An equally entertaining and edifying tale of Africa.
The third installment of Ambau’s (Desta and the Winds of Washaa Umera, 2013, etc.) YA fantasy series, set in 1960s Ethiopia, continues the adventures of a young shepherd boy on an epic search to find a magic ancestral coin.
The story chronicles approximately three years of teenage Desta’s life after he leaves his home to pursue his education in a distant town. Finding himself homeless with no money, he relies on his positive existential philosophy to overcome the hardships that threaten to derail his dreams of getting an education and finding the twin of a coin that his father possesses. Years earlier, Desta’s grandfather’s spirit revealed that the young man might be the one to fulfill a prophecy of reuniting the two magical coins; King Solomon had made them thousands of years ago for the descendants of his own two children. Desta, who sees the whole world as his extended family, finds work where he can to survive. He gets into a new school and quickly becomes a standout student with a voracious appetite for learning. But after he suffers physical and emotional torment outside of school, he’s forced to ask himself whether his education—and his quest—is worth the steep cost. This story, powered by vivid descriptions of an Ethiopia of decades past, is much more than an allegory about a young boy—it’s a cultural and historical experience. Ambau creates a narrative that has universal thematic appeal but is also undeniably fueled by Ethiopian culture and perspective. For example, when Desta receives unexpected monetary support from an older brother, he says: “This is what the desert must feel like when it receives a sudden shower from out of the blue sky.” This immersive African parable should appeal to young and adult readers alike—even if a bottle of tella and a slice of spiced honey bread aren’t included.
An equally entertaining and edifying tale of Africa.Pub Date: June 21, 2014
ISBN: 978-1884459047
Page Count: 312
Publisher: Falcon Press International
Review Posted Online: Oct. 2, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
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