Second in the projected Pendragon Quartet, this flabby adventure owes nothing to Camelot but the name. Previously, jock Bobby Pendragon, 14, discovered that he’s a Traveler, responsible for preventing chaos across the dimensions. Now, with his mentor, Uncle Press, Bobby travels to the water world of Cloral in pursuit of interdimensional baddie Saint Dane. Teaming up with the devil-may-care Vo Spader, they discover that the food supply has been poisoned, threatening to destroy Cloral’s utopian society. Their only hope is to locate the mythical city of Faar (think Atlantis), source of Cloral’s civilization, sunk long ago beneath the endless sea. Meanwhile, back on Second Earth, Bobby’s friends Courtney and Mark run into their own spot of trouble when the school bully blackmails Mark into turning over the journals in which Bobby recounts his adventures. MacHale (The Merchant of Death, not reviewed) displays a flair for action-packed pacing, and the final cliffhanger would be an effective hook into the next title—if not for the unrelieved flatness of both characters and setting. MacHale’s world-building is devoid of either logic or wonder, and he substitutes irritating invented slang (“tum-tigger,” “natty-do,” “hobey-ho”) for developing Spader’s personality. Bobby’s own voice also grates unconvincing, describing every new experience as either “bizarro” or “cool.” Bobby’s constant puzzlement over why he was chosen to be a Traveler is likely to be shared by readers, who will see little of the likable charm or grand destiny to which the other characters constantly allude. Hobey-hum. (Science fiction. 10+)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-7434-3732-2
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Aladdin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2003
Wrought with admirable skill—the emptiness and menace underlying this Utopia emerge step by inexorable step: a richly...
In a radical departure from her realistic fiction and comic chronicles of Anastasia, Lowry creates a chilling, tightly controlled future society where all controversy, pain, and choice have been expunged, each childhood year has its privileges and responsibilities, and family members are selected for compatibility.
As Jonas approaches the "Ceremony of Twelve," he wonders what his adult "Assignment" will be. Father, a "Nurturer," cares for "newchildren"; Mother works in the "Department of Justice"; but Jonas's admitted talents suggest no particular calling. In the event, he is named "Receiver," to replace an Elder with a unique function: holding the community's memories—painful, troubling, or prone to lead (like love) to disorder; the Elder ("The Giver") now begins to transfer these memories to Jonas. The process is deeply disturbing; for the first time, Jonas learns about ordinary things like color, the sun, snow, and mountains, as well as love, war, and death: the ceremony known as "release" is revealed to be murder. Horrified, Jonas plots escape to "Elsewhere," a step he believes will return the memories to all the people, but his timing is upset by a decision to release a newchild he has come to love. Ill-equipped, Jonas sets out with the baby on a desperate journey whose enigmatic conclusion resonates with allegory: Jonas may be a Christ figure, but the contrasts here with Christian symbols are also intriguing.
Wrought with admirable skill—the emptiness and menace underlying this Utopia emerge step by inexorable step: a richly provocative novel. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: April 1, 1993
ISBN: 978-0-395-64566-6
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1993
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
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