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THE BRIGHTEST LIGHT

Name: THE BRIGHTEST LIGHT
Author: Colleen O’Shaughnessy McKenna
ISBN: 0-590-45347-5

by Colleen O’Shaughnessy McKenna ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1992

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In small-town West Virginia, 16-year-old Kitty Lee is involved in a soap-opera's worth of complications while babysitting the children of attractive new mill-owner Mr. Curtis and his reclusive alcoholic wife. Curtis latches onto Kitty Lee when he sees her resourcefulness in dealing with his kids; when his regard ripens into advances, Kitty Lee is embarrassed but not wholly unresponsive. He's married, though, so eventually she's firm about leaving—a move made easier because she's discovered that old friend Cody's regard is more than platonic. Meanwhile, Kitty Lee worries about her friend Dottie, who's falling in love with an older man whom she seems hesitant to introduce; and she begins to wonder about her own mother, who died 14 years ago in an accident: Was she, too, an alcoholic? The parallels—and nonparallels—here seem contrived here, while none of the characters are drawn in much depth; Kitty Lee, especially, seems too good to be true, and her feelings for Mr. Curtis cause her remarkably little distress. Still, the lively events hold attention, while the outcomes of the several subplots are wholesome and not oversimplistic. (Fiction. 11-16)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1992

ISBN: 0-590-45347-5

Page Count: 176

Publisher: Scholastic

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1992

Categories:

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
DOGGONE...THIRD GRADE!
by Colleen O’Shaughnessy McKenna & illustrated by Stephanie Roth

- BOOK REVIEW
THIRD GRADE GHOULS
by Colleen O’Shaughnessy McKenna & illustrated by Stephanie Roth

- BOOK REVIEW
GOOD GRIEF...THIRD GRADE
by Colleen O’Shaughnessy McKenna

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THE BOY IN THE STRIPED PAJAMAS

by John Boyne ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 12, 2006

Certain to provoke controversy and difficult to see as a book for children, who could easily miss the painful point.

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After Hitler appoints Bruno’s father commandant of Auschwitz, Bruno (nine) is unhappy with his new surroundings compared to the luxury of his home in Berlin.

The literal-minded Bruno, with amazingly little political and social awareness, never gains comprehension of the prisoners (all in “striped pajamas”) or the malignant nature of the death camp. He overcomes loneliness and isolation only when he discovers another boy, Shmuel, on the other side of the camp’s fence. For months, the two meet, becoming secret best friends even though they can never play together. Although Bruno’s family corrects him, he childishly calls the camp “Out-With” and the Fuhrer “Fury.” As a literary device, it could be said to be credibly rooted in Bruno’s consistent, guileless characterization, though it’s difficult to believe in reality. The tragic story’s point of view is unique: the corrosive effect of brutality on Nazi family life as seen through the eyes of a naïf. Some will believe that the fable form, in which the illogical may serve the objective of moral instruction, succeeds in Boyne’s narrative; others will believe it was the wrong choice.

Certain to provoke controversy and difficult to see as a book for children, who could easily miss the painful point. (Fiction. 12-14)

Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2006

ISBN: 0-385-75106-0

Page Count: 224

Publisher: David Fickling/Random

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2006

Categories:

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FICTION | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT HISTORICAL FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
ALL THE BROKEN PLACES
by John Boyne

- BOOK REVIEW
A TRAVELER AT THE GATES OF WISDOM
by John Boyne

- BOOK REVIEW
A LADDER TO THE SKY
by John Boyne

- SEEN & HEARD
Author in Twitter Feud with Auschwitz Museum

- SEEN & HEARD
‘Boy in the Striped Pajamas’ Sequel in the Works

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THE SUMMER I TURNED PRETTY

by Jenny Han ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 5, 2009

The wish-fulfilling title and sun-washed, catalog-beautiful teens on the cover will be enticing for girls looking for a...

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Han’s leisurely paced, somewhat somber narrative revisits several beach-house summers in flashback through the eyes of now 15-year-old Isabel, known to all as Belly.

Belly measures her growing self by these summers and by her lifelong relationship with the older boys, her brother and her mother’s best friend’s two sons. Belly’s dawning awareness of her sexuality and that of the boys is a strong theme, as is the sense of summer as a separate and reflective time and place: Readers get glimpses of kisses on the beach, her best friend’s flirtations during one summer’s visit, a first date. In the background the two mothers renew their friendship each year, and Lauren, Belly’s mother, provides support for her friend—if not, unfortunately, for the children—in Susannah’s losing battle with breast cancer. Besides the mostly off-stage issue of a parent’s severe illness there’s not much here to challenge most readers—driving, beer-drinking, divorce, a moment of surprise at the mothers smoking medicinal pot together.

The wish-fulfilling title and sun-washed, catalog-beautiful teens on the cover will be enticing for girls looking for a diversion. (Fiction. 12-14)