Liza thinks everyone else has a better life than she does; her younger sister Holly is perfect, her best friend Chloe has perfect parents and no siblings, and her sort-of boyfriend Forrest has always known what he wanted to be (a podiatrist). Liza, on the other hand, is jealous of her sister, has parents who don't seem to care much about her, and has caught her father philandering. When she writes a sterling essay on Hester Prynne's shame, her teacher refuses to believe that she wrote it and insists that it be done over. Liza worships her teacher, and doesn't have the courage to stand up to her. Suburban adolescent angst can be pretty tiresome, but Stevens' punchy prose enlivens the proceedings. No doubt many teenagers will see themselves in Liza, who has a long list of things she hates, spends a lot of her time feeling sorry for herself and worrying what others think of her, and is afraid she has no personality. The side of herself she shows to the world is fairly bland, but the inner life she exhibits in this first-person narration is anything but. A tragedy near the end feels gratuitously tacked on, but the rest of this likable teen's story is realistic. An interesting, if flawed debut novel with pungent writing that keeps it moving. (Fiction. 10+)*justify no*
Pub Date: March 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-688-13542-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
If Rotten Ralph were a boy instead of a cat, he might be Joey, the hyperactive hero of Gantos's new book, except that Joey is never bad on purpose. In the first-person narration, it quickly becomes clear that he can't help himself; he's so wound up that he not only practically bounces off walls, he literally swallows his house key (which he wears on a string around his neck and which he pull back up, complete with souvenirs of the food he just ate). Gantos's straightforward view of what it's like to be Joey is so honest it hurts. Joey has been abandoned by his alcoholic father and, for a time, by his mother (who also drinks); his grandmother, just as hyperactive as he is, abuses Joey while he's in her care. One mishap after another leads Joey first from his regular classroom to special education classes and then to a special education school. With medication, counseling, and positive reinforcement, Joey calms down. Despite a lighthearted title and jacket painting, the story is simultaneously comic and horrific; Gantos takes readers right inside a human whirlwind where the ride is bumpy and often frightening, especially for Joey. But a river of compassion for the characters runs through the pages, not only for Joey but for his overextended mom and his usually patient, always worried (if only for their safety) teachers. Mature readers will find this harsh tale softened by unusual empathy and leavened by genuinely funny events. (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-374-33664-4
Page Count: 154
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1998
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Paulsen paid loving tribute to the sled dogs in his life in Puppies, Dogs and Blue Northers (1996) so gives eight more canine companions equal time: Snowball, who saved his life when he was seven, to Caesar, an enthusiastic Great Dane who "overwhelmed the furniture" but was gentle with children, to Fred, who did battle with an electric fence, to Quincy, who did battle with a bear that attacked the author's wife. Thoughtful, ironic, often hilarious, these vivid character portraits not only make winning stories, but convey a deep respect for all dogs: "They are wonderful and, I think, mandatory for decent human life." (Memoir. 10-13)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-385-32570-3
Page Count: 130
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1997
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