world are described as such.
An endearing protagonist runs the first, fast leg of Reynolds' promising relay. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-5015-7
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
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