From Laird (Kiss the Dust, 1992, etc.), a brief tale of a friend quickly won and lost to a sudden, unexpected death in this British novella. Lucy narrates how she came to call the new girl, Rafaella, “Earwig” because of her large, protruding ears. Both girls live to regret it when the name catches on among their classmates. A fast friendship is formed, but on the sly; Lucy wants to keep her friends at school, who dislike Rafaella. Rafaella alludes to a “surprise” that will take place over the holiday break; she enters the hospital for cosmetic surgery on her ears but dies from a previously undetected heart defect. Characters are developed in broad strokes and the plotting skims along; Lucy’s narration is spare—reined in emotionally and lacking physical details or descriptions. Short, plain sentences and wide margins may have some appeal for struggling readers, but it’ll be hard for them to squeeze out tears when everything happens so cursorily. (Fiction. 11-14)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-399-23334-2
Page Count: 70
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Jamaica (Jamaica and Brianna, 1993, etc.) is back in another a gentle story, and in for another moral dilemma. Her class has a calm, smiling substitute teacher, Mrs. Duval, who explains that while the regular teacher is absent, “I plan for us to work hard, but we’ll have fun, too.” Jamaica earns high praise for her reading aloud, for finding the hidden penguin, and for answering math puzzles, but when she gets to the spelling test, she can’t remember how to spell “calf.” Yielding to temptation, she looks at her friend’s paper. The tests are corrected, and she gets 100%, but Jamaica knows she copied and doesn’t turn the paper in, later confessing (unprompted) to her behavior. The teacher praises Jamaica’s courage in admitting she cheated, and says, “You don’t have to be perfect to be special in my class. All my students are special. I’m glad you’re one of them.” The softly colored pastel drawings show Jamaica, her range of emotions, appealing classmates, and the teacher’s kindly nature. This sensitive treatment of the topic makes the book ideal for group discussion. (Picture book. 6-9)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-395-90503-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1999
The first chapter of this well-written novel may be the best, attracting readers to the story of an only child whose special friend Tem is moving away. In addition to the blow of losing her close friend, Emma learns that her father has taken an engineering job in Turkey, and will be gone for five months. Emma exhibits fiercely childish feelings in attempting to dissuade her father; these feelings begin to make sense, however, as readers learn what Emma is in for. Her mother withdraws, as Emma predicted, to her bed and to television, with no apparent thought for Emma’s well-being. A sudden burst of cheer on her mother’s part results in more bad news for Emma; her mother is joining her father for five weeks, leaving Emma in the care of an elderly aunt. After that unbelievable, cruel twist, Tem all but disappears from the story, which turns to the blossoming of Emma’s artistic talents, through which she makes new friends. The novel elevates a common subject, mostly through Emma’s original observations, and despite the plotting. Although Brokaw drifts into the mundane in order to see Emma’s dilemmas to a conclusion, she often surprises readers with a well-turned phrase. (Fiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: April 19, 1999
ISBN: 0-395-90699-7
Page Count: 157
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1999
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