This well-crafted, entertaining read may inspire teenagers to learn more about the life and times of their grandparents.
In Sedwick’s novel, 14-year-old Andy revisits the frontier adventures of his grandfather, Myles.
Sedwick says she was inspired to write her first historical novel by her father’s stories about growing up during the Dust Bowl years. The chapters meander among the viewpoints of Andy, who’s living in Evanston, Ill., in the early 2000s; Myles, his grandfather, who’s growing up in the 1930s in Vona, Colo.; and Ro, the coyote adopted as an injured pup by Myles and his family. Generations apart, Andy and Myles share a shyness and lack of interest in school and a gift (or curse) for puns and corny jokes. Inspired by a bourbon box filled with sundry objects his grandfather gave him just before dying of heart failure, Andy sets out to discover more about Grandfather’s early days and to record his many stories. Myles, in the meantime, skips school, tries to keep himself and his coyote pup out of trouble, and (with his sister, Claire) bemoans their existence in a remote town that lacks running water, electricity and a movie theater. The descriptions animate the characters; for example, Myles’ neighbor Herbert is “a man as coarse as a cowhand and as dated as an iron plow, a man who was as squat and dirty as his own sugar beets, a man who stank of cow manure and kerosene.” But the tale goes overboard in its anthropomorphism of Ro, even for a book that would be best enjoyed by a young teen. Watching the neighbor’s dog, “Ro wondered if she ever slept, truly slept. He wondered if she ever played with the children, if she ever ran simply to feel the wind in her ears, if she ever flew in the back of the truck. He did not think so.” Andy ultimately takes the station wagon Myles left him, and he heads west to see if he can inhabit his grandfather’s tales.
This well-crafted, entertaining read may inspire teenagers to learn more about the life and times of their grandparents.Pub Date: March 12, 2013
ISBN: 978-0615692616
Page Count: 244
Publisher: Ten Gallon Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 12, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.
A fifth-grade New Orleans girl discovers a mysterious chrysalis containing an unexpected creature in this middle-grade novel.
Jacquelyn Marie Johnson, called Jackie, is a 10-year-old African-American girl, the second oldest and the only girl of six siblings. She’s responsible, smart, and enjoys being in charge; she likes “paper dolls and long division and imagining things she had never seen.” Normally, Jackie has no trouble obeying her strict but loving parents. But when her potted snapdragon acquires a peculiar egg or maybe a chrysalis (she dubs it a chrysalegg), Jackie’s strong desire to protect it runs up against her mother’s rule against plants in the house. Jackie doesn’t exactly mean to lie, but she tells her mother she needs to keep the snapdragon in her room for a science project and gets permission. Jackie draws the chrysalegg daily, waiting for something to happen as it gets larger. When the amazing creature inside breaks free, Jackie is more determined than ever to protect it, but this leads her further into secrets and lies. The results when her parents find out are painful, and resolving the problem will take courage, honesty, and trust. Dumas (Jaden Toussaint, the Greatest: Episode 5, 2017, etc.) presents a very likable character in Jackie. At 10, she’s young enough to enjoy playing with paper dolls but has a maturity that even older kids can lack. She’s resourceful, as when she wants to measure a red spot on the chrysalegg; lacking calipers, she fashions one from her hairpin. Jackie’s inward struggle about what to obey—her dearest wishes or the parents she loves—is one many readers will understand. The book complicates this question by making Jackie’s parents, especially her mother, strict (as one might expect to keep order in a large family) but undeniably loving and protective as well—it’s not just a question of outwitting clueless adults. Jackie’s feelings about the creature (tender and responsible but also more than a little obsessive) are similarly shaded rather than black-and-white. The ending suggests that an intriguing sequel is to come.
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943169-32-0
Page Count: 212
Publisher: Plum Street Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.
In the ninth book in the Bluford young-adult series, a young Latino man walks away from violence—but at great personal cost.
In a large Southern California city, 16-year-old Martin Luna hangs out on the fringes of gang life. He’s disaffected, fatherless and increasingly drawn into the orbit of the older, rougher Frankie. When a stray bullet kills Martin’s adored 8-year-old brother, Huero, Martin seems to be heading into a life of crime. But Martin’s mother, determined not to lose another son, moves him to another neighborhood—the fictional town of Bluford, where he attends the racially diverse Bluford High. At his new school, the still-grieving Martin quickly makes enemies and gets into trouble. But he also makes friends with a kind English teacher and catches the eye of Vicky, a smart, pretty and outgoing Bluford student. Martin’s first-person narration supplies much of the book’s power. His dialogue is plain, but realistic and believable, and the authors wisely avoid the temptation to lard his speech with dated and potentially embarrassing slang. The author draws a vivid and affecting picture of Martin’s pain and confusion, bringing a tight-lipped teenager to life. In fact, Martin’s character is so well drawn that when he realizes the truth about his friend Frankie, readers won’t feel as if they are watching an after-school special, but as though they are observing the natural progression of Martin’s personal growth. This short novel appears to be aimed at urban teens who don’t often see their neighborhoods portrayed in young-adult fiction, but its sophisticated characters and affecting story will likely have much wider appeal.
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2004
ISBN: 978-1591940173
Page Count: 152
Publisher: Townsend Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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