Chris Cooper and his parents have moved from Glasgow to a farm in Yett—right near the farm where Chris's friend Finn Lochlan (Finn's Island, 1992, etc.) lives with his father and grandmother. Chris is happy in his new home, except for one thing: Andrew Aldie, the school bully. Both Chris and Andrew will be going to Muirs High School, 14 miles away, in the fall, and Chris is afraid of what Andrew will to do him once the intrepid Finn, who is younger and not yet on his way to high school, is out of the picture. But there are bigger problems to come. Andrew's rich, landowning father plans to turn the beautiful, nearby Roman field into a gravel pit, the noise and dust from which will wreck havoc on the Coopers' and Lochlans' farms. Finn, however, has a plan to save the field: If he and Chris can find evidence that the field had once been the sight of a Roman fort, perhaps the gravel pit will be halted. Finn and Chris start digging, and Finn, against Chris's wishes, allows Andrew to join them. Andrew makes gestures of friendship towards Chris, which mistrustful Chris rejects until he realizes that Andrew seriously wants to turn over a new leaf. The boys find Roman pottery, but the museum cannot afford to excavate and, in the end, the gravel pit is called off by Mr. Aldie himself. Not at all the money-grubber they had imagined, he had sincerely wanted to create jobs for the area's unemployed. A lackluster story made annoying by the whiny Chris. (Fiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Oct. 15, 1994
ISBN: 0-8234-1099-4
Page Count: 155
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1994
Certain to provoke controversy and difficult to see as a book for children, who could easily miss the painful point.
After Hitler appoints Bruno’s father commandant of Auschwitz, Bruno (nine) is unhappy with his new surroundings compared to the luxury of his home in Berlin.
The literal-minded Bruno, with amazingly little political and social awareness, never gains comprehension of the prisoners (all in “striped pajamas”) or the malignant nature of the death camp. He overcomes loneliness and isolation only when he discovers another boy, Shmuel, on the other side of the camp’s fence. For months, the two meet, becoming secret best friends even though they can never play together. Although Bruno’s family corrects him, he childishly calls the camp “Out-With” and the Fuhrer “Fury.” As a literary device, it could be said to be credibly rooted in Bruno’s consistent, guileless characterization, though it’s difficult to believe in reality. The tragic story’s point of view is unique: the corrosive effect of brutality on Nazi family life as seen through the eyes of a naïf. Some will believe that the fable form, in which the illogical may serve the objective of moral instruction, succeeds in Boyne’s narrative; others will believe it was the wrong choice.
Certain to provoke controversy and difficult to see as a book for children, who could easily miss the painful point. (Fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2006
ISBN: 0-385-75106-0
Page Count: 224
Publisher: David Fickling/Random
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2006
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel,...
Adventure drags our heroine all over the map of fantasyland while giving her the opportunity to use her smarts.
Elisa—Princess Lucero-Elisa de Riqueza of Orovalle—has been chosen for Service since the day she was born, when a beam of holy light put a Godstone in her navel. She's a devout reader of holy books and is well-versed in the military strategy text Belleza Guerra, but she has been kept in ignorance of world affairs. With no warning, this fat, self-loathing princess is married off to a distant king and is embroiled in political and spiritual intrigue. War is coming, and perhaps only Elisa's Godstone—and knowledge from the Belleza Guerra—can save them. Elisa uses her untried strategic knowledge to always-good effect. With a character so smart that she doesn't have much to learn, body size is stereotypically substituted for character development. Elisa’s "mountainous" body shrivels away when she spends a month on forced march eating rat, and thus she is a better person. Still, it's wonderfully refreshing to see a heroine using her brain to win a war rather than strapping on a sword and charging into battle.
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel, reminiscent of Naomi Kritzer's Fires of the Faithful (2002), keeps this entry fresh. (Fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-202648-4
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
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