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RED HUGH

Name: RED HUGH
Author: Deborah Lisson
ISBN: 0-86278-604-5

by Deborah Lisson ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2001

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Limey-haters worldwide will crow at this history-based tale of Irish defiance during the reign of that “howling old hag,” that “harridan,” that “old red hag of a queen,” Elizabeth I. Kidnapped by deceitful British, young Hugh spends four long years as a prisoner in Dublin Castle, hearing news of one atrocity after another, beaten and scorned but triumphing in every verbal encounter with his prejudiced, stupid captors, all of whom dress in ridiculous clothes and practice a colorless, denatured religion. In contrast to their corrupt adversaries, the Irish are characterized as loyal, noble-hearted lovers of music and natural beauty, prevented from uniting to throw off their oppressor only by their penchant for internecine “freedom’s quarrels.” Readers not used to Gaelic place and personal names will find the nonstandard dialogue heavy going—“And look at yourself, Hugh Roe—out of fosterage, and dreaming, no doubt, of all the sins you’re going to commit, now you are after escaping the clutches of The Macsweeney Doe”—and the ideological message, capped by Hugh’s repeated, pointed, vows never to forget the wrongs and harms perpetrated by the British, is discomfiting, to say the least. Thanks to some supernatural help, Hugh escapes on his second try, and, as detailed in an afterword, went on to become another prematurely dead Irish hero. It’s an adventuresome tale, but the author uses it to promote an ugly agenda. (Fiction. 11-13)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001

ISBN: 0-86278-604-5

Page Count: 224

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2001

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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MY NAME IS SAN HO

by Jayne Pettit ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1992

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A Vietnamese youth witnesses the horrors of war in his native land, then escapes to a strange, sometimes frightening new country when his mother marries a G.I. The author signals her didactic intent with a preface, going on to tell a simple, theme-dominant story: surviving massacres and attacks, San Ho flees his village, spends three years in Saigon, then joins his mother and stepfather in a Philadelphia suburb, where the pleasures of plenty vie with his sense of dislocation. Pettit bases this on her experiences as a teacher, and much of it—San Ho's uncontrollable fright when he hears a siren, or his slow, difficult acquisition of English—has a convincing ring; other incidents, such as an attack by a gang of teenaged vandals, or San Ho's Little League grand slam that erases a three-``point'' deficit, seem like perfunctory insertions. An earnest but uneven effort to guide readers toward greater sympathy for the challenges new immigrants face. (Fiction. 11-13)

Pub Date: April 1, 1992

ISBN: 0-590-44172-8

Page Count: 192

Publisher: Scholastic

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1992

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
A TIME TO FIGHT BACK
by Jayne Pettit

- BOOK REVIEW
MAYA ANGELOU
by Jayne Pettit

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PLAYING AMERICA'S GAME

THE STORY OF NEGRO LEAGUE BASEBALL

by Michael L. Cooper ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 1, 1993

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After black players were excluded from organized baseball near the end of the 19th century, they created leagues, barnstorming teams, and an annual All-Star Game (the East-West All-Star Classic) that often rivaled the Bigs in attendance and income. Combining sharp photos and a simply phrased text, Cooper reviews the era's great players—from Bud Fowler (.350 batting average in 1887) and Rube Foster (pitcher, team owner, and founder of the Negro National League) to Martin Dihigo (Hall of Famer in four countries) and the durable Satchel Paige. While acknowledging the prejudice black players faced, the author also points out how often they played against white teams; it was never a secret that the Negro Leagues fielded many stars of major-league caliber. Cooper devotes a chapter to the flow of players to and from Latin America and ends with a look at the heady post-WW II decades, during which the color barrier began to drop, the whole sport was revitalized, and Negro Leaguers were inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame. A tantalizing glimpse into the sport's checkered past, and a readable gateway to Dixon's pictorial Negro Baseball Leagues, 1867-1955 (1992) and Holway's oral histories (Black Diamonds, 1989, is the most recent). Photos; lists of books and other sources; index. (Nonfiction. 11-13)