In the sequel to The Green Glass Sea (2006), 12-year-old Suze, parents Terry and Phil, and 13-year-old Dewey have moved to Alamogordo, N.M., where Phil Gordon is assisting with rocket experiments following detonation of the first atomic bombs in 1945. Scientifically minded Dewey (previously taken in by the Gordons after her father’s death) gets along well with Suze as they face a series of issues: Terry’s anger over her husband’s involvement in the atomic project and her unexpected pregnancy, the reappearance of Dewey’s mother, who abandoned her as a toddler, Dewey’s budding romance with a classmate and Suze’s occasional jealousy over Dewey’s comfortable place in the family. Told in the third person, the point-of-view subtly switches by chapter between the two girls. Although alluding to issues of the atomic age, that is not a focus of this story, which sensitively portrays the early coming-of-age of two likable characters in a unique setting. Although it works well as a stand-alone, this tale will leave readers anxious to pick up the preceding work. (Historical fiction. 10 & up)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-670-06235-5
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2008
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Luminescent, just like the artwork it celebrates. (Historical fiction. 10-14)
Traumatized by his father’s recent death, a boy throws a brick at an old man who collects junk in his neighborhood and winds up on probation working for him.
Pearsall bases the book on a famed real work of folk art, the Throne of the Third Heaven, by James Hampton, a janitor who built his work in a garage in Washington, D.C., from bits of light bulbs, foil, mirrors, wood, bottles, coffee cans, and cardboard—the titular seven most important things. In late 1963, 13-year-old Arthur finds himself looking for junk for Mr. Hampton, who needs help with his artistic masterpiece, begun during World War II. The book focuses on redemption rather than art, as Hampton forgives the fictional Arthur for his crime, getting the boy to participate in his work at first reluctantly, later with love. Arthur struggles with his anger over his father’s death and his mother’s new boyfriend. Readers watch as Arthur transfers much of his love for his father to Mr. Hampton and accepts responsibility for saving the art when it becomes endangered. Written in a homespun style that reflects the simple components of the artwork, the story guides readers along with Arthur to an understanding of the most important things in life.
Luminescent, just like the artwork it celebrates. (Historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-553-49728-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: June 9, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2015
An impressive sequel.
Boy and fox follow separate paths in postwar rebuilding.
A year after Peter finds refuge with former soldier Vola, he prepares to leave to return to his childhood home. He plans to join the Junior Water Warriors, young people repurposing the machines and structures of war to reclaim reservoirs and rivers poisoned in the conflict, and then to set out on his own to live apart from others. At 13, Peter is competent and self-contained. Vola marvels at the construction of the floor of the cabin he’s built on her land, but the losses he’s sustained have left a mark. He imposes a penance on himself, reimagining the story of rescuing the orphaned kit Pax as one in which he follows his father’s counsel to kill the animal before he could form a connection. He thinks of his heart as having a stone inside it. Pax, meanwhile, has fathered three kits who claim his attention and devotion. Alternating chapters from the fox’s point of view demonstrate Pax’s care for his family—his mate, Bristle; her brother; and the three kits. Pax becomes especially attached to his daughter, who accompanies him on a journey that intersects with Peter’s and allows Peter to not only redeem his past, but imagine a future. This is a deftly nuanced look at the fragility and strength of the human heart. All the human characters read as White. Illustrations not seen.
An impressive sequel. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Sept. 7, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-293034-7
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021
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