by C.J. Duarte ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 24, 2011
The rambling misadventures of flat characters.
After a rough night of writer’s block, a “cash supervisor” named Claire jumps off a ledge and falls into a mysterious vortex that spits her into an alternate world.
Cloak Valley is just like any town, except everything is monochromatic. At first, the absence of color strikes Claire as odd, but her sudden amnesia poses a bigger problem; she knows as little about the world of her former life as she does about the hallucinatory world in which she finds herself. Aided by burly, bearded Art Rukin, she sets out on a picaresque journey to find answers, allowing Duarte the opportunity to introduce a colossal cast of characters: the students and citizens of Cloak Valley’s various institutions; the misunderstood Des Moines family (a little bit Addams, a little bit Von Trapp); a bumbling band of bad guys with names like Guiltiecrocks and Roguesheen; and, led by Byron Zolltech—the “child trafficking” mayoral candidate and CEO of Zolltech Inc.—“one of the largest and most powerful manufacturing companies in” Claire’s newfound “black-and-white netherworld.” Despite a manic sense of imagination and some inspired ideas, Duarte’s debut struggles to maintain focus. The narrator attempts to create a nightmarish mood, but aside from a woman’s implied rape and torture and baby Reeve Des Moines’ “snake-like slits for eyes” and “drooling mouth of fangs,” the narrative is more tedious than terrifying. For great chunks, nothing really happens. Over the course of four chapters, characters eat lavish breakfasts and enjoy “aimless relaxation” at a palatial camp in Mount Quyon. Even Art grows impatient, saying to Claire, “Just want the day to end, that’s all. I’ve been so bored.” Also uninspiring are the irrelevant actions described in obsessive detail, excessive exposition, metaphor mashups, malapropisms and general misusage. “To no one’s surprise, Zolltech does nothing,” reads one sentence, “instead resembling a mummy in its tomb.” Another reads: “She braces for nothing, only to find the welcome, fresh touch of a small, soft, and clean-feeling doorbell; she pushes it.” Sentences such as these strip Duarte’s omniscient narrator of believability and coherence. Rather than being fast and sleek, as the title suggests, the book is as one character sums up his weekly Scout meetings: “mind-numbingly slow and disconnected to the point of being dreamlike.”
The rambling misadventures of flat characters.Pub Date: Oct. 24, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-926-945-35-4
Page Count: 716
Publisher: Baico Publishing
Review Posted Online: July 24, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Marti Dumas illustrated by Stephanie Parcus ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 11, 2017
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.
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A fifth-grade New Orleans girl discovers a mysterious chrysalis containing an unexpected creature in this middle-grade novel.
Jacquelyn Marie Johnson, called Jackie, is a 10-year-old African-American girl, the second oldest and the only girl of six siblings. She’s responsible, smart, and enjoys being in charge; she likes “paper dolls and long division and imagining things she had never seen.” Normally, Jackie has no trouble obeying her strict but loving parents. But when her potted snapdragon acquires a peculiar egg or maybe a chrysalis (she dubs it a chrysalegg), Jackie’s strong desire to protect it runs up against her mother’s rule against plants in the house. Jackie doesn’t exactly mean to lie, but she tells her mother she needs to keep the snapdragon in her room for a science project and gets permission. Jackie draws the chrysalegg daily, waiting for something to happen as it gets larger. When the amazing creature inside breaks free, Jackie is more determined than ever to protect it, but this leads her further into secrets and lies. The results when her parents find out are painful, and resolving the problem will take courage, honesty, and trust. Dumas (Jaden Toussaint, the Greatest: Episode 5, 2017, etc.) presents a very likable character in Jackie. At 10, she’s young enough to enjoy playing with paper dolls but has a maturity that even older kids can lack. She’s resourceful, as when she wants to measure a red spot on the chrysalegg; lacking calipers, she fashions one from her hairpin. Jackie’s inward struggle about what to obey—her dearest wishes or the parents she loves—is one many readers will understand. The book complicates this question by making Jackie’s parents, especially her mother, strict (as one might expect to keep order in a large family) but undeniably loving and protective as well—it’s not just a question of outwitting clueless adults. Jackie’s feelings about the creature (tender and responsible but also more than a little obsessive) are similarly shaded rather than black-and-white. The ending suggests that an intriguing sequel is to come.
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943169-32-0
Page Count: 212
Publisher: Plum Street Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Paul Langan Ben Alirez ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 2004
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.
In the ninth book in the Bluford young-adult series, a young Latino man walks away from violence—but at great personal cost.
In a large Southern California city, 16-year-old Martin Luna hangs out on the fringes of gang life. He’s disaffected, fatherless and increasingly drawn into the orbit of the older, rougher Frankie. When a stray bullet kills Martin’s adored 8-year-old brother, Huero, Martin seems to be heading into a life of crime. But Martin’s mother, determined not to lose another son, moves him to another neighborhood—the fictional town of Bluford, where he attends the racially diverse Bluford High. At his new school, the still-grieving Martin quickly makes enemies and gets into trouble. But he also makes friends with a kind English teacher and catches the eye of Vicky, a smart, pretty and outgoing Bluford student. Martin’s first-person narration supplies much of the book’s power. His dialogue is plain, but realistic and believable, and the authors wisely avoid the temptation to lard his speech with dated and potentially embarrassing slang. The author draws a vivid and affecting picture of Martin’s pain and confusion, bringing a tight-lipped teenager to life. In fact, Martin’s character is so well drawn that when he realizes the truth about his friend Frankie, readers won’t feel as if they are watching an after-school special, but as though they are observing the natural progression of Martin’s personal growth. This short novel appears to be aimed at urban teens who don’t often see their neighborhoods portrayed in young-adult fiction, but its sophisticated characters and affecting story will likely have much wider appeal.
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2004
ISBN: 978-1591940173
Page Count: 152
Publisher: Townsend Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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