A creative, if somewhat underdeveloped, adventure.
An intuitive young heroine visits the world of Cloudscape in this middle-grade prequel.
Matilda, a girl from Vietnam adopted by an American family, has a special gift. Whenever there is danger lurking, she is alerted in the form of a stomachache. These premonitions can be extremely valuable, as when she saves a friend from a venomous snake. But sometimes the aches seem to have no source, as when Matilda is practicing jumps with her beloved horse, Merry. When her family visits Oregon’s Rose Festival, Matilda ignores her misgiving about riding the Ferris wheel—a decision that turns into a calamity after her seat belt snaps at the top of the ride. The next thing Matilda knows, she has awakened in an unfamiliar world. A kindly woman named Mrs. O’Carolan explains that she was rescued from her fall by the residents of Cloudscape, a fantastical community floating more than 6,000 feet above the ground. During her first day, Matilda is introduced to a young girl named Kiara, who was rescued from the same carnival ride. The two begin the assimilation process and soon settle into a routine on Cloudscape, where rescued individuals from all over the globe study weather patterns, collect useful items from passing airplanes, and craft cloud formations for the people below. But unlike the residents who appear resigned to remaining in the clouds, Matilda and Kiara harbor a desire to return to their families and lives on Earth. In this prequel to Cloudscape: Charlie’s Story (2016), Courtney’s choice of language is simple yet effective in her illustration of the world, which is imaginative and full of whimsical details. Unfortunately, the lack of clarity concerning certain elements tests suspension of disbelief. For instance, it is never quite clear why Cloudscape’s incredible technologies stop short of being able to return people home. Additionally, the lack of urgency surrounding the central conflict causes the narrative to rely on episodic, quickly resolved dangers for excitement. On the other hand, the authenticity of Matilda’s feelings (dutifully recorded in her journal) is a winning quality.
A creative, if somewhat underdeveloped, adventure.Pub Date: Oct. 28, 2019
ISBN: 978-0-9967059-5-0
Page Count: 189
Publisher: JN Courtney Publications
Review Posted Online: Feb. 10, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
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