A thought-provoking experiment about bullying and how to handle it. Seventh-grader Russell suddenly and inexplicably becomes the target of another boy’s fists, so Russell asks Elliot—not a friend, but the school’s general punching bag—for advice. Elliot distracts himself in a world of dinosaurs, but soon the boys become friends with Catalina (another tormented seventh-grader) and the three create an online forum called Revealer, where students tell their own stories of bullying and being bullied. Seeds of understanding sprout around the school as more and more stories come out. A late, well-crafted triumph of the aggressors almost crushes hope, but once again, going public proves invaluable. It’s unclear why certain mean characters seem less bad by the end, and the parental passivity is sometimes hard to believe; however, Wilhelm poses intriguing questions about the role computer networks can play in rebellions, kids’ lives, and possibly grander politics as well. (Fiction. 10-13)
Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2003
ISBN: 0-374-36255-6
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2003
Slepian (Pinocchio's Sister, 1995, etc.) turns again to the days of vaudeville for this surprising, meaty tale of an authentic mind-reading act. A last-minute substitute when his drunken father passes out at show time, Connie Leondar, 12, wows the crowd, bypassing the coded messages his costumed mother sends from the audience to make stunningly precise, accurate observations. Only Annie knows his secret; Connie really can read the thoughts and comprehend the feelings of others. She watches as he grows more haggard and desperate-looking, until at last, after visiting the particularly vile mind of a man named Rusty Shanks, Connie confesses that all the sorrow, need, pettiness, and malice is more than he can bear. Persuading him to make a break, Annie steals away with him, in search of a never-met uncle known as Crazy Joe. The plot has the pace and ambience of old-time melodrama, but Slepian goes beyond types in her casting—even Shanks has a spot of tenderness in his villainous heart, and Joe is far from crazy. Connie finds in Joe's strange and wonderful junk garden a rejoinder for his desperate pursuit of a better view of human nature, and the settled home he needs. Absorbing. (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: Oct. 13, 1997
ISBN: 0-399-23150-1
Page Count: 132
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1997
This against-the-odds book from Grimes (Jazmin’s Notebook, 1998, etc.) tells of an African-American boy living in a neighborhood that cuts him no slack, and the man who helps keep his feet grounded and his self-esteem steady against the occasional buffeting of his peers. Damon and his mother have just moved to a new apartment when an old friend of the mother’s introduces himself: Blue, a rather steely character wrapped in shades and enigma. Damon (who has just lost his father) is wary of Blue; he gives the man a chance only when it becomes evident that Blue is not about to move in on Damon’s home turf. Blue (who “had” a son, now lost to the streets or worse) offers advice of haiku-like simplicity, teaching Damon to be his own man: anger is a dangerous waste, fear useless unless subverted, men don’t hit women. Grimes gets across more subtle life lessons as well in both rhymed and unrhymed verse, on the dignity of work, and the sheer physical pleasure of sport when competition isn’t the sole motivating factor. It is a story of a boy who is old for his age, but not callous—and perhaps saved from callousness by Blue. Lagarrigue’s illustrations are brooding gardens of color that hold the forces of disorder and menace at bay, while Damon’s cool earnestness—as well as his courage and independence—brighten each page. (Picture book. 6-10)
Pub Date: May 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8037-2326-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1999
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