Inspired by two early–19th-century tales, Hausman delivers more nonstop nautical adventure in the wake of Tom Cringle: Battle on the High Seas (2000). Tom, 14, already First Lieutenant in the Royal Navy, rescues a group of “stolen” slaves, and is then ordered to return them to their owner. Off Jamaica’s coast as well as deep within its lush interior, Tom wrestles a succession of large, dangerous animals, plus his own conscience, as, aided by his charges as well as trusty companions Sneezer, a huge Newfoundland, and Peter Mangrove, peg-legged former slave of Lord Nelson, he repels repeated attacks from a gang of bloodthirsty American pirates bent on recovering their human loot. Hill’s small, crudely drawn ink sketches aptly illustrate Tom’s on-the-fly journal entries. Colorful characters (not one but two of whom spring back onstage after supposedly dying the first time around), plenty of brisk action, a vividly rendered tropical setting, and a capable but clumsy protagonist whose insecurities vanish in the crunch, once again make a winning combination, and it is clear at the end that Tom’s exploits are far from over. (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-82811-X
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2001
Low in physical violence, while being rich in moral and ethical issues, as well as in appealingly complex characters and...
Pub Date: March 1, 2007
ISBN: 0-316-05777-0
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Megan Tingley/Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2007
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
This weave of perceptive, well-told tales wears its agenda with unusual grace.
Two young people of different generations get profound lessons in the tragic, enduring legacy of war.
Raised on the thrilling yarns of his great-grandpa Jacob and obsessed with both World War II and first-person–shooter video games, Trevor is eager to join the 93-year-old vet when he is invited to revisit the French town his unit had helped to liberate. In alternating chapters, the overseas trip retraces the parallel journeys of two young people—Trevor, 12, and Jacob, in 1944, just five years older—with similarly idealized visions of what war is like as they travel both then and now from Fort Benning to Omaha Beach and then through Normandy. Jacob’s wartime experiences are an absorbing whirl of hard fighting, sudden death, and courageous acts spurred by necessity…but the modern trip turns suspenseful too, as mysterious stalkers leave unsettling tokens and a series of hostile online posts that hint that Jacob doesn’t have just German blood on his hands. Korman acknowledges the widely held view of World War II as a just war but makes his own sympathies plain by repeatedly pointing to the unavoidable price of conflict: “Wars may have winning sides, but everybody loses.” Readers anticipating a heavy-handed moral will appreciate that Trevor arrives at a refreshingly realistic appreciation of video games’ pleasures and limitations. As his dad puts it: “War makes a better video game….But if you’re looking for a way to live, I’ll take peace every time.”
This weave of perceptive, well-told tales wears its agenda with unusual grace. (Fiction/historical fiction. 11-13)Pub Date: July 21, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-338-29020-2
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: April 7, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2020
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
