In his third novel about Tyler (who lives in upstate New York with his widowed actress mom, a housekeeper, and big-brother surrogate Chuckie, ex-Marine and present ``groundskeeper''), Hayes turns from the melodrama of The Trouble with Lemons (1991) and the farce of The Eye of the Beholder (1992) to a better balanced, more realistic story about the eighth grader in love- -with his new science teacher, Miss Williams. Hayes manipulates events freely: Miss Williams's predecessor is conveniently carried off by a stroke; immediately after, the obnoxious wrestling coach throws his back while demonstrating a move and is replaced by Chuckie, who turns out to be a former state champ. Totally smitten, Tyler invites Miss Williams to Thanksgiving and his first meet and is overjoyed at her ready acceptance; she turns out to be dating Chuckie, but Tyler's discovery of this predictable fact is neither as comic nor as shattering might be expected. Pluckily surviving his peers' hazing and establishing a more appropriate friendship with the teacher, Tyler goes on to win his meet by a fluke. Hayes understands young people, and captures their thoughts, concerns, and repartee very well, while his characters here (especially sidekick Lymie) are more consistently drawn than before. He still overburdens his narrative with detail; though it's vividly presented and mostly germane, there's far too much of it, and of explaining instead of showing. But Tyler's a likable guy, and kids his age will enjoy spending time with him. (Fiction. 11-14)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-87923-989-1
Page Count: 206
Publisher: Godine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1993
Certain to provoke controversy and difficult to see as a book for children, who could easily miss the painful point.
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
The wish-fulfilling title and sun-washed, catalog-beautiful teens on the cover will be enticing for girls looking for a...
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)Pub Date: May 5, 2009
ISBN: 978-1-4169-6823-8
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2009
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
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