No gold, for all the miles traveled and intriguing setting.
Hoping to save his family’s farm, 18-year-old Callum sets out on the long journey from Scotland to the Cariboo gold fields of British Columbia.
In a restrained narrative that requires patience from readers, Campbell sends his young prospector across the Atlantic to New York, around Cape Horn, and on up north to remote Williams Creek to join the 1860s gold rush. Callum travels through rugged terrain via steamboat, canoe, wagon, mule, foot, and (in a rare passage where the stiff tone temporarily unbends) even imported camel. Readers can, with difficulty, plot the last stage of his course on the book’s single, cramped map. A summer’s work and a few vague descriptions of gold-mining techniques later, he’s ready to start the equally arduous return journey with pockets full. But he’s barely set off when the author leaves him. Aside from one mention of a landscape stripped by miners, Callum rarely takes note of his natural surroundings, spoiled or otherwise, and the people he meets on his trek are barely even two-dimensional. Following the abrupt ending, a note on the area’s First Nations residents by university scholar Nicola Campbell, who is Nłeʔkepmx, Syilx (Interior Salish), and Métis, includes the tidbit that the gold rush drew workers from many parts of the world; that diversity is not reflected in the story itself.
No gold, for all the miles traveled and intriguing setting. (author’s note, note on terminology) (Historical fiction. 12-15)Pub Date: June 15, 2025
ISBN: 9781990598333
Page Count: 138
Publisher: Tradewind Books
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2025
Characters to love, quips to snort at, insights to ponder: typical Spinelli.
For two teenagers, a small town’s annual cautionary ritual becomes both a life- and a death-changing experience.
On the second Wednesday in June, every eighth grader in Amber Springs, Pennsylvania, gets a black shirt, the name and picture of a teen killed the previous year through reckless behavior—and the silent treatment from everyone in town. Like many of his classmates, shy, self-conscious Robbie “Worm” Tarnauer has been looking forward to Dead Wed as a day for cutting loose rather than sober reflection…until he finds himself talking to a strange girl or, as she would have it, “spectral maiden,” only he can see or touch. Becca Finch is as surprised and confused as Worm, only remembering losing control of her car on an icy slope that past Christmas Eve. But being (or having been, anyway) a more outgoing sort, she sees their encounter as a sign that she’s got a mission. What follows, in a long conversational ramble through town and beyond, is a day at once ordinary yet rich in discovery and self-discovery—not just for Worm, but for Becca too, with a climactic twist that leaves both ready, or readier, for whatever may come next. Spinelli shines at setting a tongue-in-cheek tone for a tale with serious underpinnings, and as in Stargirl (2000), readers will be swept into the relationship that develops between this adolescent odd couple. Characters follow a White default.
Characters to love, quips to snort at, insights to ponder: typical Spinelli. (Fiction. 12-15)Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-30667-3
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
Vail captures the complexity of middle school social challenges, insightfully addressing the issues of friendships and...
Eighth-grader Truly’s foray into popularity spirals into a tempest of deceit and betrayal.
Upon turning 13, Truly is given a measure of technological freedom: a cellphone and access to social media. But this soon evolves into a quagmire of problems for Truly. When former BFF Natasha invites her to join the Popular Table during lunchtime and to collaborate on a school assignment, Truly is surprised but thrilled. However, Natasha’s overtures hide an ulterior motive. In the pursuit of popularity, Truly neglects her friendship with Hazel, who retaliates by plotting revenge utilizing social media. The Truly/Hazel dynamic is just one component of this interwoven story. Vail explores the motivations and private quandaries of the six characters who narrate the tale, from Jack, the quiet advocate for those excluded, to the socially conscious and manipulative Natasha, who yearns to be the most popular. With keen insight, Vail reveals the internal struggles with uncertainty and self-doubt that can plague young teens regardless of popularity status. Natasha’s schemes and Hazel’s misdeeds lead to a relentless barrage of bullying via social media for Truly. While a dramatic moment reveals the extent of Truly’s anguish, Vail concludes the tale with a resolution that is both realistic and hopeful.
Vail captures the complexity of middle school social challenges, insightfully addressing the issues of friendships and integrity. (Fiction. 12-15)Pub Date: Sept. 25, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-670-01307-4
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: July 28, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2014
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