In a prequel to Street Dancers and Broadway Chances, Hill goes back to Clement Dale's grandfather, Jonathan, on a journey from New York to New Orleans and beyond. At 12, Jonathan Dale leaves the city streets where he's gotten along on his own for years, performing for passers-by. In 1887, he boards the Orphan Train, hoping to be selected from the line of ragged homeless children for adoption. Chosen by a hardscrabble Louisiana tenant family, Jonathan struggles to fit in and to please his new parents but remains emotionally detached from them and new sister Eugenie (also from the Orphan Train). Jonathan needs people, music, and the chance to perform; the silent hours of grueling farm labor drain him. After exchanging situations with another orphan, he moves to New Orleans, then to a touring riverboat, where he's encouraged to perform once again. Hill's prose is sure and vivid. Though Jonathan's aloofness is somewhat distancing, the story hums with well-drawn characters and quiet humor, ably bringing history to life. (Fiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-670-84967-7
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1993
A photo essay that documents the development and growth of a black-footed penguin, raised in captivity at the New England Aquarium. The focus here is on raising the endangered penguins in captivity rather than on recording their development in their natural habitat off the coast of South Africa—with the conclusion that, ``As long as some of them live in places like the New England Aquarium, the future of this special bird will be a little bit safer''. Though the many glossy full-color photos here are appealing, the text lacks precision and word choice is occasionally awkward. A handsome map is unfortunately placed on the endpapers. Glossary; further reading; index. (Nonfiction. 10- 12)
Pub Date: March 15, 1991
ISBN: 0-531-15212-X
Page Count: 32
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1991
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Cohen's Ghosts of War (1990) were men; here, women's ghosts comprise most of the cast—women who died betrayed or abandoned, by murder or accident; who returned for love, vengeance, or (in one case) jewelry. Most haunt the British Isles, Japan, or the US and date back no more than a century or two; the ``Headless Lover'' of Brooke End and New York's ``Empire State Building Ghost'' are of particularly recent vintage. Cohen's lucid style is well-suited to creating chills, and he seasons his narrative with an occasional grisly touch—``His face had become a mask of skin tightly stretched over a grinning skull.'' ``Put aside your doubts,'' he advises, ``and read on.'' Perhaps not at night. (Nonfiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: June 3, 1992
ISBN: 0-399-22117-4
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1992
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
© 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.
