For Jessica, 11, it's unfathomable that her ``big, blond, teddy bear father'' could have been hit by a car while jogging and will never return. ``He was too necessary, too essential, like sunlight was, or air, or food.'' The evidence—calls from friends, cremation, funeral—mounts up, but doesn't convince her. There is one place he could be, she reasons, so she and six-year-old brother Tycho set off across the state forest that separates their new split-level from their beloved old home, the farmhouse where Dad grew up; loyal Tycho keeps trying to get Jessica to admit what he's begun to accept, but Jessica's not ready to embrace the truth. The momentum falters as they lose their way and are helped by a reclusive refugee from an old age home and by an indigent (and parentless) classmate, but the story moves toward a powerful conclusion when Jessica climbs the magnificent beech their father loved as a boy. Aching physically and emotionally, she struggles to replace his sweet, strong, physical presence with a sense of his spirit. Exquisitely, Adler captures Jessica's grief and denial, treats it truthfully, and releases it with solace she can bear to accept. Clear-eyed and cathartic, with unusually well-realized characters (especially warmly affectionate Dad and brisk, more reserved Mom): one of Adler's best. (Fiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: April 20, 1993
ISBN: 0-395-63032-0
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1993
A successful call for creating and imagining, even if the story itself falls short.
In the dystopian, totalitarian world of 2099, 14-year-old Tessa and her family are desperate to solve the mystery of her twin brother Theo’s disappearance.
Tessa is growing up in a time when playgrounds are historical relics, surveillance cameras are everywhere, music is outlawed, and owning books is illegal. Under the absolute rule of Zokiris, the decadeslong leader of her territory, people are heavily controlled. When Theo vanishes under mysterious circumstances and his name is erased from the Territory Statistics list, Tessa’s 135-year-old neighbor, Miriam, gives the family contraband books that become central to figuring out Theo’s whereabouts. Most books have long since been seized and stored away in Building 903; Tessa is intrigued by their presence in her home, while her mother is terrified. Lowry, the acclaimed, award-winning author of The Giver (1993), shines in her creation of uncomfortably believable dystopian societies. Tessa’s painfully limited world is fully imagined, with its own history, laws, and norms. Her relationship with her brother reads as realistic and tender and is crucial to the mystery. Miriam is the most strongly developed character: wise and independent, unafraid and hopeful. While the climb to the book’s climax is captivating, the hurried resolution is disappointing. The powerful messaging around the importance of literature and imagination certainly resonates, however. The main characters present white.
A successful call for creating and imagining, even if the story itself falls short. (Dystopian. 9-12)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2026
ISBN: 9780063515109
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Clarion/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: July 6, 2026
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2026
Budding billionaire Greg Kenton has a knack for making money and a serious rival. When he issues his first Chunky Comic Book at the beginning of sixth grade, his neighbor and classmate Maura Shaw produces an alternative. Their quarrel draws the attention of the principal, who bans comics from the school. But when they notice all the other commercial messages in their school, they take their cause to the local school committee. Without belaboring his point, Clements takes on product placement in schools and the need for wealth. “Most people can only use one bathroom at a time,” says Greg’s math teacher, Mr. Z. Greg gets the message; middle-grade readers may ignore it in favor of the delightful spectacle of Greg’s ultimate economic success, a pleasing result for the effort this up-and-coming young businessman puts into his work. Clements weaves intriguing information about comic book illustration into this entertaining, smoothly written story. Selznick’s accompanying black-and-white drawings have the appearance of sketches Greg might have made himself. This hits the jackpot. (Fiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: July 1, 2005
ISBN: 0-689-86683-6
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2005
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