Eighth-grader Taeyoung Kim feels torn between her Korean heritage and her new American culture. When she is assigned to do a report on South Korea with one of the most popular boys in school, her feelings begin to surface: She's embarrassed about being ``different,'' her modest upbringing, and her parents. The storyline and themes- -feeling out of place and struggling with the popular crowd—are well known; Marie G. Lee (If It Hadn't Been for Yoon Jun, 1993, etc.) has deftly limned aspects of the Korean experience along these lines. Here, the resolution is predictable. The title and main theme are linked to Tae's piano-playing, which comes across as an afterthought instead of an integral part of the story. While readers get a sense of who Tae is, they may become frustrated with her passivity; the few instances in which she reflects on her life in Korea are adequate, but lack power. Readers will empathize more with Tae's parents, whose tender characterizations are the best in the book. Tae grows and learns, and gets the cute boy, which will satisfy those seeking light fare and no surprises. (Fiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: Sept. 22, 1997
ISBN: 0-395-84314-6
Page Count: 122
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1997
BOOK REVIEW
A scattered, even haphazard biography of peace activist and Buddhist leader Daisaku Ikeda focuses on his friendship with his teacher, Josei Toda. Born in 1928 to a seaweed-farming family, Ikeda wanted to join the army like his four older brothers, but his father kept him at home. As a young adult after the war, he joined Soka Gakkai, a Nichiren Buddhist organization, and became a student of its leader, the unlucky-in-business Josei Toda. Working through adversities, both men expanded the organization to its current 12 million followers worldwide. Perry admits to imagining the settings of events in her short narrative bio but claims emotions, dialogue and actual occurrences all come from Ikeda’s copious writings. The ample backmatter is far more informative than the anemic, often confusing text. A four-page annotated photo album, a lengthy timeline dotted with sidebars and explanations and an excellent index make up the latter half of the book. More work integrating that information into the text would have made this a more worthwhile purchase. (Biography. 8-12)
Pub Date: March 16, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-977113-1-2
Page Count: 108
Publisher: Namelos
Review Posted Online: June 20, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2010
The moral of this surreal episode would run something like this: never patronize a fast-food restaurant built where giant mutant bugs can crawl into the meat grinder. Young Roscoe learns this disgusting lesson almost too late when, after six months of nightly Gussy’s “Jungle Drum” burgers, he suddenly discovers that he’s beginning to resemble a praying mantis. Luckily, and despite the best efforts of Gussy’s CEO and cohorts to hush the whole thing up, Roscoe’s genius best friend Kinshasa Rosa Parks Boomer winkles out the cause. Also luckily, once Roscoe modifies his diet, the changes reverse. Elliott (Cool Crazy Crickets, 2000, etc.) is far from the first to take on a “boy-into-bug” premise, and though he introduces a memorably quirky cast, he doesn’t give it much to do besides solve the mystery of why this is happening to Roscoe and others. The high gross-out factor will draw some readers, but they’ll only find characters in search of a story. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: May 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-7636-1173-5
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2001
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