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THE LONG SEASON OF RAIN

Name: THE LONG SEASON OF RAIN
Author: Helen Kim
ISBN: 0-8050-4758-1

by Helen Kim ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 1996

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Changma, the Korean rainy season, brings increasing stress to a troubled family in this long, muted tale of strong women and weak men. When Grandmother brings home Pyungsoo, a boy orphaned by a mudslide, only Junehee, 11, and her mother don't treat him like a stray animal, or despise him outright. His presence causes the already strained relations between Junehee's parents, who have four daughters but no surviving sons, to deteriorate further. Her father, Jungmin, even when not on a business trip, is seldom home; when he is, he's either harsh and arbitrary, or tearfully proclaiming himself a poor man and father. After Jungmin takes the family on vacation, then abandons them for two days, and Pyungsoo, to whom Junehee has grown attached, is spirited away to adoptive parents, Junehee's strong, competent mother disappears, leaving valedictory letters to Jungmin and each of her daughters. As in Kyoko Mori's Shizuko's Daughter and Suzanne Fisher Staple's Haveli (both 1993), the textures of daily life are skillfully explored, but Junehee is more of an observer than an actor, and the rest of the cast, aside from her mother, is either unrelievedly passive- aggressive (the men) or narrow and manipulative (the women). In the end, her mother's defiant act results in little and readers wonder, along with Junehee, whether anything will come of Jungmin's talk of emigrating to America, or if there's anything to the suggestion that he's hiding a whole other family. A stiff, distant, loosely structured story. (Fiction. 11-13)

Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1996

ISBN: 0-8050-4758-1

Page Count: 273

Publisher: Henry Holt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1996

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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A YEAR DOWN YONDER

From the Grandma Dowdel series , Vol. 2

by Richard Peck ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2000

Year-round fun.

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Set in 1937 during the so-called “Roosevelt recession,” tight times compel Mary Alice, a Chicago girl, to move in with her grandmother, who lives in a tiny Illinois town so behind the times that it doesn’t “even have a picture show.”

This winning sequel takes place several years after A Long Way From Chicago (1998) leaves off, once again introducing the reader to Mary Alice, now 15, and her Grandma Dowdel, an indomitable, idiosyncratic woman who despite her hard-as-nails exterior is able to see her granddaughter with “eyes in the back of her heart.” Peck’s slice-of-life novel doesn’t have much in the way of a sustained plot; it could almost be a series of short stories strung together, but the narrative never flags, and the book, populated with distinctive, soulful characters who run the gamut from crazy to conventional, holds the reader’s interest throughout. And the vignettes, some involving a persnickety Grandma acting nasty while accomplishing a kindness, others in which she deflates an overblown ego or deals with a petty rivalry, are original and wildly funny. The arena may be a small hick town, but the battle for domination over that tiny turf is fierce, and Grandma Dowdel is a canny player for whom losing isn’t an option. The first-person narration is infused with rich, colorful language—“She was skinnier than a toothpick with termites”—and Mary Alice’s shrewd, prickly observations: “Anybody who thinks small towns are friendlier than big cities lives in a big city.”

Year-round fun. (Fiction. 11-13)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2000

ISBN: 978-0-8037-2518-8

Page Count: 144

Publisher: Dial Books

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2000

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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THE BEST MAN
by Richard Peck

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THE MOUSE WITH THE QUESTION MARK TAIL
by Richard Peck ; illustrated by Kelly Murphy

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SECRETS AT SEA
by Richard Peck illustrated by Kelly Murphy

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JOEY PIGZA SWALLOWED THE KEY

From the Joey Pigza series , Vol. 1

by Jack Gantos ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1998

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If Rotten Ralph were a boy instead of a cat, he might be Joey, the hyperactive hero of Gantos's new book, except that Joey is never bad on purpose. In the first-person narration, it quickly becomes clear that he can't help himself; he's so wound up that he not only practically bounces off walls, he literally swallows his house key (which he wears on a string around his neck and which he pull back up, complete with souvenirs of the food he just ate). Gantos's straightforward view of what it's like to be Joey is so honest it hurts. Joey has been abandoned by his alcoholic father and, for a time, by his mother (who also drinks); his grandmother, just as hyperactive as he is, abuses Joey while he's in her care. One mishap after another leads Joey first from his regular classroom to special education classes and then to a special education school. With medication, counseling, and positive reinforcement, Joey calms down. Despite a lighthearted title and jacket painting, the story is simultaneously comic and horrific; Gantos takes readers right inside a human whirlwind where the ride is bumpy and often frightening, especially for Joey. But a river of compassion for the characters runs through the pages, not only for Joey but for his overextended mom and his usually patient, always worried (if only for their safety) teachers. Mature readers will find this harsh tale softened by unusual empathy and leavened by genuinely funny events. (Fiction. 11-13)