A compassionate story of homelessness and friendship, recycled art and community.
In Chandigarh, a town in northern India, is Nek Chand’s Rock Garden, a magnificent, 40-acre garden of some 5,000 sculptures made from recycled ceramics, industrial waste, and discarded household scrap—and the real-life inspiration for this historical novel.
Bradbury (A Moment Comes, 2013, etc.), who worked as a teacher in Chandigarh, offers a thoughtful novel based on this story, featuring 12-year-old dark-haired (and presumed dark-skinned) protagonist Ram. A shrewd orphan street kid, Ram accidently discovers Nek Chand’s secret, built over years on unused government land, and is delighted to help him make those beautiful figurines. When the situation turns desperate and the garden is threatened, Ram shows them to his friend Daya and her father, Mr. Singh, an art-loving urban planner who helps save this incredible folk art from being demolished. Intertwined with Ram’s story, and printed on pages with a patterned background, is an incomplete version of the Ramayana, the mythological legend of Rama, Sita, and the 10-headed demon Ravana, as it parallels Ram’s life. Some details do not conform to the norms of traditional Indian society. Why does Mr. Singh allow his daughter to roam the streets with homeless urchin Ram? Why doesn’t Ram address Mr. Singh and Nek Chand with proper respect, as Singhji and Nekji? Apart from this, Bradbury immerses readers in Ram’s world, authentically describing the sights, smells, and sounds of Chandigarh’s streets and the daily lives of its inhabitants. Readers will wish for visuals to complement Bradbury’s descriptions of Chand’s creations; she does provide further information on both it and the Ramayana in an author’s note.
A compassionate story of homelessness and friendship, recycled art and community. (glossary) (Historical fiction. 9-13)Pub Date: June 6, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4424-6827-6
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2017
An elegy, timeless and entrancing.
In a Turkey both real and imagined, a doting father commissions a renowned painter to show his ailing son the world.
Sickened by fresh air, soil, and sunlight, young Madurer is confined to his three white-walled rooms, books and pictures his only window to the world beyond. The painter Sakumat pours his lifeblood into his work, each landscape and invention like an act of holy creation. Together, they devise a great work that will become Madurer’s world—mountains and villages, sea and sky, and a meadow full of flowers and glowrushes that light up at night, ever changing and growing even as the light of Madurer’s life fades away. Translated from the original Italian, half this story’s beauty lies in the tenderness of the love that grows between its three central characters, familial and familiar, like a careworn blanket. The other half comes from the language. Each word is chosen and placed with reverent care, creating a rich, textured landscape that, like a prayer, or Sakumat’s paintings, seems like the stuff of dreams given physical form. There’s something utterly spellbinding about how gently, and inexorably, the story flows on toward a conclusion that’s both heartbreaking and hopeful. Character descriptions, fittingly, are left largely to the imagination, though both father and son have dark hair.
An elegy, timeless and entrancing. (Fiction. 9-13)Pub Date: Oct. 17, 2023
ISBN: 9781681377506
Page Count: 120
Publisher: NYRB Classics
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A kindhearted, authentic outing.
A middle school jester jockeys with real-life friendships and internet fame.
Despite seventh grader Jack Reynolds’ confident demeanor, he suffers from a paucity of pals—a crisis belying his reputation as Franklin Middle School’s resident comedian and his thousands of MyTube subscribers. When fair-weather friend Zane ditches him for a jock, Jack attends an after-school speed friendshipping session, seeking free doughnuts and fresh acquaintances. He connects with Mario, fun yet phoneless due to an uber-strict mother; Brielle, who’s pretty, smart, and motivated; and Tasha, a brainy, reserved fashionista. The first spark fizzles when Mario’s mom objects to their joint MyTube appearance. When Jack loses his smartphone privileges, a viral video he made with Brielle catches the eye of a MyTube superstar—but Jack drops the ball, leaving Brielle feeling used. Time with Tasha boosts Jack’s math grade, but a Slurpee mishap threatens this relationship, too. When Jack reunites with his phone—and Zane—he makes a final misstep, forcing him to reflect upon and adjust his approaches to humor and other people. Can he find a way to mend his fledgling friendships—or is he destined to become a sad clown? Costner’s nondidactic exploration of digital technology and social media sustains a quiet insistence that lasting connections are sweetened by humor but leavened with sincerity. The book features occasional expressive cartoon-style illustrations. Jack reads as White; there is diversity in the supporting cast.
A kindhearted, authentic outing. (Humor. 9-13)Pub Date: March 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-593-11870-2
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Dec. 23, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
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