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The Blue Teardrops of Farewell

A deeply pensive, poetic book, propelled by ideas more than plot, that’s somewhat hampered by an awkward translation.

A woman remembers her dead lover and explores philosophical topics in 20th-century Argentina in this debut novella.

Steinberg (El Malestar y la Traiciṓn: Ensayos, 1995) brings the reader into Argentina’s Jewish community along with Elvira, whose lover David was killed in 1975. Elvira’s story moves back and forth in time as she slowly explains what happened to David, and recounts stories from her family history, her lovers in the years after David’s death, and her eventual confrontation with the man who was responsible for his killing. Elvira’s narration follows a stream-of-consciousness pattern, shifting between first- and third-person perspectives and between elements of the story’s plot and Elvira’s inner thoughts. (Recalling David, she muses: “I don’t know why I always remember him walking. I had met him when I was fifteen and he was eighteen but I had always imagined he was too mature for everything life would bring his way, even for death.”) Frequent references to maté, Jorge Luis Borges, the newspaper Clarín, and Buenos Aires neighborhoods root the story firmly in its Argentine setting, while tales of ancestors in the shtetls and the exploration of the cabala develop the book’s Jewish themes. The volume, which assumes readers have little knowledge of Argentina, relies on footnotes that appear on nearly every page to keep them informed and to translate the handful of Portuguese words sprinkled into the text, not a common literary practice. Elvira is a poet at heart, and Steinberg’s prose is flowery and descriptive. Sometimes the translation from Spanish results in elegant, eye-catching prose (“The secret was to remember them just by the way their belly buttons looked. They then drew up a marvelous catalogue of navel archaeologies, trying to identify exactly all their qualities and details”). But more often, the translation is clumsy or incoherent: “with her chin on her left hand fist”; “His parents were cousins, that’s why his last name was geometrically reproduced in a children’s maze, almost all of them boys, that would boast of their place in the family tree.” While the novella is unlikely to appeal to plot-driven readers, its poetic and metaphysical tendencies make it suitable for those in search of more conceptual fiction.

A deeply pensive, poetic book, propelled by ideas more than plot, that’s somewhat hampered by an awkward translation.

Pub Date: N/A

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Hermleigh Press

Review Posted Online: Jan. 17, 2016

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JUPITER STORM

In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.

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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

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BROTHERS IN ARMS

BLUFORD HIGH SERIES #9

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

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