Holland recreates the battles of thousands of Irish immigrants against poverty and prejudice in New York City in the late 1800s. Kevin O’Donnell fights to earn pennies to buy food for his little sister. Luck strikes when Kevin steals his favorite newspaper to sell and is caught by the owner, Mr. Langley. He takes a shine to Kevin, offers him a job as a messenger, and later begins to teach him to write; in the meantime, Kevin succumbs to his own prejudices, remaining suspicious of his wealthy boss. When his father is injured, Kevin assumes financial responsibility for the entire family, while also nursing a dream of working as a reporter on a newspaper. Falsely accused of theft, Kevin quits, then turns to stealing in an effort to keep the landlord at bay. Mr. Langley rescues him when Kevin is arrested, and everything comes out all right. Holland creates believable characters, driven to act by need and circumstance, and torn between right and wrong. The book may be useful for helping children understand a few basic concepts about writing while offering a suspenseful introduction to the difficulties faced by immigrants. (Fiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: July 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8234-1422-1
Page Count: 137
Publisher: Holiday House
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
PLB 0-688-13166-2 King Midas And The Golden Touch ($16.00; PLB $15.63; Apr.; 32 pp.; 0-688-13165-4; PLB 0-688-13166-2): The familiar tale of King Midas gets the golden touch in the hands of Craft and Craft (Cupid and Psyche, 1996). The author takes her inspiration from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s retelling, capturing the essence of the tale with the use of pithy dialogue and colorful description. Enchanting in their own right, the illustrations summon the Middle Ages as a setting, and incorporate colors so lavish that when they are lost to the uniform gold spurred by King Midas’s touch, the point of the story is further burnished. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-688-13165-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
Lunge-Larsen and Preus debut with this story of a flower that blooms for the first time to commemorate the uncommon courage of a girl who saves her people from illness. The girl, an Ojibwe of the northern woodlands, knows she must journey to the next village to get the healing herb, mash-ki- ki, for her people, who have all fallen ill. After lining her moccasins with rabbit fur, she braves a raging snowstorm and crosses a dark frozen lake to reach the village. Then, rather than wait for morning, she sets out for home while the villagers sleep. When she loses her moccasins in the deep snow, her bare feet are cut by icy shards, and bleed with every step until she reaches her home. The next spring beautiful lady slippers bloom from the place where her moccasins were lost, and from every spot her injured feet touched. Drawing on Ojibwe sources, the authors of this fluid retelling have peppered the tale with native words and have used traditional elements, e.g., giving voice to the forces of nature. The accompanying watercolors, with flowing lines, jewel tones, and decorative motifs, give stately credence to the story’s iconic aspects. (Picture book/folklore. 4-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-395-90512-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1999
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