A tense murder mystery, with a courageous young heroine falsely accused plus a stampede of mammoths and just enough crone's magic to add spice to the solution. Shiva, who discovered the Great Skull of Saber in time to prevent a war between her people and the Neanderthal ``ogres'' (Shiva, 1990), finds the body of an old woman at a water hole. Before she can return to her own people with the news, she's captured by a rival tribe who inform her that the old woman was the ``Hag,'' elected by the crones of each tribe and extremely powerful. Beaten, judged, and condemned to death by stoning, Shiva is saved by a cleverly engineered stampede and by her secret friends, the ogres. Throughout, Brennan integrates the theory that the great cave paintings were created by artists trying to communicate what they had seen during experiences in the spirit world. The Hag and the tribal crone overseeing Shiva's education are both capable of out-of-body experiences; Shiva's growing abilities to ``see'' and the fact that such a valuable person might be lost in a petty tribal power struggle add to the tension. Unevenly paced and less closely knit than Shiva, but still an atmospheric, engrossing tale. (Fiction. 11-14)
Pub Date: Sept. 30, 1991
ISBN: 0-06-020741-8
Page Count: 275
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1991
Eli (12) feels old enough to stay home alone in L.A. when his rock-star father goes on the road—but he's sent to his aunt and uncle, Maud and Danny, in a small town in the Willamette Valley. Flashy-as-they-come Eli soon sheds his snakeskin boots and diamond earring—though not his long hair or his songwriting (lyrics head each chapter and form an appendix); in gardening, chopping wood, and the quiet forest all around he finds something that he needs. Soon, Eli learns that his favorite stand of fir is to be logged off; in protest, he climbs a tree in the loggers' path and refuses to leave until a judge orders a hearing. The author leans hard on Oregonians for their narrow-mindedness, yet Danny is easygoing, and he and Maud—who is permanently disabled by an auto accident—are wise and personable. Eli, too, is intelligent and adaptable; after he learns that his stay is likely to be extended, he cuts his hair and makes a successful effort to fit in at the local school. A simply told first novel featuring an effective act of nonviolence. (Fiction. 11-14)
Pub Date: Oct. 30, 1991
ISBN: 0-689-50527-2
Page Count: 144
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1991
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Joey has been on Kate's case ever since their parents married, with Linda (Joey's sister) trying to make peace between them. Now, after a boating accident miles from camp, Linda lies semiconscious with a broken leg and other injuries; Joey and Kate are going to have to cooperate to get her to a doctor. Though peppered with cliffhangers, the tale of their rugged hike never develops much tension because Masterton keeps breaking the narrative flow with flashback entries from Kate's diary, describing both her reaction to her father's remarriage and Joey's relentless persecution as he takes out his grief over his own father's death on Kate. The climax is further vitiated by a pointless episode tacked on at the end. Joey's hostility does gradually abate, but not before he utters some unnatural-sounding dialogue (``No! None of us will get back! We'll die here on this stinking river...'') and pop psychology (``The shrink said because my dad is dead I have to be angry at somebody else''). A first novel that is overpredictable and needlessly complex, with too many stops for analysis and explanation. Step- siblings iron out their differences more convincingly in many other books—e.g., Hahn's lively The Spanish Kidnapping Disaster (p. 173). (Fiction. 11-14)*justify no*
Pub Date: Sept. 30, 1991
ISBN: 0-689-31675-5
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1991
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