A satisfying finale to what has become a cornerstone series in contemporary children’s literature.
Newbery Honoree Choldenko brings her trilogy about a boy and his unusual life on Alcatraz Island to a bittersweet end.
Now 13, Moose feels more responsible than ever for his autistic older sister, Natalie. So when a fire starts in his family’s apartment one evening while his parents are out, he’s sure it’s somehow his fault. Did Natalie start the fire after he nodded off? Moose and the other Alcatraz kids don’t think so, but they find it’s not so easy to prove when Natalie is unable to explain herself. Meanwhile, jealous prison guard Darby Trixle keeps giving Moose’s dad a hard time for landing the job Darby believes he deserved, and mysterious wads of cash are showing up in the prison laundry. When Moose recovers a lost piece of his homework from the burned-out apartment covered in Al Capone’s handwriting, it provides him with clues to the source of the random money and the motivation to clear Natalie’s name. Choldenko consistently excels at penning pitch-perfect dialogue and balancing a large cast of original characters, and this title is no exception. But new readers will want to start with the series opener, as this is a true concluding volume.
A satisfying finale to what has become a cornerstone series in contemporary children’s literature. (author’s note) (Historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Aug. 20, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-8037-3472-2
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: April 13, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2013
Luminescent, just like the artwork it celebrates. (Historical fiction. 10-14)
Traumatized by his father’s recent death, a boy throws a brick at an old man who collects junk in his neighborhood and winds up on probation working for him.
Pearsall bases the book on a famed real work of folk art, the Throne of the Third Heaven, by James Hampton, a janitor who built his work in a garage in Washington, D.C., from bits of light bulbs, foil, mirrors, wood, bottles, coffee cans, and cardboard—the titular seven most important things. In late 1963, 13-year-old Arthur finds himself looking for junk for Mr. Hampton, who needs help with his artistic masterpiece, begun during World War II. The book focuses on redemption rather than art, as Hampton forgives the fictional Arthur for his crime, getting the boy to participate in his work at first reluctantly, later with love. Arthur struggles with his anger over his father’s death and his mother’s new boyfriend. Readers watch as Arthur transfers much of his love for his father to Mr. Hampton and accepts responsibility for saving the art when it becomes endangered. Written in a homespun style that reflects the simple components of the artwork, the story guides readers along with Arthur to an understanding of the most important things in life.
Luminescent, just like the artwork it celebrates. (Historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Sept. 8, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-553-49728-1
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: June 9, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2015
The absolute necessity of story as a way to redemption and healing past wounds is at the heart of this beautiful debut, and...
When 12-year-old Abilene jumps off the train in Manifest, Kan., in 1936 to stay with her father’s boyhood friend, little does she know her sojourn will take her back, via mesmerizing tales, newspaper clippings, curious mementoes and World War I letters, to Manifest as it was in 1918—and into the life of the mysterious boy nicknamed Jinx.
This young con man effected extraordinary change in the lives of the mostly immigrant residents and the fortunes of the mining town in that year. Abilene and readers get so caught up in the past in this richly detailed, splendidly written novel that they easily make the transition between the Depression and WWI eras and long to learn more about the town that once was. Readers will love guessing how Abilene’s dad fits into all the stories and townspeople’s memories.
The absolute necessity of story as a way to redemption and healing past wounds is at the heart of this beautiful debut, and readers will cherish every word up to the heartbreaking yet hopeful and deeply gratifying ending. (author’s note) (Historical fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Oct. 12, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-385-73883-5
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Sept. 1, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2010
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