A clever and entertaining gallows-humor satire.
In Soling’s picture book for adults, a schoolboy adopts a stray bomb.
The first-person narrator, a boy in the mold of Martin Handford’s Where’s Wally?/Where’s Waldo?is walking home one day when he finds himself shadowed by a fuse-lit bomb. This central piece of whimsy—a stray bomb in place of a stray dog—gives way to what seems a lengthy digression (five double-page spreads) about the boy’s crotchety old neighbors, the Greenspans. Upon arriving home, the boy tries to convince his parents to let him keep the bomb. His mom says no (“A bomb is a big responsibility”), so they try to give the bomb to the right authorities, or at least to a good home. In the end—a deliciously dark twist that takes place off-page—they give it to the Greenspans. Soling writes in a conversational style with droll, rather deadpan delivery. Though presented as a picture book, the tale is more akin to an adult parody of that genre. Certainly, some children might not get the humor (“Why, some crazed anarchist is probably worried sick wondering where his bomb is”). Mrs. Greenspan is a formidable mean neighbor, portrayed with a Roald Dahl–esque gleefulness: “Mrs. Greenspan saw me and began shrieking incomprehensibly, as usual. ‘Bluagh!!! Urgoakjfa! Rougaujklb!!!’ she raged. I had little difficulty translating her gibberish as it was a dialect of babble that I had learned from my teachers at school.” Passages like this place the text—and its implied ending—in the realm not so much of malicious irresponsibility, but rather of daydreaming flights of fancy, an impression furthered by Kille’s wobbly, intricate illustrations. These have an appropriately raw feel to them, and make effective use of dark hues and inky textures. Readers who enjoy Soling and Kille’s approach will be pleased to learn that the current title is just one of several in the Rumpleville Chronicles series.
A clever and entertaining gallows-humor satire.Pub Date: Feb. 5, 2015
ISBN: 9780976777120
Page Count: 37
Publisher: Spectacle Films, Inc
Review Posted Online: Nov. 11, 2024
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A prototypical survival story: after an airplane crash, a 13-year-old city boy spends two months alone in the Canadian wilderness. In transit between his divorcing parents, Brian is the plane's only passenger. After casually showing him how to steer, the pilot has a heart attack and dies. In a breathtaking sequence, Brian maneuvers the plane for hours while he tries to think what to do, at last crashing as gently and levelly as he can manage into a lake. The plane sinks; all he has left is a hatchet, attached to his belt. His injuries prove painful but not fundamental. In time, he builds a shelter, experiments with berries, finds turtle eggs, starts a fire, makes a bow and arrow to catch fish and birds, and makes peace with the larger wildlife. He also battles despair and emerges more patient, prepared to learn from his mistakes—when a rogue moose attacks him and a fierce storm reminds him of his mortality, he's prepared to make repairs with philosophical persistence. His mixed feelings surprise him when the plane finally surfaces so that he can retrieve the survival pack; and then he's rescued. Plausible, taut, this is a spellbinding account. Paulsen's staccato, repetitive style conveys Brian's stress; his combination of third-person narrative with Brian's interior monologue pulls the reader into the story. Brian's angst over a terrible secret—he's seen his mother with another man—is undeveloped and doesn't contribute much, except as one item from his previous life that he sees in better perspective, as a result of his experience. High interest, not hard to read. A winner.
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1987
ISBN: 1416925082
Page Count: -
Publisher: Bradbury
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1987
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