The author of Roscoe's Leap (1987) and A Map of Nowhere (1989) again explores universal themes through thrilling, pivotal events in the life of a teenager with a traumatic background. Cassy has been raised by her father's stern mother, Nan, with occasional visits to her own feckless mum, Goldie; each maintains an unbroken silence about her absent father, whom she barely remembers. Suddenly, Nan sends Cassy for an extended stay with Goldie—who has moved. Alone, Cassy tracks her down—Goldie is ``squatting'' in an abandoned building with a black man, Lyall, and his son. Despite this squalor, the three make a living with innovative programs for schools: combinations of fact and fiction, drama and story, skillfully blended to challenge stereotypes and spark original thinking. Their latest subject, resonant with social significance and symbolic ambiguities, is the wolf. Haunted by nightmares in which Red Riding Hood's story is recast by her own fears, and conditioned by Nan to think of work and play (including acting) as alien realms, Cassy is threatened by both the subject and Lyall's ebullient creativity. Meanwhile, she learns that her father is an IRA bomber whom Nan has been protecting—a ``wolf'' whose perverted territorial instinct leads only to destruction, even of his own family. Weaving memorably offbeat yet believable characters, extraordinary events, and contemporary issues, Cross once again confronts classic verities in a stunningly original, splendidly crafted story. (Fiction. 12+)
Pub Date: April 15, 1991
ISBN: 0-8234-0870-1
Page Count: 140
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1991
Emotional writing and an excess of poorly integrated quotes from popular news sources do little to provide an adequate introduction to a complex social problem. Johnson discusses the lack of affordable housing, welfare hotels, temporary shelters, and government projects, presenting health and education implications for homeless children as well as short- and long-term, public and private solutions. The book averages more than one footnote per page, requiring constant flipping to source notes in the back, but many of the quotes are of little use in elucidating the problem: ``Yet while Westchester children are among the wealthiest children in the nation, Westchester has more homeless persons per capita than any other place in the nation.'' Johnson also misleads by oversimplifying: ``...when the demand for something increases, its supply decreases...The demand for rental apartments has increased, decreasing the supply.'' Overgeneralizations abound: ``Poverticians undermine every effort made by honest government officials to help the homeless.'' While the topic is important and urgent, this is of marginal value. Muddy b&w photos; bibliography; index. (Nonfiction. 12+)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1991
ISBN: 0-531-15228-6
Page Count: 192
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1991
Freelancer Lang uses journalistic techniques to make her points: clipped items and grim statistics portray a society coming apart—four times the number killed in Vietnam were killed with handguns in the 80's; a three-year-old held a knife to his mother's throat; etc. Both famous and unknown cases demonstrate the effects of the media; strains on the justice system; biological and psychological factors in violence; suicide; and connections between family disintegration and violence. Portions analyzing social anonymity and group violence are especially strong, as is a final chapter of recommendations—e.g., finding methods of restitution as alternatives to prison, and doing away with secrecy in juvenile courts. Although each chapter ends with a useful ``What to Do'' section of model programs for change, the tales of increasing brutality are so horrible that teen readers may well respond by avoiding other adolescents. For deeper understanding, choose Hyde & Forsyth's The Violent Mind (above). Resources; notes; bibliography; index. (Nonfiction. 12+)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1991
ISBN: 0-531-11057-5
Page Count: 176
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1991
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