The absolute necessity of story as a way to redemption and healing past wounds is at the heart of this beautiful debut, and...
When 12-year-old Abilene jumps off the train in Manifest, Kan., in 1936 to stay with her father’s boyhood friend, little does she know her sojourn will take her back, via mesmerizing tales, newspaper clippings, curious mementoes and World War I letters, to Manifest as it was in 1918—and into the life of the mysterious boy nicknamed Jinx.
This young con man effected extraordinary change in the lives of the mostly immigrant residents and the fortunes of the mining town in that year. Abilene and readers get so caught up in the past in this richly detailed, splendidly written novel that they easily make the transition between the Depression and WWI eras and long to learn more about the town that once was. Readers will love guessing how Abilene’s dad fits into all the stories and townspeople’s memories.
The absolute necessity of story as a way to redemption and healing past wounds is at the heart of this beautiful debut, and readers will cherish every word up to the heartbreaking yet hopeful and deeply gratifying ending. (author’s note) (Historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Oct. 12, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-385-73883-5
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Sept. 1, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
A talky ending leaves a forgiveable blemish on this semisatirical debut tale of a young foundling learning to harness a real superpower while setting out to uncover his obscure past. Years of poring over a stash of tattered comics left at the door of his New Jersey orphanage at least partially ease Jack’s adjustment when he’s suddenly attacked by a heavily armed warrior robot and then hustled off to the Imagine Nation—a floating island entirely populated by superheroes and reachable only by Those Who Believe. Though the Nation is rapidly turning into a police state thanks to a (pointedly familiar) climate of media-fostered fear in the wake of an attempted invasion by the alien race of robo-zombie Rüstov, Jack does gather enough support both to survive the public revelation that his own bloodstream is crawling with Rüstov nanobots and, thanks to his burgeoning ability to understand and make friends with machines, to steel himself for a second battle with the aforementioned metal warrior. Though Myklusch prefers diatribes and explanations to exploring the ins and outs of this comic-book world, he creates a beguiling, sequel-worthy scenario. (Fantasy. 11-13)
Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4169-9561-6
Page Count: 480
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: July 1, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2010
Jackson (The Wildlife Detectives, 2000, etc.) has crafted a fascinating compilation of human-interest stories, mythical, historical, and scientific information, and photographs about twins. Chapter topics include facts about twin bonding, conception and birth, identical and fraternal twins, multiple births, studies relating to the separation of twins, and stories of unusual twins. The text is enlivened by quotes from the many individuals whose stories are told. The neonatal nurse who cared for Brielle and Kyrie, born in 1995, relates how placing the girls together in one incubator saved the life of Brielle, who was dying when lying alone. Raymond Brandt describes how he knew that his twin had died five miles away, and Eva Mozes, a twin survivor of Auschwitz tells of the horrible experience there. Short chapters illustrated by color and black-and-white photographs are also subdivided by inserts on yellow backgrounds about related topics adding to, but not interrupting, the flow of the narrative. In the chapter about the special bonds that twins feel, for instance, Jackson discusses ancient ideas about twins and pictures the legendary twins Castor and Pollux. Another digression describes the annual gatherings of thousands of twins in Twinsberg, Ohio, and a third concerns the lives of Eng and Chang, the most-publicized conjoined twins. Medical procedures such as in vitro fertilization and ultrasound technology are briefly explained in text and illustration and a glossary/index adds simple definitions of the terms. This informative photo essay will amaze and mystify twins and singles alike. (Nonfiction. 10-13)
Pub Date: April 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-316-45431-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2001
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