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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Technically owned by the Holcomb family’s Aunt Sophia, the illegitimate “high yellow” Sis Goose (named for a Brer Rabbit–type story) has lived her entire life as an adopted and favorite member of the wealthy Texas family. Afraid of a slave uprising and the loss of their work force, the Holcombs and neighboring landowners keep news of the Emancipation Proclamation a secret, even from Sis Goose. When the Union Army arrives at the end of the Civil War to occupy the Holcomb plantation and announce the end of slavery, the betrayal of Sis Goose and her own secret (that she is carrying her “brother’s” baby) spark tragedy. While Rinaldi raises interesting questions about the nature of bondage and freedom, her story glosses over the origins of Juneteenth and subsequent celebrations, focusing instead on the Holcombs’ highly implausible situations. The cover is even misleading, not aptly depicting a light-skinned Sis Goose. Stick to the McKissacks’ nonfiction Days of Jubilee (2003) and wait for a more accurate novel on the subject. (Historical fiction. 11-15)
Pub Date: May 1, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-15-205947-7
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2007
A solid, realistically imagined survival tale with a strong female protagonist.
Two siblings make their way across an America devastated by a killer pandemic.
After the death of their mother and pretty much the entire city of Seattle, Nadia and Rabbit decide to travel across the country to reach their grandfather and uncle in West Virginia. They pass through a world where the weaponized BluStar virus has killed practically everyone, leaving bodies rotting in the streets. As they travel, they discover that the very few other survivors can be savage and are serious threats in a world with no law or order. However, there are unexpected kindly allies too. Alliances formed with those they meet and the ability to manage in a world with no electricity or media are critical. Fighting to survive, these siblings heed the advice their Marine father gave them before dying in Afghanistan: to “[b]e the cockroach, not the orchid.” The trip from Washington to the Mississippi is a long and detailed one, comprising more than three-quarters of the book, but then events compress. There’s a cute boy, a dog that needs rescuing and fortuitous caches of supplies at regular intervals along the trek. Despite these clichés, the narrative is engaging and the characters believably portrayed. This post-apocalyptic tale is particularly frightening as it doesn’t take place in some distant, imagined future.
A solid, realistically imagined survival tale with a strong female protagonist. (Post-apocalyptic adventure. 11-16)Pub Date: June 11, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-385-73973-3
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: March 26, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
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