Like its predecessor The Sky Inside (2008), this sequel posits that no corrupt government is so powerful that it can’t be toppled by a boy and his robot dog. Frustrated with his uselessness among the genius children who make up the anti-government rebels, Martin and dog Chip return to domed Suburb HM1 to rescue Martin’s parents. In the ruins of an old-style outdoor suburb, Martin and his comfort-accustomed parents live a parody of a Leave It to Beaver lifestyle, unable to cope without television and convenience food. Ultimately, going it alone won’t be good enough, and Martin and his superpowered robot dog must confront the heart of the evil powers keeping his society subjugated. In a genre populated by gifted, destined and otherwise special child protagonists, Martin’s pure normality is a breath of fresh air. After an overly expository start, this simple tale provides comforting, enjoyable adventure. (Science fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2009
ISBN: 978-1-4169-5379-1
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Ginee Seo/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2009
Despite Amelia E. Rye’s confession that, “I’m a very good liar. I curse, too,” she comes clean to readers in her “personal memoir,” in which she relates the difficulties of living with her bad-tempered mother, who was pushing 50 when Amelia was born. Mrs. Rye is too worn-out to muster any motherly feelings for her daughter. She forces Amelia to wear hand-me-downs that are decades out of fashion, causing the friendless girl to become the brunt of cruel pranks. Everything changes the day Fancy walks into Amelia’s fourth-grade class. New to the upstate New York town, the friendly African-American girl offers friendship and acceptance, the very things Amelia has been hankering for. The story moves quickly, and in its four-year span Amelia learns the truth about her dysfunctional family’s unhappy past. The 1960s-era setting is mostly irrelevant to the plot, the racial tension is unconvincing and Amelia’s observations are too often wise beyond her years. What propels this otherwise undistinguished coming-of-age story forward is the strong bond of friendship that deepens over time between Amelia and Fancy. (Historical fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: May 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-374-36131-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: June 23, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2010
Peter, an 11-year-old traffic fatality, finds himself looking down on his funeral as a voice offers him a do-over. He...
Another ingenious but leaky story from Sleator (The Boxes, 1998, etc.), likely to leave readers more puzzled than intrigued.
Peter, an 11-year-old traffic fatality, finds himself looking down on his funeral as a voice offers him a do-over. He eagerly accepts, only to discover that the past has a stubborn momentum; he’s killed again, gets another chance, and blows that one, too. Convinced that the key to survival lies in winning the appreciation of his clueless, cold-hearted parents, Peter displays consideration by waiting hand and foot on his pregnant mother, creativity by putting on an elaborate puppet show to explain his feelings, and cleverness by predicting local events that haven’t yet happened, then contriving to shift the resulting public furor onto a bullying classmate. Apparently, all of this makes him a more thoughtful person, so his fatal attraction to passing automobiles ceases. The premise, with its echoes of many books and movies, will only be new to very inexperienced readers, but the cheerlessness of Peter’s home life gives the whole story a drab cast, and the internal logic seems more convenient than consistent. Sleator has a following, but he won’t win any new fans with this one. (Fiction. 10-12)Pub Date: July 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-525-46130-2
Page Count: 122
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1999
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