Invites imaginations to run wild with petrifying preternatural possibilities.
A short story collection framed by the tale of a boy who catches the wrong train.
In this British import, a boy runs to catch his train only to find that he’s gotten on the wrong one. In a panic, he gets off at the lonely first stop. While he waits for the return train, an old man and his dog join the boy, and the old man decides to keep the boy company and entertain him with stories. After the first horror story, the boy has had enough, but the man pushes forward with more, and the boy, stuck in the dark, has no choice but to listen. The eerie, atmospheric setup will likely deter those who do not enjoy horror, and should that fail, the twist at the end of the first story will, leaving the rest of the book for connoisseurs of the genre. The supernatural horrors range in subject matter (monsters, haunted cars, and a whole menagerie of dreamlike impossibilities) as well as in length, structure (single-scene vignettes and traditional stories), and back story (with many resolutions simply unexplainable but unpleasant—don’t expect any happy endings here). In between, the boy and the man talk—these launch pads for the stories get quite repetitive, but the framing device comes into play for one last twist. Physical and racial descriptors are generally absent.
Invites imaginations to run wild with petrifying preternatural possibilities. (Short stories/horror. 10-14)Pub Date: July 25, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-338-12125-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: David Fickling/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: April 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
This is no didactic near-future warning of present evils, but a cinematic adventure featuring endearing, compelling heroes
A gripping thriller in dystopic future Los Angeles.
Fifteen-year-olds June and Day live completely different lives in the glorious Republic. June is rich and brilliant, the only candidate ever to get a perfect score in the Trials, and is destined for a glowing career in the military. She looks forward to the day when she can join up and fight the Republic’s treacherous enemies east of the Dakotas. Day, on the other hand, is an anonymous street rat, a slum child who failed his own Trial. He's also the Republic's most wanted criminal, prone to stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. When tragedies strike both their families, the two brilliant teens are thrown into direct opposition. In alternating first-person narratives, Day and June experience coming-of-age adventures in the midst of spying, theft and daredevil combat. Their voices are distinct and richly drawn, from Day’s self-deprecating affection for others to June's Holmesian attention to detail. All the flavor of a post-apocalyptic setting—plagues, class warfare, maniacal soldiers—escalates to greater complexity while leaving space for further worldbuilding in the sequel.
This is no didactic near-future warning of present evils, but a cinematic adventure featuring endearing, compelling heroes . (Science fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25675-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: April 8, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2011
BOOK TO SCREEN
Well-educated American boys from privileged families have abundant options for college and career. For Chiko, their Burmese counterpart, there are no good choices. There is never enough to eat, and his family lives in constant fear of the military regime that has imprisoned Chiko’s physician father. Soon Chiko is commandeered by the army, trained to hunt down members of the Karenni ethnic minority. Tai, another “recruit,” uses his streetwise survival skills to help them both survive. Meanwhile, Tu Reh, a Karenni youth whose village was torched by the Burmese Army, has been chosen for his first military mission in his people’s resistance movement. How the boys meet and what comes of it is the crux of this multi-voiced novel. While Perkins doesn’t sugarcoat her subject—coming of age in a brutal, fascistic society—this is a gentle story with a lot of heart, suitable for younger readers than the subject matter might suggest. It answers the question, “What is it like to be a child soldier?” clearly, but with hope. (author’s note, historical note) (Fiction. 11-14)
Pub Date: July 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-58089-328-2
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2010
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