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A MILLION SHADES OF GRAY

Name: A MILLION SHADES OF GRAY
Author: Cynthia Kadohata
ISBN: 978-1-4169-1883-7

by Cynthia Kadohata ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 5, 2010

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War has never been far from Y’Tin’s life. He’d grown fond of the jovial American soldiers his father had helped over the years, and now, in 1973, the North Vietnamese army is menacing South Vietnam—even his isolated Montagnard village. Still, “[a]ll his father thought about was the war, and all Y’Tin thought about was elephants.” While it’s true that Y’Tin, a matter-of-fact 13-year-old with an easy confidence, obsesses about Lady, his hardworking elephant charge, she becomes only one of his many concerns. In a clear-as-a-bell third-person voice, with warmth and humor, Kadohata fully rounds out the character of Y’Tin—the way he loves and thinks, often measuring his own responses to the world with those of his ever-deliberating, never-wrong father. As he and Lady escape from the massacre that kills half the village, Y’Tin sees that between right and wrong are “a million shades of gray,” like the elephant’s hide, like the jungle in the dim light. A fascinating window into post–Vietnam War history and a wonderfully intimate character study. (author’s note) (Historical fiction. 10-14)

Pub Date: Jan. 5, 2010

ISBN: 978-1-4169-1883-7

Page Count: 224

Publisher: Atheneum

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2009

Categories:

CHILDREN'S ANIMALS | CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION

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UNDER THE FADING SKY
by Cynthia Kadohata

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SAUCY
by Cynthia Kadohata ; illustrated by Marianna Raskin

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A PLACE TO BELONG
by Cynthia Kadohata ; illustrated by Julia Kuo

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HOW TO SPEAK DOLPHIN

by Ginny Rorby ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 26, 2015

Dolphin lovers will appreciate this look at our complicated relationship with these marine mammals.

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Is dolphin-assisted therapy so beneficial to patients that it’s worth keeping a wild dolphin captive?

Twelve-year-old Lily has lived with her emotionally distant oncologist stepfather and a succession of nannies since her mother died in a car accident two years ago. Nannies leave because of the difficulty of caring for Adam, Lily’s severely autistic 4-year-old half brother. The newest, Suzanne, seems promising, but Lily is tired of feeling like a planet orbiting the sun Adam. When she meets blind Zoe, who will attend the same private middle school as Lily in the fall, Lily’s happy to have a friend. However, Zoe’s take on the plight of the captive dolphin, Nori, used in Adam’s therapy opens Lily’s eyes. She knows she must use her influence over her stepfather, who is consulting on Nori’s treatment for cancer (caused by an oil spill), to free the animal. Lily’s got several fine lines to walk, as she works to hold onto her new friend, convince her stepfather of the rightness of releasing Nori, and do what’s best for Adam. In her newest exploration of animal-human relationships, Rorby’s lonely, mature heroine faces tough but realistic situations. Siblings of children on the spectrum will identify with Lily. If the tale flirts with sentimentality and some of the characters are strident in their views, the whole never feels maudlin or didactic.

Dolphin lovers will appreciate this look at our complicated relationship with these marine mammals. (Fiction. 10-13)