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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An immersive and thoughtful historical novel that explores West Africa in 1807.
A trip to the capital helps three boys from the Asante Kingdom learn more about themselves, their culture, and the wider world in this debut historical novel for middle graders.
In 1807, the Asante Kingdom (roughly corresponding to modern-day Ghana) is the most powerful nation in West Africa. The dominant ethnic group is the Akan, who enslave prisoners of war, called nnonko. Two Akan boys—Kwaku, 11, and Kwame, 12—and Baako, 13, an enslaved Gurunsi boy, live in the town of Tanoso, where Kwame’s father is chief. It’s time to learn adult skills: throwing a spear, trading in the marketplace, figuring out how taxes work, repairing a roof, thinking and speaking with care, and more. In their matrilineal society, Kwaku—the chief’s elder sister’s son—could become chief if he proves his worth, and Baako’s hard work could earn him his freedom through being adopted. As part of their leadership education, the boys are invited to make the eight-day trip to the Asante capital, Kumasi, for an important festival. It’s an exciting crossroads where the boys see many new sights, including horses and the written word. When Kwame and Baako are kidnapped to be sold into slavery, they face a frightening ordeal that confronts them with their complicated world. With her novel, Soper makes the rich Akan culture come alive through the boys’ need for an education, a natural way to present captivating details. The morality of slavery is considered from several angles. For example, what happens to enslaved people who are sold to Whites is a question dismissed as unknowable. But the book is slowed down by much repetition, such as reiterating the fact that ceremonial stools are painted black to indicate the owners’ deaths. Cloutier provides numerous, well-composed monochrome illustrations that give useful context for unfamiliar elements. Helpful resources are included.
An immersive and thoughtful historical novel that explores West Africa in 1807.Pub Date: Oct. 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-64388-068-6
Page Count: 358
Publisher: Luminare Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A somewhat heavy-handed exploration of the age-old problem of how a conscientious boy can learn to stand up to a domineering, overprotective mother. Simon's father is dead; his mother has never learned to separate her own desires from her son's. She oversees his clothes and friends, and is now arranging for the reluctant boy to give a piano concert. Simon screams his anger and frustration into a journal and also to Jorna, an extroverted outsider, but cannot bring himself to discuss his feelings with his mother until she reads the journal and learns for herself that they must talk. At last, Simon tells her to back off—and finds that both survive the conversation relatively unscathed. Jorna and her dad, a Vietnam vet, provide a welcome balance; still, plot and characters are subservient to the too-obvious lesson. (Fiction. 9-11)
Pub Date: Oct. 30, 1991
ISBN: 0-06-022486-X
Page Count: 192
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1991
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