With his father missing in action in Vietnam, 11-year-old Jack faces a long, lonely summer at his grandparents’ home.
While the enthusiasm for life his younger sister, Katy, displays does much to lift his spirits, it’s the companionship of his new friend, Jill, that makes all the difference. She’s dealing with major problems of her own. Ever since their mother recently struck up a dysfunctional relationship with a manipulative man, Jill’s brother, Cody, has turned into a severe bully. Jack and Jill, apparently white, become convinced that the wishes they make over a one-eyed fish they repeatedly catch have real power—but a badly worded wish can seemingly have devastating consequences. Jack’s afraid to wish for his father’s return from war for fear he might come home dead. Jill’s tentative wishes to resolve Cody’s nastiness only gradually reveal the true nature of the boy’s problems and what the real solution involves. The tale is related in free verse, short lines and spare prose cascading narrowly down the pages, conveying a powerful message of bully management: “Bullies need our permission to / rule over us.” This realization is enhanced by insight Jack’s own dad provides through a boyhood diary, suggesting that even bullies might need friendship. Although it’s set in the 1960s, the story reflects timeless issues that will resonate with modern readers.
A fresh, inspiring exploration of a daunting issue. (Historical verse fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: April 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-939547-62-0
Page Count: 275
Publisher: Creston
Review Posted Online: Jan. 21, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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BOOK REVIEW
There’s a monster in Sidwell, Massachusetts, that can only be seen at night or, as Twig reveals, if passersby are near her house.
It’s her older brother, James, born with wings just like every male in the Fowler line for the last 200 years. They were cursed by the Witch of Sidwell, left brokenhearted by their forebear Lowell Fowler. Twig and James are tired of the secret and self-imposed isolation. Lonely Twig narrates, bringing the small town and its characters to life, intertwining events present and past, and describing the effects of the spell on her fractured family’s daily life. Longing for some normalcy and companionship, she befriends new-neighbor Julia while James falls in love with Julia’s sister, Agate—only to learn they are descendants of the Witch. James and Agate seem as star-crossed as their ancestors, especially when the townspeople attribute a spate of petty thefts and graffiti protesting the development of the woods to the monster and launch a hunt. The mix of romance and magic is irresistible and the tension, compelling. With the help of friends and through a series of self-realizations and discoveries, Twig grows more self-assured. She is certain she knows how to change the curse. In so doing, Twig not only changes James’ fate, but her own, for the first time feeling the fullness of family, friends and hope for the future.
Enchanting. (Magical realism. 9-12)Pub Date: March 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-38958-7
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Wendy Lamb/Random
Review Posted Online: Dec. 22, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
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At a time when death has become an acceptable, even voguish subject in children's fiction, Natalie Babbitt comes through with a stylistic gem about living forever.
Protected Winnie, the ten-year-old heroine, is not immortal, but when she comes upon young Jesse Tuck drinking from a secret spring in her parents' woods, she finds herself involved with a family who, having innocently drunk the same water some 87 years earlier, haven't aged a moment since. Though the mood is delicate, there is no lack of action, with the Tucks (previously suspected of witchcraft) now pursued for kidnapping Winnie; Mae Tuck, the middle aged mother, striking and killing a stranger who is onto their secret and would sell the water; and Winnie taking Mae's place in prison so that the Tucks can get away before she is hanged from the neck until....? Though Babbitt makes the family a sad one, most of their reasons for discontent are circumstantial and there isn't a great deal of wisdom to be gleaned from their fate or Winnie's decision not to share it.
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1975
ISBN: 0312369816
Page Count: 164
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1975
Categories: CHILDREN'S SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY | CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES
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