Readers devour Hopkins regardless, but this is strong and worthy.
Almost six months after his younger brother’s suicide, a high school senior slogs through tangled resentment and guilt.
Matt’s world has never been rich with happiness, what with his cold parents who retreat “to their separate alcohol-soaked / corners.” Dad bitterly rues the one-night stand that created Matt and forced the marriage; their house “is a sponge, / absorbing regret until it can hold / no more and disillusionment drips // through the bloated pores.” Now Matt shoulders his own crushing regret. Luke was three years younger—Matt should have protected him from the homophobic and religious bullies; he should have told adults how depressed Luke was, even sneaking Mom’s Prozac, which can be dangerous for teens. He definitely shouldn’t have been distracted by his girlfriend on Luke’s last, desperate day. Now that very girlfriend seems to be “trading [Matt] in // for Jesus.” The sturdy, fast-reading free-verse poems—which sometimes shift into elegance—give a heavy sense of Matt’s anger and discomfort, as well as how he vacillates between decency and churlishness. Themes of combat-induced PTSD, Christian fundamentalist bigotry, forgiveness, and foreshadowed violence integrate deftly. The climax surprises in the best way. Brief but explicit acknowledgement of the It Gets Better campaign (and why it didn’t help Luke) grounds the contemporary setting.
Readers devour Hopkins regardless, but this is strong and worthy. (Verse fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Aug. 26, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4424-8284-5
Page Count: 560
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: June 9, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2014
An elaborate yet convoluted high fantasy that references Jewish folklore.
In the complicated political fantasy landscape of Enderlain, Mikira Rusel and Arielle Kadar are strong young women forced into dire circumstances.
Ari uses banned Kinnish magic, based on the Jewish myth of the golem, to feed herself. Mikira is from a family who breeds magical horses. Early in the story, Ari is assaulted and robbed, while Mikira’s father, who is deeply in debt and using illegal enchantment to enhance his horses, is arrested. Using the girls’ desperation to their own advantage, Damien Adair and Rezek Kelbra, the sons of two warring noble houses, each devise plots to gain power to control the city. Damien enlists Ari and Mikira in a devious plan to win the Illinir, a series of dangerous horse races held once every decade: Mikira will be the jockey, and Ari will create a golem disguised as a horse. While this dual narrative told in the girls’ alternating points of view is original and engaging, the multiple storylines and numerous characters lead to plot holes that may confuse readers. The languid pace of most of the story leads up to an ending that comes too quickly and leaves many open storylines and unanswered questions. While it’s obvious that a sequel is in the works, the perplexing nature of this book might leave some readers feeling unfulfilled. The main characters have olive or light skin.
An elaborate yet convoluted high fantasy that references Jewish folklore. (map, family trees) (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: Sept. 26, 2023
ISBN: 9781250812360
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: July 26, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2023
A charming Jewish love story set against the bleak backdrop of the Spanish Inquisition.
In Trujillo, in the Spanish Kingdom of Castile in 1481, Isabel is a Crypto-Jew; she and her family maintain their Jewish faith in secret.
The Inquisition is gaining control, but 16-year-old Isabel, who has a passion for writing poetry, thinks that as New Christians her family is safe. The family converted to Christianity and were baptized in the hope of making their lives easier and more secure. However, like many other Jews in Spain at the time, they privately practice Judaism—attending church on Sundays but conducting Shabbat dinners every Friday night. They think their secret is safe, but the head Inquisitor, Fray Tomás Torquemada, is now targeting conversos for their private Judaizing. When Isabel is betrothed against her will to the powerful and ruthless alguacil, or sheriff, Don Sancho, Isabel’s parents believe that the upcoming marriage will save them from persecution. But when handsome aristocrat Diego warns Isabel that she is in grave danger from the Inquisition and especially from her husband-to-be, Isabel is determined to save her family, herself, and the man she loves—and live an openly Jewish life filled with poetry. This historical romance is a fast-paced, plot-driven tale with feminist main characters whom readers will root for from the very beginning.
A charming Jewish love story set against the bleak backdrop of the Spanish Inquisition. (author’s note, photos, research notes, poetry citations, further reading) (Historical fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 2, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-338-63418-1
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Nov. 25, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2020
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