A likable, if unevenly executed, coming-of-age story that sets grim history against carefree childhood days.
Sullivan’s debut novel tells the story of four school friends’ summer adventure investigating a long-buried mystery.
In 1942, Nazi soldiers on patrol in Egypt uncover what they call a “Red Ruby”—code for an artifact of supernatural power—which officers commandeer. They task their prisoner, a Jewish comic-book artist named Herman Katzenstein—who studied under an Egyptologist—with translating the object’s hieroglyphs. If he can do so, his life will be spared and he’ll be reunited with his daughter. Fast-forward to 1979, and 13-year-old Will McMurphy and his best friends, Isaac and Dez, are gearing up for a summer of idling. All three boys have troubles at home, but in their treehouse, they’re able to relax, read comics, and listen to music. Their holidays take an adventurous turn when 13-year-old Amy Howard joins their group and they come into possession of a comic book from 1939—written by Katzenstein. But soon, the four friends find that a scary Russian woman in a black Mercedes is following them. What dangerous secrets does the comic book hold? And what happened to Katzenstein and his daughter? Sullivan writes in a workmanlike, unpolished manner, describing events in a fashion that feels more like a movie than a novel. This, combined with the book’s lengthy historical opening, makes for a slow beginning. After Will and his friends enter the story, though, the text comes alive, as the teens bring urgency and a bubbling liveliness to the proceedings; the appealing tone feels like a cross between Enid Blyton’s work and Stranger Things. With Amy’s inclusion, the others behave in a more mature manner. Ultimately, various narrative elements tie together to make the Katzenstein Kids’ first adventure a page-turner. (A smattering of black-and-white illustrations by debut artist Suarez add texture, but they’re too infrequent to do the book justice.)
A likable, if unevenly executed, coming-of-age story that sets grim history against carefree childhood days.Pub Date: Nov. 24, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-73424-431-1
Page Count: 296
Publisher: Self
Review Posted Online: Feb. 6, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
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SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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