Next book

Terminal Awakening

BOOK 1 OF SUNKEN EARTH TRILOGY

With plenty of attitude and a motley crew of teenagers, Dowdy’s YA time-travel debut splices together past, present and future.
Josh is the awkward class nerd. Bonnie is the snarky daughter of a renowned archaeologist. Alex is an angry young man with a political agenda. Hiroshi is a hefty gamer with an honorable heart of gold. Together, they are the Chrononauts, an almost unstoppable team in “Time Wars,” a console-based video game. They are also the primary targets of a malevolent force from the future, one that seeks to eliminate them before they’re old enough to be a threat. Fortunately, the dashing Mr. Banks—dandy, erstwhile history teacher at Josh’s prep school—is there to provide guidance. In no time—well, across several different times and places—the Chrononauts find themselves fighting and fleeing malicious rival time travelers, genetically engineered monstrosities, and the general dangers that crop up when visiting unfamiliar eras and lands. From feudal Japan to the reign of Alexander the Great to the Rebellion of Boudicca to a future Earth being broiled alive by runaway climate change, the four friends have to overcome terrific challenges to save themselves and the world. The story cuts skillfully from time to time and place to place, and although it can be initially hard to follow, Dowdy provides frequent notes and several addenda that help clear up points that may otherwise be rather confusing. The action is handled well, however, in spite of the difficulty in conceiving and executing such a temporally scrambled narrative. Unfortunately, this results in character-building taking a back seat. Occasionally, archetypes—Mr. Banks the dandy, Stavros the evil stepfather—seem to substitute for full character development. Finally, several instances of gratuitous scatological humor interrupt the flow, as when “a crouched, naked guttersnipe [is] pissed on by a drunken slob getting rid of his rotgut.”
A creative YA time-travel adventure that, while it has a measure of promise and fits of maturity, overindulges in childish tendencies.

Pub Date: May 13, 2014

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 659

Publisher: Dean Leon Dowdy

Review Posted Online: Sept. 2, 2014

Awards & Accolades

Our Verdict

  • Our Verdict
  • GET IT

Next book

JUPITER STORM

In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.

Awards & Accolades

Our Verdict

  • Our Verdict
  • GET IT

A fifth-grade New Orleans girl discovers a mysterious chrysalis containing an unexpected creature in this middle-grade novel.

Jacquelyn Marie Johnson, called Jackie, is a 10-year-old African-American girl, the second oldest and the only girl of six siblings. She’s responsible, smart, and enjoys being in charge; she likes “paper dolls and long division and imagining things she had never seen.” Normally, Jackie has no trouble obeying her strict but loving parents. But when her potted snapdragon acquires a peculiar egg or maybe a chrysalis (she dubs it a chrysalegg), Jackie’s strong desire to protect it runs up against her mother’s rule against plants in the house. Jackie doesn’t exactly mean to lie, but she tells her mother she needs to keep the snapdragon in her room for a science project and gets permission. Jackie draws the chrysalegg daily, waiting for something to happen as it gets larger. When the amazing creature inside breaks free, Jackie is more determined than ever to protect it, but this leads her further into secrets and lies. The results when her parents find out are painful, and resolving the problem will take courage, honesty, and trust. Dumas (Jaden Toussaint, the Greatest: Episode 5, 2017, etc.) presents a very likable character in Jackie. At 10, she’s young enough to enjoy playing with paper dolls but has a maturity that even older kids can lack. She’s resourceful, as when she wants to measure a red spot on the chrysalegg; lacking calipers, she fashions one from her hairpin. Jackie’s inward struggle about what to obey—her dearest wishes or the parents she loves—is one many readers will understand. The book complicates this question by making Jackie’s parents, especially her mother, strict (as one might expect to keep order in a large family) but undeniably loving and protective as well—it’s not just a question of outwitting clueless adults. Jackie’s feelings about the creature (tender and responsible but also more than a little obsessive) are similarly shaded rather than black-and-white. The ending suggests that an intriguing sequel is to come.

In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.

Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2017

ISBN: 978-1-943169-32-0

Page Count: 212

Publisher: Plum Street Press

Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2018

Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018

Next book

BROTHERS IN ARMS

BLUFORD HIGH SERIES #9

A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.

In the ninth book in the Bluford young-adult series, a young Latino man walks away from violence—but at great personal cost.

In a large Southern California city, 16-year-old Martin Luna hangs out on the fringes of gang life. He’s disaffected, fatherless and increasingly drawn into the orbit of the older, rougher Frankie. When a stray bullet kills Martin’s adored 8-year-old brother, Huero, Martin seems to be heading into a life of crime. But Martin’s mother, determined not to lose another son, moves him to another neighborhood—the fictional town of Bluford, where he attends the racially diverse Bluford High. At his new school, the still-grieving Martin quickly makes enemies and gets into trouble. But he also makes friends with a kind English teacher and catches the eye of Vicky, a smart, pretty and outgoing Bluford student. Martin’s first-person narration supplies much of the book’s power. His dialogue is plain, but realistic and believable, and the authors wisely avoid the temptation to lard his speech with dated and potentially embarrassing slang. The author draws a vivid and affecting picture of Martin’s pain and confusion, bringing a tight-lipped teenager to life. In fact, Martin’s character is so well drawn that when he realizes the truth about his friend Frankie, readers won’t feel as if they are watching an after-school special, but as though they are observing the natural progression of Martin’s personal growth. This short novel appears to be aimed at urban teens who don’t often see their neighborhoods portrayed in young-adult fiction, but its sophisticated characters and affecting story will likely have much wider appeal.

A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.

Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2004

ISBN: 978-1591940173

Page Count: 152

Publisher: Townsend Press

Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2013

Close Quickview