Tries too hard to be transgressive, but a fast-paced, entertaining read nonetheless.
One action-packed day in the life of a bunch of misfits and losers.
“Things could always be worse,” thinks one man in the opening pages of Hefter’s humorous, energetic debut novel. That’s certainly true for the motley cast of characters, most of whom start out at what appears to be rock bottom only to find out that there’s further to fall. Jonah, whose tale of woe kicks things off, is a self-loathing schlub “hurdling toward 30” with an emotionally distant girlfriend who is far out of his league and a crappy job as a personal assistant to a so-called spiritual leader. Skye and Kassie, meanwhile, are best friends who’ve taken jobs as topless maids to pay the rent on their dumpy studio apartment. Each of these luckless but likable failures wants something more out of life, but they can’t quite figure out how to make it happen. Virtually everyone else the trio encounters over the course of the following 24 hours is creepy, violent or just unpleasant. R.J. Bloom, Jonah’s hypocritical, sadomasochistic boss, may destroy the one thing that Jonah values in life. Base Ghost, a drug-dealing, junkie cop, hunts down Kassie and Skye after he hires them to clean his apartment and they double-cross him. Dirt Koharski, Jonah’s drinking buddy, revels in broadcasting tales of his unusual sexual practices. Many events are simply bizarre for the sake of being bizarre: A woman dies after accidentally drinking facial cleanser, a man suffers a gruesome death while masturbating in the bathtub. Darkly funny and often crude, the novel owes an obvious debt to movies like Pulp Fiction, both in the interlocking stories it tells and its ironic celebration of violence. Everything happens in short, kinetic bursts, not surprising since Hefter’s background is in writing for film and television. The breakneck speed means it’s occasionally hard to get a handle on any one character or storyline before the novel veers off in another direction. Yet Hefter capably brings the various threads together in the end.
Tries too hard to be transgressive, but a fast-paced, entertaining read nonetheless.Pub Date: March 10, 2012
ISBN: 978-0983693932
Page Count: 195
Publisher: Cerro Chato
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2012
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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