Alice, 12, withdrawn and inarticulate because she's quite deaf, lives in a Catholic orphanage in Troy, N.Y. Unbeknownst to Alice, her truculent twin, Miami, lives across the river in Albany as one of the Shaws' four adopted children. After the girls' similarity causes confusion at a camp where her stay happens to follow Miami's, Alice discovers Miami's existence and seeks her out. Maguire, author of several fantasies, comes into his own with this evocative novel of the late 60's, set in the milieu where he grew up. There's some near-melodramatic suspense (e.g., a fire), but best here are the many characters, all realized in convincing, unique detail—the nuns a rich broth of competence and imperfection, of narrow-mindedness and wisdom; the Shaws, generous but not inexhaustible, strained by the imminent addition of their first biological child to a biracial adoptive family that includes infant twins. When Alice and Miami discover each other, at first everyone is dismayed. The Shaws can't adopt Alice; still, the plans the adults make for the newfound sisters are compassionate as well as businesslike. Even so, the girls, feeling a strong affinity, contrive independently to meet. Following various points of view, the author enriches his third- person narrative with minutiae of the devout Catholicism that suffuses every aspect of his characters' lives, with fresh, vivid (if occasionally overblown) descriptions, and—while centering on the children—with incisive vignettes of the adults and their concerns. Poignant yet bracingly unsentimental, a novel with the clear ring of authenticity. (Fiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: March 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-689-50590-6
Page Count: 160
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1994
The inevitable go-to for Percy’s legions of fans who want the stories behind his stories.
Percy Jackson takes a break from adventuring to serve up the Greek gods like flapjacks at a church breakfast.
Percy is on form as he debriefs readers concerning Chaos, Gaea, Ouranos and Pontus, Dionysus, Ariadne and Persephone, all in his dude’s patter: “He’d forgotten how beautiful Gaea could be when she wasn’t all yelling up in his face.” Here they are, all 12 Olympians, plus many various offspring and associates: the gold standard of dysfunctional families, whom Percy plays like a lute, sometimes lyrically, sometimes with a more sardonic air. Percy’s gift, which is no great secret, is to breathe new life into the gods. Closest attention is paid to the Olympians, but Riordan has a sure touch when it comes to fitting much into a small space—as does Rocco’s artwork, which smokes and writhes on the page as if hit by lightning—so readers will also meet Makaria, “goddess of blessed peaceful deaths,” and the Theban Teiresias, who accidentally sees Athena bathing. She blinds him but also gives him the ability to understand the language of birds. The atmosphere crackles and then dissolves, again and again: “He could even send the Furies after living people if they committed a truly horrific crime—like killing a family member, desecrating a temple, or singing Journey songs on karaoke night.”
The inevitable go-to for Percy’s legions of fans who want the stories behind his stories. (Mythology. 10-14)Pub Date: Aug. 19, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4231-8364-8
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A world-class charmer, Clements (The Janitor’s Boy, 2000, etc.) woos aspiring young authors—as well as grown up publishers, editors, agents, parents, teachers, and even reviewers—with this tongue-in-cheek tale of a 12-year-old novelist’s triumphant debut. Sparked by a chance comment of her mother’s, a harried assistant editor for a (surely fictional) children’s imprint, Natalie draws on deep reserves of feeling and writing talent to create a moving story about a troubled schoolgirl and her father. First, it moves her pushy friend Zoe, who decides that it has to be published; then it moves a timorous, second-year English teacher into helping Zoe set up a virtual literary agency; then, submitted pseudonymously, it moves Natalie’s unsuspecting mother into peddling it to her waspish editor-in-chief. Depicting the world of children’s publishing as a delicious mix of idealism and office politics, Clements squires the manuscript past slush pile and contract, the editing process, and initial buzz (“The Cheater grabs hold of your heart and never lets go,” gushes Kirkus). Finally, in a tearful, joyous scene—carefully staged by Zoe, who turns out to be perfect agent material: cunning, loyal, devious, manipulative, utterly shameless—at the publication party, Natalie’s identity is revealed as news cameras roll. Selznick’s gnomic, realistic portraits at once reflect the tale’s droll undertone and deftly capture each character’s distinct personality. Terrific for flourishing school writing projects, this is practical as well as poignant. Indeed, it “grabs hold of yourheart and never lets go.” (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: June 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-82594-3
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2001
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