Over-the-top fun for readers who can overlook the implausibilities.
It’s 1961 in Cullman, Alabama, and Johnny Cannon has more troubles than any “almost-thirteen-year-old” ought to have.
Johnny is living an extraordinary life for an Alabama country boy. He’s good at hunting, though not so good at school, and he’s an engaging raconteur. In this overstuffed debut, Johnny is friends with African-American preacher’s kid Willie Parkins and actually pitches for Willie’s otherwise all-black baseball team, risking the attention of the Ku Klux Klan. Johnny also accidentally cuts off Martha Macker’s ponytail, pursues a lame moneymaking scheme that ignites racial strife, almost perishes in a tornado and wrecks his father’s truck. And that’s only the first part of Johnny’s saga. When his father builds a military-style radio station in their shed—it turns out he’s involved in the Bay of Pigs invasion—the story becomes a series of madcap and increasingly implausible events (think Dead End in Norvelt on steroids). He encounters Che Guevara and Fidel Castro, pilots an airplane to make an escape, confronts the Klan, lies to a CIA agent and launches himself like Superman off of his roof. Less would have been more here, as Johnny and Willie are well-drawn characters to care about, and Cullman’s a large-enough world for them to live out their stories.
Over-the-top fun for readers who can overlook the implausibilities. (Historical action. 9-14)Pub Date: Oct. 14, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4814-0003-9
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: July 15, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Slick sleuthing punctuated by action on the boards and insights into differences that matter—and those that don’t.
Brothers, one neurodivergent, team up to shoot baskets and find a thief.
With the coach spit-bellowing at him to play better or get out, basketball tryouts are such a disaster for 11-year-old Green that he pelts out of the gym—becoming the chief suspect to everyone except his fiercely protective older brother, Cedar, when a valuable ring vanishes from the coach’s office. Used to being misunderstood, Green is less affected by the assumption of his guilt than Cedar, whose violent reactions risk his suspension. Switching narrative duties in alternating first-person chapters, the brothers join forces to search for clues to the real thief—amassing notes, eliminating possibilities (only with reluctance does Green discard Ringwraiths from his exhaustive list of possible perps), and, on the way to an ingenious denouement, discovering several schoolmates and grown-ups who, like Cedar, see Green as his own unique self, not just another “special needs” kid. In an author’s note, King writes that he based his title characters on family members, adding an element of conviction to his portrayals of Green as a smart, unathletic tween with a wry sense of humor and of Cedar’s attachment to him as founded in real affection, not just duty. Ultimately, the author finds positive qualities to accentuate in most of the rest of the cast too, ending on a tide of apologies and fence-mendings. Cedar and Green default to White.
Slick sleuthing punctuated by action on the boards and insights into differences that matter—and those that don’t. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Aug. 23, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-66590-261-8
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Doesn’t go beyond face value.
Twelve-year-old Zailey is curious about the world outside her town.
At a very young age, Zailey moved with her grandmother to Gladder Hill, an experimental community that demonizes the Superficial: Children are told tales about the mirror demon, words relating to physical appearance are banned, and authorities go to extreme lengths to keep all reflective surfaces out, even pumping oxygen into the water to keep it cloudy. As an artist with an eidetic memory and a fascination with drawing faces, Zailey feels guilt over her secret sketchbook of portraits and fears it could get her and her grandmother evicted. When a classmate discovers it and confesses that he too wonders what his face looks like, they bond over their shared curiosity about the rest of the world. The first half of the book plods along, slowly showing life in the community. In the second act, an accident gives Zailey a chance to escape and chase after a personal mystery of her own. On one hand, the second story arc is far more compelling, with greater tension. However, it’s built upon distracting implausibilities. Regrettably, the body image themes go underexplored and are never fully integrated into the plot. The conclusion relies on a deus ex machina that undermines the stakes. The town’s rules create a race-blind default (Zailey and her classmates don’t appear to know about the concept of race, although they notice one another’s physical differences).
Doesn’t go beyond face value. (author’s note, resources) (Speculative fiction. 9-14)Pub Date: Feb. 21, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-4926-5535-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Sourcebooks Young Readers
Review Posted Online: Nov. 28, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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