Alex is 12, teetering on the cusp of puberty, and enormously happy with her life. She attends an alternative school where she has the best of all teachers, Simon, whose unconventional familiarity has won over his entire class. When Stacy arrives, full of attitude, Alex is drawn to her—until Stacy begins to insinuate that Simon’s interest in Alex goes beyond the teacher-student relationship. Alex’s present-tense narration allows readers to get inside her head as she struggles to sort out the truth, adding enough ambiguous detail that the reader becomes as confused as Alex. Alex’s unsophisticated voice is just right, as are the changing attitudes of her classmates, torn between affection for Alex and Simon and willingness to believe Stacy’s accusations. Frank’s focus on the highly combustible environment of a classroom full of pubescent children and the chaos one abused teen can bring to those around her is subtly done, and will be immediately recognizable to her readers. (Fiction. 11-14)
Pub Date: May 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-689-85384-X
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Richard Jackson/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2003
Explanatory note; reading list.
Yep illuminates the Chinese immigrant experience here and abroad in a follow-up to The Serpent's Children (1984) and Mountain Light (1985).
After accidentally killing one of the hated Manchu soldiers, Otter (14) flees Kwangtung for the "Golden Mountain"; he finds his adoptive father Squeaky and Uncle Foxfire in the Sierra Nevada, where thousands of "Guests" are laboriously carving a path for the railroad. Brutal cold, dangerous work, and a harsh overseer take their toll as Squeaky is blinded in a tunnel accident, Foxfire is lost in a storm, and other workers are frozen or half-starved. By the end, toughened in body and spirit, Otter resolves never to forget them or their sacrifices. Foxfire and Otter consider themselves only temporary residents here, preparing for the more important work of modernizing their own country while ridding it of Manchu, Europeans, and, especially, the scourge of opium. America is a dreamlike place; English dialogue is printed in italics as a tongue foreign to most of the characters; and though Otter befriends the overseer's troubled son, such social contact is discouraged on both sides. In a story enlivened with humor and heroism, Yep pays tribute to the immigrants who played such a vital role in our country's history.
Explanatory note; reading list. (Fiction. 11-14)Pub Date: Oct. 30, 1993
ISBN: 0-06-022971-3
Page Count: 276
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1993
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Marisa is in her first year of high school, a little overweight and always ready to pick a fight. After punching her best friend’s cheating boyfriend in an elevator, she gets home to find she has someone else’s cell phone—and realizes she must have switched phones with the nerdy kid who was in the elevator with them. When she meets Rene, she immediately notices his white socks and flood pants, and yet, she can’t help wanting to hang around him. It’s a first romance for both, and their efforts to change themselves and each other are touching and funny. There’s a sweet and light touch to this love story—a lot of cuddly kissing, no heavy petting—keeping this squarely on the younger end of pre-teen (despite the older-looking cover). Set at two urban schools—one tougher, one suburban—and with Latino families (a glossary in the back will help those unfamiliar with Spanish words), this story offers readers much to identify with. Nothing terribly deep here, but it fills a gap in middle-school–age collections with something fresh and fun. (Fiction. 11-14)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-15-205497-9
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2005
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