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Seeds in the Wind

Name: Seeds in the Wind
Author: Celia Robinson Landis
ISBN: 978-1-5075-7960-2

by Celia Robinson Landis ‧ RELEASE DATE: Aug. 5, 2015

A flawed novel, but its charismatic protagonist may win readers over nonetheless.

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An epic fictional account of an immigrant family’s settlement in the United States, as told from a little girl’s perspective.

Cyrella’s parents are both Russian Jews who fled their native country at the turn of the last century to elude persecution. They land in Saskatchewan, Canada, where her father, Max, owns and operates a general store. Eventually, he sells the business, moves the family to an apartment in Brooklyn, and immediately struggles to make ends meet. In a fit of desperation, he opens up a tailoring business in yet another brutally uncomfortable tenement. Max and wife Rosie have two sons (although another six die) and Cyrella, who becomes the primary protagonist of the story; her all-too-gradually blossoming maturity in some ways mirrors the family’s struggle to fully acclimate to new environs. Cyrella is both precocious and guileless at the same time, stunningly adept when it comes to bookish or artistic endeavors but painfully shy, even childish, when it comes to matters of the world. Early on, she suffers two sexual traumas that may have contributed to this stunted development, but the narration never directly ties her later struggles to these ordeals. Her love of learning is insatiable and sophisticated, though: she has a particular fondness for movies and books and discovers an enthusiasm for theater while away at summer camp. Her immaturity, accentuated by her diminutive stature, complicates her budding romantic longings. Finally, she meets an aspiring doctor and for the first time love seems unconfined to poetry and dreams. Author Landis has a background in poetry, which often shines through in the polished prose of her debut novel. At times, it reads like a series of disconnected anecdotes, and real tragedy, such as the suicide of Cyrella’s Uncle Herschel after he loses his life’s savings in the stock market crash of 1929, are given short shrift. Also, the book ends with an inexplicable abruptness, making it feel unfinished. The writing is undeniably charming, however, as is the main character.

A flawed novel, but its charismatic protagonist may win readers over nonetheless.

Pub Date: Aug. 5, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-5075-7960-2

Page Count: 258

Publisher: CreateSpace

Review Posted Online: Dec. 17, 2015

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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MAGIC HOUR

by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2006

Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.

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Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.

Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.

Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.

Pub Date: March 1, 2006

ISBN: 0-345-46752-3

Page Count: 400

Publisher: Ballantine

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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JURASSIC PARK

by Michael Crichton ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 7, 1990

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Genetically engineered dinosaurs run amok in Crichton's new, vastly entertaining science thriller. From the introduction alone—a classically Crichton-clear discussion of the implications of biotechnological research—it's evident that the Harvard M.D. has bounced back from the science-fantasy silliness of Sphere (1987) for another taut reworking of the Frankenstein theme, as in The Andromeda Strain and The Terminal Man. Here, Dr. Frankenstein is aging billionaire John Hammond, whose monster is a manmade ecosystem based on a Costa Rican island. Designed as the world's ultimate theme park, the ecosystem boasts climate and flora of the Jurassic Age and—most spectacularly—15 varieties of dinosaurs, created by elaborate genetic engineering that Crichton explains in fascinating detail, rich with dino-lore and complete with graphics. Into the park, for a safety check before its opening, comes the novel's band of characters—who, though well drawn, double as symbolic types in this unsubtle morality play. Among them are hero Alan Grant, noble paleontologist; Hammond, venal and obsessed; amoral dino-designer Henry Wu; Hammond's two innocent grandchildren; and mathematician Ian Malcolm, who in long diatribes serves as Crichton's mouthpiece to lament the folly of science. Upon arrival, the visitors tour the park; meanwhile, an industrial spy steals some dino embryos by shutting down the island's power—and its security grid, allowing the beasts to run loose. The bulk of the remaining narrative consists of dinos—ferocious T. Rex's, voracious velociraptors, venom-spitting dilophosaurs—stalking, ripping, and eating the cast in fast, furious, and suspenseful set-pieces as the ecosystem spins apart. And can Grant prevent the dinos from escaping to the mainland to create unchecked havoc? Though intrusive, the moralizing rarely slows this tornado-paced tale, a slick package of info-thrills that's Crichton's most clever since Congo (1980)—and easily the most exciting dinosaur novel ever written. A sure-fire best-seller.