by Jeff Shaara ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 7, 2006
Likely to appeal to younger readers, but World War II buffs and adult fans of historical fiction will expect more.
The first in a World War II trilogy forms a weak foundation for the series.
The author has covered many American conflicts in earlier works, most recently World War I (To The Last Man, 2004). This time the stage is World War II, but despite the scenery, the play itself is far from dramatic. In a lengthy preface, Shaara wonders what he can add to the legacy of writings about the conflict. He explains that his goal is to tell the story from multiple perspectives, “and to tell their story through their eyes.” He chooses notable names (Eisenhower, Rommel, Patton) and a few dogfaces (including Private Jack Logan). The timeline runs from the North African campaign through the invasion of Sicily. The preface, lengthy introduction and overall framework give it the feel of a book for young readers. Here is Erwin Rommel, desperate for supplies in order to succeed in capturing Egypt. Here is Jake Logan peering down the sight of the main gun on his tank. Here is Dwight Eisenhower, trying to balance the egos of George Patton and Bernard Montgomery. Shaara relies on history to give the story cohesion, but his characters remain mere sketches. Both Rommel and the author seem to be running low on fuel. Shaara adds dialogue and inner monologue to otherwise traditional date/time/place historical text. The action of a tank battle occurs over a few pages, while the lengthy conversations at each side’s headquarters can run twice as long. Highly charged moments fade quickly between the shuffling of perspectives. Lengthy summaries of minor movements and maps used to illustrate the text impede narrative flow. The multiple voices do not achieve harmony.
Likely to appeal to younger readers, but World War II buffs and adult fans of historical fiction will expect more.Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46141-X
Page Count: 672
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2006
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by Susan Crandall ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 2, 2013
Young Starla is an endearing character whose spirited observations propel this nicely crafted story.
Crandall (Sleep No More, 2010, etc.) delivers big with a coming-of-age story set in Mississippi in 1963 and narrated by a precocious 9-year-old.
Due in part to tradition, intimidation and Jim Crow laws, segregation is very much ingrained into the Southern lifestyle in 1963. Few white children question these rules, least of all Starla Caudelle, a spunky young girl who lives with her stern, unbending grandmother in Cayuga Springs, Miss., and spends an inordinate amount of time on restriction for her impulsive actions and sassy mouth. Starla’s dad works on an oil rig in the Gulf; her mother abandoned the family to seek fame and fortune in Nashville when Starla was 3. In her youthful innocence, Starla’s convinced that her mother’s now a big singing star, and she dreams of living with her again one day, a day that seems to be coming more quickly than Starla’s anticipated. Convinced that her latest infraction is about to land her in reform school, Starla decides she has no recourse but to run away from home and head to Nashville to find her mom. Ill prepared for the long, hot walk and with little concept of time and distance, Starla becomes weak and dehydrated as she trudges along the hot, dusty road. She gladly accepts water and a ride from Eula, a black woman driving an old truck, and finds, to her surprise, that she’s not Eula’s only passenger. Inside a basket is a young white baby, an infant supposedly abandoned outside a church, whom Eula calls James. Although Eula doesn’t intend to drive all the way to Nashville, when she shows up at her home with the two white children, a confrontation with her husband forces her into becoming a part of Starla’s journey, and it’s this journey that creates strong bonds between the two: They help each other face fears as they each become stronger individuals. Starla learns firsthand about the abuse and scare tactics used to intimidate blacks and the skewed assumption of many whites that blacks are inferior beings. Assisted by a black schoolteacher who shows Eula and Starla unconditional acceptance and kindness, both ultimately learn that love and kinship transcend blood ties and skin color.
Young Starla is an endearing character whose spirited observations propel this nicely crafted story.Pub Date: July 2, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4767-0772-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2013
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by Lisa Wingate ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 6, 2017
Wingate sheds light on a shameful true story of child exploitation but is less successful in engaging readers in her...
Avery Stafford, a lawyer, descendant of two prominent Southern families and daughter of a distinguished senator, discovers a family secret that alters her perspective on heritage.
Wingate (Sisters, 2016, etc.) shifts the story in her latest novel between present and past as Avery uncovers evidence that her Grandma Judy was a victim of the Tennessee Children’s Home Society and is related to a woman Avery and her father meet when he visits a nursing home. Although Avery is living at home to help her parents through her father’s cancer treatment, she is also being groomed for her own political career. Readers learn that investigating her family’s past is not part of Avery's scripted existence, but Wingate's attempts to make her seem torn about this are never fully developed, and descriptions of her chemistry with a man she meets as she's searching are also unconvincing. Sections describing the real-life orphanage director Georgia Tann, who stole poor children, mistreated them, and placed them for adoption with wealthy clients—including Joan Crawford and June Allyson—are more vivid, as are passages about Grandma Judy and her siblings. Wingate’s fans and readers who enjoy family dramas will find enough to entertain them, and book clubs may enjoy dissecting the relationship and historical issues in the book.
Wingate sheds light on a shameful true story of child exploitation but is less successful in engaging readers in her fictional characters' lives.Pub Date: June 6, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-425-28468-1
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: March 20, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2017
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