Jesse is a 17-year-old Chicano, struggling through the complexities of adolescence in the 1960s. He is as much like a normal teen as he is different. He wonders about his future, pursues a girl in his science class, and tries to succeed in school. But he also questions the plight of migrant workers, the Vietnam War, and the leadership of Cesar Chavez. He lives the simple life of a field worker and attends community college with his brother Adam. Jesse's concern for Adam's deepening involvement with their landlady's daughter, Glenda, a non-Hispanic single mother, shows Soto's (Too Many Tamales, 1993, etc.) skill at delineating character. In the subtlety of this three-way interaction, the differences of class, gender, and race set the story smoldering with an almost imperceptible uneasiness that grows toward the final chapters. Soto extends to novel length the same quiet honesty he displayed in his short-story collection, Baseball in April (ALA Best Book, 1990). The mere depiction of this teen's life, and his attempts to better himself, are a far greater indictment of racism and class distinction than any finger-pointing sermon could be. A satisfying and enlightening story. (Fiction. 12+)
Pub Date: Nov. 28, 1994
ISBN: 0-15-240239-X
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1994
Characters to love, quips to snort at, insights to ponder: typical Spinelli.
For two teenagers, a small town’s annual cautionary ritual becomes both a life- and a death-changing experience.
On the second Wednesday in June, every eighth grader in Amber Springs, Pennsylvania, gets a black shirt, the name and picture of a teen killed the previous year through reckless behavior—and the silent treatment from everyone in town. Like many of his classmates, shy, self-conscious Robbie “Worm” Tarnauer has been looking forward to Dead Wed as a day for cutting loose rather than sober reflection…until he finds himself talking to a strange girl or, as she would have it, “spectral maiden,” only he can see or touch. Becca Finch is as surprised and confused as Worm, only remembering losing control of her car on an icy slope that past Christmas Eve. But being (or having been, anyway) a more outgoing sort, she sees their encounter as a sign that she’s got a mission. What follows, in a long conversational ramble through town and beyond, is a day at once ordinary yet rich in discovery and self-discovery—not just for Worm, but for Becca too, with a climactic twist that leaves both ready, or readier, for whatever may come next. Spinelli shines at setting a tongue-in-cheek tone for a tale with serious underpinnings, and as in Stargirl (2000), readers will be swept into the relationship that develops between this adolescent odd couple. Characters follow a White default.
Characters to love, quips to snort at, insights to ponder: typical Spinelli. (Fiction. 12-15)Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-30667-3
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
A solid introduction for budding lovers of the Bard.
Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.
The timeless tale of the young and disaffected Danish prince who is pushed to avenge his father’s untimely murder at the hands of his brother unfolds with straightforward briskness. Shakespeare’s text has been liberally but judiciously cut, staying true to the thematic meaning while dispensing with longer speeches (with the notable exception of the renowned “to be or not to be” soliloquy) and intermediary dialogues. Some of the more obscure language has been modernized, with a glossary of terms provided at the end; despite these efforts, readers wholly unfamiliar with the story might struggle with independent interpretation. Where this adaptation mainly excels is in its art, especially as the play builds to its tensely wrought final act. Illustrator Kumar (World War Two, 2015, etc.) pairs richly detailed interiors and exteriors with painstakingly rendered characters, each easily distinguished from their fellows through costume, hairstyle, and bearing. Human figures are generally depicted in bust or three-quarter shots, making the larger panels of full figures all the more striking. Heavily scored lines of ink form shadows, lending the otherwise bright pages a gritty air. All characters are white.
A solid introduction for budding lovers of the Bard. (biography of Shakespeare, dramatis personae, glossary) (Graphic novel. 12-18)Pub Date: Aug. 27, 2019
ISBN: 978-93-81182-51-2
Page Count: 90
Publisher: Campfire
Review Posted Online: July 12, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
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