Two Latino fourth-graders scramble to raise money when one accidently breaks a local punk's portable CD player. Readers who met Rudy and Alex in Soto's Pool Party (1993) will find that they still charge off to find out the hard way whether their schemes are practical or not, loyally helping each other out of jams, and elevating the conversation like true 10-year-olds (``Rudy, you ever notice that when you drink milk, you sweat water?''). The author sprinkles his dialogue with Spanish exclamations and slang (translated or clear from context), and surrounds Rudy with relatives both sympathetic and not. As in most of his books, Soto creates a community that will be familiar to readers of any ethnic background that also retains its distinctive flavor. Casilla renders young people with fair realism, reinforcing this sense of familiarity in a handful of b&w scenes; the punks look less scary than the boys' imaginations had painted them—just taller neighborhood kids in the same jeans and t-shirts. After a tense but nonviolent climax, this story comes to its comfortable close, an everyday sort of story punctuated by moments of high and low comedy. (Fiction. 9-11)
Pub Date: June 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-385-32048-5
Page Count: 134
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1995
Based on a journal and an unpublished manuscript, a brief, surprisingly lifeless account of the boyhood of one of Indianapolis's first settlers. Among other activities, Elijah Fletcher leaves home to attend a new school as a boarder; rescues his brother, who has inadvertently stowed away on a paddlewheel boat; and goes to the Marion County Fair. Unfortunately, the text jumps from one episode to another, each so sketchily narrated that it's hard to develop either much interest in Elijah or much understanding of what his life was really like. Henry does provide information like the name of the man who had the first brick house in Indianapolis—a person who doesn't figure otherwise here and, like the book, isn't likely to interest most young readers. Illustrations not seen. (Fiction. 9-11)
Pub Date: March 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-02-743671-3
Page Count: 39
Publisher: Four Winds/MacMillan
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1992
While chasing a dog into a neighbor's yard, Jason meets a pair of Intragalactic Troubleshooters with a spaceship in the garage. Despite the catlike Lootna's dire warnings, Jason is recruited by breezy, reckless Cooper Vorr and—without further ado—the team's off to snatch a stolen energy crystal from Urkar Grugg the Awful, return it to the grateful Star-King of Zarr, and listen to some bad jokes by the Star-King's Court Jester Robot. Jason gets back home in time for his drum lesson, and with a nifty new wrist communicator, too. The adventure may be over, but only for today: tomorrow the Giant Lizard Pirates of Zeek are waiting.... Fast, funny light sf from the authors of Max and Me and the Time Machine (1983). Illustrations not seen. (Fiction. 9- 11)*justify no*
Pub Date: Sept. 30, 1991
ISBN: 0-06-021761-8
Page Count: 96
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1991
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