The Japanese calligrapher's ``four treasures'' are brush, paper, inkstick, and inkstone; the ``fifth'' is a beauty of heart informing the brushstrokes and bringing word-pictures to life. It is this that Mieko, at ten a talented student of the art, fears she has lost after her hand is injured in the atomic blast that destroyed Nagasaki. Bitterly ashamed of her disfigured hand (and soul), overwhelmed by homesickness (she's been sent to her grandparents in the country), Mieko is most despondent because she can no longer paint. In time, the encouragement of her elders—and especially of a gentle new friend—help draw her out of her pain and isolation and she begins to paint again. As in Coerr's well- loved biographical Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes (1977), the horrors of the bombing are not dwelt on here; again, the subtler underlying menace is a child's vulnerability to war. In contrast to Sadako's valiant, doomed struggle, Mieko's fictional experience is one of healing and renewed hope, expressed in the same quiet, economical prose. Since the stakes are not as high—Mieko is never in mortal danger—the story is less stirring. Still, this has its own message about the paradoxical fragility and resilience of the human spirit. Calligraphy by Cecil Yuehara not seen. (Fiction. 8- 11)
Pub Date: April 21, 1993
ISBN: 0-399-22434-3
Page Count: 78
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1993
BOOK REVIEW
Ohkwa'ri and his twin sister, Otsi:stia, 11, are late-15th century Mohawks living in what would become New York State. Both are exemplary young people: He is brave, kind, and respectful of his elders, and she is gentle and wise beyond her years. One day Ohkwa'ri hears an older youth, Grabber, and his cronies planning to raid a nearby Abenaki village, in violation of the Great League of Peace to which all the Iroquois Nations have been committed for decades. When Ohkwa'ri reports what he has heard to the tribal elders he makes a deadly enemy of Grabber. Grabber's opportunity for revenge comes when the entire tribe gathers for the great game of Tekwaarathon (later, lacrosse). Ohkwa'ri knows that he will be in great danger during the long day of play and will have to use all his wits and skills to save himself and his honor. Bruchac (Between Earth and Sky, p. 445, etc.) saturates his novel with suspense, generating an exciting story that also offers an in-depth look at Native American life centuries ago. The book also offers excellent insights into the powerful role of women in what most readers will presume was a male-dominated society. Thoroughly researched; beautifully written. (Fiction. 8- 11)
Pub Date: June 1, 1996
ISBN: 0140385045
Page Count: 155
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1996
Using the multiple voices that made Bull Run (1995) so absorbing, Fleischman takes readers to a modern inner-city neighborhood and a different sort of battle, as bit by bit the handful of lima beans an immigrant child plants in an empty lot blossoms into a community garden, tended by a notably diverse group of local residents. It's not an easy victory: Toughened by the experience of putting her children through public school, Leona spends several days relentlessly bulling her way into government offices to get the lot's trash hauled away; others address the lack of readily available water, as well as problems with vandals and midnight dumpers; and though decades of waging peace on a small scale have made Sam an expert diplomat, he's unable to prevent racial and ethnic borders from forming. Still, the garden becomes a place where wounds heal, friendships form, and seeds of change are sown. Readers won't gain any great appreciation for the art and science of gardening from this, but they may come away understanding that people can work side by side despite vastly different motives, attitudes, skills, and cultural backgrounds. It's a worthy idea, accompanied by Pedersen's chapter-heading black-and-white portraits, providing advance information about the participants' races and, here and there, ages. (Fiction. 9-11)
Pub Date: May 11, 1997
ISBN: 0-06-027471-9
Page Count: 69
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1997
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
