Thirteen-year-old Cesa, who prefers horseback riding and playing with her brothers to housework, finds her life changed forever by the Mexican-American War and the California Gold Rush of 1848. The story centers on her love for the family’s extensive property—the Rancho del Valle de la Madrugada—and the struggles of her Mexican family to retain this land in the face of the desertion of the servants and workers to the gold fields, the movement of increasing numbers of Americans into the area, and the rulings of an unsympathetic new government. Vividly realized scenes, rich in the details of daily life, convey a strong sense of time and place from a perspective not often found in American children’s literature. The author’s sympathy is clearly with the Mexican landowners who are faced with the loss of their property, although their own stealing of this land from the Indians (now their servants and workers) is mentioned in a historical note. Unfortunately, a weak plot fails to provide coherence and a sense of direction to the seemingly random events and underdeveloped subplots, many of which are, like the characters, nevertheless interesting and memorable. Readers may find themselves wondering where the story is going as it jumps from tomboy versus ladylike behavior to economic and political issues, to first love and family relationships. Too bad since this period is so underrepresented in historical fiction for children. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: May 14, 2002
ISBN: 0-385-32719-6
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Aimed at readers who have already encountered Anne Frank, this riveting historical novel from Mazer (Missing Pieces, 1995, etc.) is based on a little-known chapter of WWII history. Karin Levi’s story begins in a tiny attic room in Paris in the 1940s, where she is hidden away with her brother, Marc, and their mother, practicing the art of quiet. German soldiers are conducting house-to-house searches, rounding up Jews, and the small family is soon on the run, depending on strangers for scraps of food and shelter. When Maman falls ill, Karin and Marc head for Naples without her; the children board the Henry Gibbons, a ship full of European refugees bound for Fort Ontario in Oswego, New York. Upon their arrival in America, their story turns from one of flight and danger to the happiness and sorrow associated with adjusting to a new language, customs, and schooling, and making new friends. Although it is a shock to Karin, it comes as no surprise to readers when Marc reveals that Maman is dead. Mazer skillfully paints Karin as brave and independent, yet depicts her devotion to Maman throughout, writing unsent letters and never losing sight of her belief that one day they will be reunited. Rather than relying on events and facts of the war and its atrocities to create sympathy, the author paints her central character’s thoughts and feelings, her moments of weakness and her strength, so that the story is stirringly understated. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-15-201468-3
Page Count: 189
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Twelve-year-old Gwen’s loving aunt has placed her in an institution. When readers first meet her, they find a thoughtful, but strange, child whose mind moves from clear reality to a somewhat mysterious take on the world around her. In the opening sequence, a bird drops a gold key into the garden under her dormitory window. When she goes outside to retrieve it, flouting the rules of the mental hospital, Gwen sets off a sequence of events that results in her eventual retreat into the world of the Earth Kitchen—a place of solitude, safety, and sanctuary from her memories and from daily life. The kitchen is furnished with the few articles from her past that comfort her, as well as some clues to what is going on in the ward. It’s the early 1960s, and Gwen has decided that her parents were killed in an atomic blast. Readers come to understand that it is this displacement of reality that has led to her institutionalization. The author artfully incorporates into the plot the terror of nuclear warfare, the less-affluent lifestyle, and comparative innocence of the pre-Vietnam era as well as that time’s attitudes toward and treatment of mental illness. Characterization is uneven; Gwen is fully realized, but the others revolve around her illness like figures floating on a mobile. Bryant uses language in an economical, lyrical way, especially in her depiction of the Earth Kitchen. This creates an exceptional sense of place, but because of Gwen’s illness, confusion can arise. Is there really a bird that drops a key? Is the Earth Kitchen really there? Despite these flaws, this is a suspenseful and thought-provoking piece of fiction and a promising debut. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: March 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-06-029605-4
Page Count: 160
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2002
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