Drawing on the experience of having her own home gutted by fire, then restored with the help of friends, an author known for her incisive and compassionate portraits of troubled children (Return to Bitter Creek, 1986) portrays an 11-year-old whose friendship with the woman next door grows out of a similar set of events. Nealy doesn't want to be her bitter mother's ``best girl''; but with kind Grandma dead, rebellious sister Noel, 14, locked out for a minor misdemeanor, and Dad (a police officer) turning up only for emergencies, compliance to Mama's unreasonable demands seems her only recourse; even so, Nealy is frequently scolded or slapped. She takes comfort in her artwork and her care for living things (ironically, Mama works for the ``Department of Natural Resources'') and finds refuge under Mrs. Dees's porch, next door, where she keeps a few treasures—her drawings, field guides, a box of Grandma's. When an arsonist burns Mrs. Dees's house, Nealy is an obvious suspect, at least to the distraught owner; but as willing friends pitch in to help restore the house, Nealy finds an ally in Hobby, who's giving Mrs. Dees shelter and finds a number of ways Nealy can help her too. Ultimately, Nealy finds the real culprit; more important, Mrs. Dees (a potter) discovers Nealy's artistic talent and warms to her young neighbor, while the post-fire events lead to some healthy, and believable, changes in Nealy's family's dynamics. Adroit plotting, a brisk pace, the offbeat scenario, and well- individualized characters add up to an unusually thoughtful and appealing novel. (Fiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: March 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-670-83752-0
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1993
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Sixth-grader Eddie Zitelli desperately hopes to survive the end of school with grades and self-esteem intact, but sheer absent- mindedness lands him in the principal's office. Life at home isn't much better, especially after Pop, his ailing grandfather, moves in to share his room. Over the summer, Eddie realizes that Pop plans to gamble both his health and his life savings on an illegal horse race so that he can move back home to live alone again. When Pop leaves to place his bet, Eddie must decide what to do; and though Pop's victory proves fatal, Eddie knows that he's made the right decision and that, through Pop's quest for autonomy, he himself has also become more autonomous. The issues raised by some of Eddie's decision-making (e.g., not telling his parents about a crucial phone call from Pop) merit more thoughtful exploration than they get here; and until the narrative focuses on Eddie and Pop, the characters and plot feel manufactured, while the writing's burdened with forced similes. Still, Stevens does convey the struggle for self in both young and old. Acceptable additional fare. (Fiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: March 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-689-31682-8
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1992
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Using color photos of modern reenactments, plus a well- organized commentary enlivened by historical detail, the author/photographer of The Battle of Gettysburg (1989) re-creates the ``shot heard `round the world'' and the rest of the Revolutionary War's opening engagement. A few moot statements aside (``This would be a war like no other: one fought for political reasons''), Johnson's account is carefully researched; briefly, he sets the scene, describing both the events of the day and the circumstances behind them and closing with a summary of the immediate aftermath and an extract from the Declaration of Independence. A colorful replacement for R. Conrad Stein's Story of Lexington and Concord (1983). Multilevel bibliography. (Nonfiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: March 31, 1992
ISBN: 0-02-747841-6
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Four Winds/MacMillan
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1992
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