Zena fans take heed: Yolen and Harris draw a minor figure from old Greek tales front and center for an edifying, as well as action-filled, encounter with quarreling gods, monsters, rival Amazons, and—ugh—men. To save her mother’s life and throne, teenaged princess Hippolyta spirits her newly born brother off to his father, the arrogant Trojan king Laomedon, in hopes of gathering military aid. Instead, she’s lashed to a headland for a sea monster to eat. Enter Laomedon’s other son, chatty nine-year-old Tithonus, to free her, and to accompany her on a subsequent mission to the ancient, dead city where the Amazons had originally been forced to become warriors after their men were all slain in a squabble between Artemis and Apollo. The authors energetically carry their irritable, warlike protagonist and her garrulous companion (Tithonus: “I knew we’d have been better off with a chariot. A person doesn’t get cranky in a chariot”) past one threat after another, as well as Hippolyta’s firm conviction that all males are hateful. Ultimately, she even defends Tithonus from bloodthirsty Artemis, and learns that her own father is Ares, presented here as a wise, big-brotherly sort who pops up repeatedly in various guises to save Hippolyta’s bacon. As in the “Young Heroes” series opener, Odysseus in the Serpent Maze (2001), the level of explicit violence may be low but the action is nonstop, fleshed out with accurate details from both history and myth that will give readers a taste of what the classical stories themselves have to offer. (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: March 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-06-028736-5
Page Count: 256
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2002
From a popular Australian writer, nine more stories in a follow-up to Uncanny! and Unreal! (both 1991). In ``Birdman,'' a scrofulous magic headpiece forces a bully to plunge his face into dung; Mr. Simpkin is trapped on ``The Velvet Throne'' in a public loo where graffiti comes true; ``Little Squirt'' finally wins a certain contest in the school restroom: ``Sam...blows his top. He hits the roof. But not in the same way that I do.'' Now and then, Jennings gets away from alimentary humor for effects macabre (a teenager compounding disasters when a magic ``Harmonica'' gets stuck in her mouth) and even tender (a clumsy ``Cry Baby'' helps his Grandpop find the elusive Water-Holding Frog). Broad plots, surprise endings, unsubtle humor, and just deserts all `round. (Short Stories. 11-13)
Pub Date: March 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-670-84734-8
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1993
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Annie Rye Footman, ten, has no use for her three older half- sisters, especially after they join her Georgia sharecropper family permanently, but in time she learns to take her Grandma's advice to ``bear along wit each other.'' This first novel, based on the author's childhood in the 50's, is rich in vividly felt moments: the pleasure of buying candy at the ``rolling store''; the frustration of turning the other cheek to racist remarks and intimidation; Annie Rye's terror when snakes invade the house; her simple glee at buying a present for her heroic, hard-working father. Annie Rye and seven- year-old Brother are bright, lively characters (``Brother, look where you going.'' ``I is. You just in my way''). The rest of the cast is sketchy, and the plot takes a contrived turn near the end when Annie Rye's father literally turns away from an angry bigot with a pitchfork to rescue the man's daughter from a well. Nonetheless, Smothers explores the value of strong family bonds- -and Annie Rye's reluctant but ultimately wholehearted acceptance of her new sibs—with some insight. A promising debut. (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-679-80360-2
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1991
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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