Once there was a poor child who had no father or mother—they, like everyone in the world, had died. In search of heaven, the lonely boy traverses the cosmos, but all that symbolizes hope and possibility is found worthless and what seemed bright and beautiful reeks of despair. The Earth is an empty vessel, and the moon, sun and stars become metaphors for the desolation and disease of the universe. Based on a story found in Georg Büchner’s play Woyzeck, Amann’s bleak adaptation offers a conversation piece for sophisticated readers. Bhend’s lyrical artwork, done in colored pencil and mixed media, with its soft colors and texture, is a welcome contrast to the blackness of space and story. While her style seems simple, her cerebral images aptly represent the child’s complex, metaphysical journey and are appropriately ripe with symbols. It is she who leaves readers with the idea that peace and comfort may be possible; the barren, dark realm evoked by the words demands this mercy. This may be a good companion for those studying Büchner, but it's sure not for the usual picture-book audience. (Picture book. 12 & up)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-7358-2316-7
Page Count: 32
Publisher: NorthSouth
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
“Death is a period / at the end of a sentence,” concludes Annaleah, the 16-year-old protagonist of Schutz’s captivating fictional follow-up to her verse memoir (I Don’t Want To Be Crazy, 2006). And much like the resolute finality fixed in that tiny dot, Annaleah spends a great deal of this free-verse novel stuck contemplating the harsh reality that her sometime boyfriend, Brian—a seemingly healthy, dark-haired, cloudy-blue–eyed 17-year-old—has just dropped dead on the basketball court. Reeling from both physical loss and lack of closure to the meaning of their clandestine relationship, Annaleah finds herself routinely visiting and addressing the deceased Brian, until a chance graveside encounter yields advice that finally begins to hit home: “Nothing grows here,” says Brian’s grandmother, “besides grass.” At first blush appearing to pull out all the melodramatic stops in classic teen fashion, these refreshingly spare lines tackle tough relational issues—intimacy, risk, abandonment—with aplomb, making for a moving tale that also effectively shows teens how life can go on. (Fiction/poetry. 14 & up)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2010
ISBN: 970-0-545-16911-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: PUSH/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 15, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
This dynamic theater story stars Aggie, a girl whose enthusiasm, mad talent and diva qualities lead her astray. Steamed that she doesn’t get the lead in the school’s production of Hello, Dolly and convinced it’s because she’s fat, Aggie writes a roman à clef musical. It features two girls, the fat one an undisguised Aggie, the thin one suspiciously similar to the girl playing Dolly, Cynthia of the recent boob job. Aggie’s friends (techie Suzanne, ever-loyal Elliot and lyricist Cameron) support Aggie’s hostility toward Cynthia despite knowing it’s unfair: Cynthia’s nice and actually deserved the lead because of her singing skill. They mount a major production of Aggie’s show that, astonishingly, succeeds. Aggie’s almost failing math, Cameron comes out to his parents (and it goes badly) and Aggie resents the parental support that Karl, her father’s partner, gives Cameron—Aggie’s possessive of her stepfather’s attention. The prose, sometimes unpolished and forced but always infused with warmth, brims with musical-theater references. Unlike most arcs about fat teens, this one never equates emotional growth with weight loss; Aggie’s refreshingly non-symbolic fatness is just part of her. Like Elphaba in the song that Cameron rewrites, Aggie tries defying gravity—and succeeds, musically, socially and romantically. Given the ratings of Glee and the emerging popularity of teen lit combining queer themes and musicals, this should be a hit. (Fiction. 13 & up)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-59719-030-5
Page Count: 184
Publisher: Pearlsong Press
Review Posted Online: April 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
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