A culturally confusing fictional tale that undermines the real-life tragedy of the Indians aboard the Komagata Maru.
Twelve-year-old Katelyn Medena, a white Canadian, is haunted by a Sikh girl named Akasha who lived a century ago.
The visions having led to a diagnosis of mental illness, Katelyn finds herself in a group home for troubled girls. In blackouts, Katelyn is possessed by the mysterious Akasha, whose letters she finds in her journal. They chronicle Akasha’s flight from India as a stowaway on a ship, hidden by Sanjay, her sweetheart. Because she is Sikh and he is Hindi, the partnership is forbidden. Their plan is disrupted when they are separated, and Akasha is tricked into a Vancouver brothel. On the other end of time, Katelyn investigates. Though this story is based on the real-life Komagata Maru, a Japanese ship full of Indian passengers that attempted to dock in British Columbia in 1914, the narrative is lost in the contrived psychic connection between a 12-year-old white girl and a young Indian stowaway. Katelyn’s modern-day Indian friends serve as what feels like a token backdrop, their presence in the story a matter of cultural convenience, while Akasha’s historical struggle is seen through the eyes of the white main character. Also problematic in this strange, slow-moving tale is the plot-driven convenience with which Katelyn’s underage, mentally unstable peers, who are supposed to be in supervised residential treatment, roam the city of Vancouver with any companion over 15.
A culturally confusing fictional tale that undermines the real-life tragedy of the Indians aboard the Komagata Maru. (Historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-77086-490-0
Page Count: 216
Publisher: DCB
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
Brava!
From award winner Telgemeier (Smile, 2010), a pitch-perfect graphic novel portrayal of a middle school musical, adroitly capturing the drama both on and offstage.
Seventh-grader Callie Marin is over-the-moon to be on stage crew again this year for Eucalyptus Middle School’s production of Moon over Mississippi. Callie's just getting over popular baseball jock and eighth-grader Greg, who crushed her when he left Callie to return to his girlfriend, Bonnie, the stuck-up star of the play. Callie's healing heart is quickly captured by Justin and Jesse Mendocino, the two very cute twins who are working on the play with her. Equally determined to make the best sets possible with a shoestring budget and to get one of the Mendocino boys to notice her, the immensely likable Callie will find this to be an extremely drama-filled experience indeed. The palpably engaging and whip-smart characterization ensures that the charisma and camaraderie run high among those working on the production. When Greg snubs Callie in the halls and misses her reference to Guys and Dolls, one of her friends assuredly tells her, "Don't worry, Cal. We’re the cool kids….He's the dork." With the clear, stylish art, the strongly appealing characters and just the right pinch of drama, this book will undoubtedly make readers stand up and cheer.
Brava! (Graphic fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-32698-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
SEEN & HEARD
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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