Predictable execution hampers what could have been an intriguing exploration of the mechanics of corruption
A baffling illness threatens a fantasy land.
Ani’s up in a tree picking a vinefruit when wardens capture her. She’s done nothing wrong, but the wardens say that the red stain on her arm from the vinefruit juice is a symptom of the Scourge, a deadly, contagious, always-fatal disease. It’s clearly a pretext: before they found her, Ani heard them mention their assignment to “come get” several people of Ani’s ethnic group. The River People—forbidden from voting or owning property, not bathing “often enough”—are a stereotypical blend of Romany and indigenous peoples. The ruling townsfolk, on the other hand, have no specified ethnicity and seem white. The governor diagnoses Ani and her best friend, Weevil, with the Scourge and sends them to the Colony, a quarantined island from which nobody returns. (Colony wardens, oddly, seem immune to the Scourge.) Ani and Weevil play Colony rabble-rousers, resisting unfair treatment and working to untangle the governor’s statement that “River People are the Scourge.” Nielsen provides two major plot twists, and both are robust and horrifying in content; however, the method and pace of divulging them are meandering and vague, lacking punch. Characters are stock, and the prose sometimes overexplains, even stretching beyond Ani’s first-person voice to reveal other characters’ emotions.
Predictable execution hampers what could have been an intriguing exploration of the mechanics of corruption . (Fantasy. 10-13)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-545-68245-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
Although overlong and narrowly aimed at romantically minded early-adolescent girls, this story will reward tenacious readers...
After 13-year-old Mabry Collins is dropped by her heartthrob, Nick Wainwright, (her 19th straight dumping in a row), Thad Bell, a boy with his own grudge against Nick, promises to teach her how to become the yin to Nick’s yang.
Thad’s lessons come with a condition, though: once Nick is smitten, Mabry has to promise to break his heart. It’s a cute premise, though the problems the two protagonists face are so disproportionately weighted that its execution feels uneven. Mabry, Stewart’s one-note histrionic protagonist, primarily spends her days obsessing about love, picking up her exaggerated romantic ideas from La Vida Rica, a telenovela she watches religiously. On the other hand, Thad’s father recently died in an accident that also left his mother disabled, and he’s still reeling from the loss as well as his new familial responsibilities. So while Mabry’s problems are essentially trivial, Thad’s are deeply profound, which makes it difficult to summon up sympathy for the tediously self-involved heroine. Still, Thad and Mabry have a nice give-and-take—they slowly develop a real connection—and as Mabry grows emotionally, readers’ impatience should largely dissipate.
Although overlong and narrowly aimed at romantically minded early-adolescent girls, this story will reward tenacious readers with a touching conclusion. (Fiction. 10-13)Pub Date: Dec. 29, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4231-7181-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Well-crafted and emotionally compelling, with a somewhat regrettable setup.
A white American boy living in Japan faces serious bullying.
Jason’s family moved to Japan three years ago. Kamakura is an “out-of-the-way / seaside neighborhood / where hardly anyone / isn’t Japanese,” and Jason’s “the nail / that sticks out / just waiting / to be hammered down.” In school, he’s matched with five unfriendly classmates to sit, study, and do school chores with for the next two months. They taunt, punch, and kick him, even whacking him with a broom handle, ostensibly for getting a word wrong or having an accent. The text subtly yet steadily ratchets up suspense by using line breaks and spacing instead of periods; the free verse hums with a sense of impending danger. Is it the bullies that threaten or something natural, like a coastal typhoon? At the crisis moment, Jason’s sharp-as-a-tack younger sister leaps in to help, creating a satisfying culmination of their unidealized but deep and companionable relationship. It’s unfortunate that Thompson once again (The Language Inside, 2013) chooses a white protagonist’s viewpoint on Japan and that she doesn’t provide him Japanese peers who are as strong as the bullies; there are certainly kind Japanese characters here, but they’re mostly adults, leaving an impression of two bullied and heroic white American siblings amid hostile Japanese kids.
Well-crafted and emotionally compelling, with a somewhat regrettable setup. (glossary, cultural guide, resources) (Verse fiction. 10-13)Pub Date: April 19, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-62779-134-2
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2016
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