Fantasy and reality mix in the psychodrama of a fictional feral child who steps out of his story. Grieving over his father’s death, young Blue begins writing privately about a boy who lives in the local wood on raw game and scavenged garbage: “If anybody ever seen him he chased them and cort them and killed them and ate them and chucked their bones down an aynshent pit shaft. He was savage. He was truly wild.” Narrating in a mix of prose passages and slashing, two-color sequential panels depicting a bony, shirtless, knife-wielding lad, Blue describes how, after he puts himself, his little sister and a local bully into his tale, he finds tangible evidence that the wild boy has visited all three as they slept. As a grimacing, gesticulating embodiment of raw emotion in McKean’s pictures, the wild boy makes a visible and effectively unsettling stand-in for Blue’s own emotional turmoil—and indeed, in the climax the alter egos come together for a healing encounter. The art ramps up the intensity of this provocative outing. (Fantasy. 11 & up)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-7636-3932-7
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2008
Scaletta’s expertly voiced narrative offers an experience of Africa—specifically, Monrovia, Liberia, in 1982—through the eyes of Linus, a Dayton, Ohio, seventh grader whose family has just arrived for a diplomatic posting. Self-conscious and more than a little bit anxious, Linus is ready to embrace his more courageous side. Amazingly, his braver version turns out to have a surprising spiritual connection to the deadly, rarely seen black mamba. The culture, politics and economy of 1980s Liberia are conveyed through the clear-eyed but skewed filter of Linus’s young understanding. The sights, smells and sounds compete nearly equally for Linus’s attention with his desire for friends and his delight in his family’s acquisition of a new Atari system. The author gets exactly right the mix of the familiar and the entirely unfamiliar as well as the terror that makes even close encounters with the world’s deadliest snake only an also-ran next to looming adolescence. Linus eventually begins to sort out his place in the world—or at least in his area of influence—in a tale tinted with magical realism that is by turns scary and very funny. (Fiction. 11-14)
Pub Date: July 13, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-375-86180-2
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2010
In this action-filled sequel to Trading Goals (2010), Vicky Parker enjoys being a key player on her school’s soccer team. Changes are on the horizon for 14-year-old Vicky both on and off the field, though. When Vicky learns that her coach will be selecting an elite group to travel to England to play in an international girl’s soccer tournament, it places enormous stress on her friendship with teammates Marjan and Parm. Marjan and Vicky enlist the help of Neville, high-school senior and star soccer player, to improve their soccer skills. As Vicky’s time with the quiet Neville becomes more romantic than sports-oriented, Marj’s escalating jealousy threatens to destroy their friendship. While struggling with first crushes and friendship woes, Vicky’s home life begins to undergo considerable changes. Vicky is surprised to discover that her mother has a new boyfriend nearly a decade after Vicky’s father left, and she’s uncertain about Dave’s role in her life. Kew does an excellent job segueing between the high-intensity sports-action sequences and the more fragile emotional scenes. Vicky’s endeavors to balance her fledgling romance, soccer aspirations and a changing family structure will resonate with readers. (Fiction. 11 - 14)
Pub Date: March 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-55277-550-9
Page Count: 128
Publisher: James Lorimer
Review Posted Online: Feb. 10, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2011
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