Flowers delivers an imperfect but touching contemporary novel that is sardonically relevant in its treatment of...
Fleeing drug traffickers in Mexico, Juan Pablo and his best friend, Rocio, are on the run and hope to seek refuge in the U.S.
In present-day El Rosario, one of Mexico’s butterfly sanctuaries, Juan Pablo and his abuela Elena and their neighbors Rocio and her abuelo Mario find themselves surrounded by narcotraffickers in a mostly abandoned village. In an attempt to save them all from the cartel, Juan Pablo uses his grandmother’s herbs to poison the group of men—though unfortunately, within hours, the two friends lose their debilitated grandparents. Now on the run from the Hunter, the cartel’s infamous human bloodhound, the two traverse the Mexican desert, hitch rides, acquire help from benevolent strangers, and travel by water to reach safety. In a sobering episode, Juan Pablo, a bilingual reader and musician, finds himself alone in a children’s immigration detention center, where he is recruited to translate conversations. Far from a light read, the novel delves into a variety of hardships: violence and murder, hints of rape and abuse, and animals in danger (a dog is shot; a whale is trapped in netting). Drugs and narcotraffickers have affected almost everyone. Although the content is powerful, its expression is sometimes clumsy. Readers may have trouble getting past the periodic misuse of Spanish, choppy writing, and clunky transitions.
Flowers delivers an imperfect but touching contemporary novel that is sardonically relevant in its treatment of drug-trafficking, immigration, and human rights issues. (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: May 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5072-0214-2
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Merit Press
Review Posted Online: March 14, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2017
Although primarily a novel of action, character development is skillfully interwoven to provide motivation for Andy and...
This gripping psycho-mystery ends with several plot threads left unresolved, but it should have wide appeal, especially among reluctant readers.
Fifteen-year-old Andy receives what appears to be a prank phone call: “I’ve killed her,” a man named Zeke confesses. When no heinous crime is subsequently reported, everyone tells Andy he must forget the incident. But Andy becomes obsessed with finding the would-be victim and her potential murderer. Using clues gathered from the initial phone conversation, he unravels the identity of the two and masterminds a dangerous meeting to expose the murderer and vindicate himself.
Although primarily a novel of action, character development is skillfully interwoven to provide motivation for Andy and Zeke. Short paragraphs, simple sentence structure, and a terse vocabulary effectively heighten the tension, culminating in a taut climax when Andy finds himself at Zeke’s mercy. The novel’s ending is perturbing (Andy never confesses to his role in Zeke’s accidental death, and his father decides to throw away the evidence linking his son with the dead man), but it does offer the opportunity for discussing the moral and psychological implications of the novel. (12-16)Pub Date: Oct. 31, 1986
ISBN: 0027077608
Page Count: 222
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1986
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Nevertheless, readers will appreciate Ori's gently self-deprecating humor and the lively Web postings and texts woven...
Self-conscious Orion "Ori" Taylor is the front man for a promising, but nameless band in this teen drama.
Encouraged by some good local press, The Band to Be Named Later enters itself in a Battle of the Bands and subsequently auditions bass players while Ori works at strengthening his nerves. Confounding this process is the presence of his older brother, Del, who was once Ori's idol—until Del failed to keep up his grades while on a lacrosse scholarship at college. Humiliated to be back at home, Del takes his frustrations out on Ori. When a girl Ori is crushing on seems to throw him over for his brother, tensions run even higher. Vega has imbued her tale with well-developed characters—Ori's first-person voice is sympathetic, especially coming to life when he's singing and playing guitar. For all that, the tone seems unusually sweet, given that the novel's focus is a high-school rock band: How many 16-year-old boys confine themselves using phrases like, "What the heck…" in a peer-only environment? Moreover, as the strife between the brothers draws out, its protraction may lead readers to expect a twist or a more of a revelation than what actually manifests.
Nevertheless, readers will appreciate Ori's gently self-deprecating humor and the lively Web postings and texts woven throughout that help tell the story . (Fiction. 12-16)Pub Date: March 5, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-316-13310-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Jan. 17, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2012
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BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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