by Joan Sprigle-Adair ‧ RELEASE DATE: Jan. 13, 2012
A captivating read, equally as entertaining as it is educational.
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Sprigle-Adair’s debut YA novel tells the story of a young girl who leaves her home in New York City to make the westward journey in a wagon train with her family.
In 1849, 14-year-old Emelie Grandi is heartbroken at having to join her mother, father and siblings on their move to California. Not only must she say goodbye to her extended family, but also to her sweetheart, Aden. Although her father keeps talking about the opportunities out west and the educational value of the trip, danger and tragedy assail them almost from the outset. Emilie makes an ill-conceived attempt at escape early on, but runs up against a man who has less-than-altruistic intentions. Later, after the family befriends an eccentric widow they call Grandma Bertie, Emelie resigns herself to the journey and slowly begins to enjoy herself. Tragedy is never far off, however, due to violent livestock stampedes, the threat of Indian attacks, and cholera from contaminated water supplies. When Grandma Bertie’s box of valuables is stolen, Emelie is determined to recover it. Then, after a depressed fellow traveler falls into a hysterical state, a dreadful revelation comes to pass. Despite the sorrow and loss, Emelie discovers her own resilience and a new chance at love. All of Sprigle-Adair’s characters are distinctive and intriguing, from the free-spirited Grandma Bertie to the downtrodden Rhyss family, who are fleeing a dead-end existence as miners in Kentucky in order to make a new life for themselves out west. The book’s prose is also lusciously vivid throughout: “Outside choruses of frogs shout accusations, and grasses rustle like whispers.” The novel’s many plot twists and surprises will keep readers turning pages, and the narrative pacing is excellent, right up until the rather abrupt ending.
A captivating read, equally as entertaining as it is educational.Pub Date: Jan. 13, 2012
ISBN: 978-1468540956
Page Count: 156
Publisher: AuthorHouse
Review Posted Online: Oct. 22, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 6, 2024
A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.
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A young woman’s experience as a nurse in Vietnam casts a deep shadow over her life.
When we learn that the farewell party in the opening scene is for Frances “Frankie” McGrath’s older brother—“a golden boy, a wild child who could make the hardest heart soften”—who is leaving to serve in Vietnam in 1966, we feel pretty certain that poor Finley McGrath is marked for death. Still, it’s a surprise when the fateful doorbell rings less than 20 pages later. His death inspires his sister to enlist as an Army nurse, and this turn of events is just the beginning of a roller coaster of a plot that’s impressive and engrossing if at times a bit formulaic. Hannah renders the experiences of the young women who served in Vietnam in all-encompassing detail. The first half of the book, set in gore-drenched hospital wards, mildewed dorm rooms, and boozy officers’ clubs, is an exciting read, tracking the transformation of virginal, uptight Frankie into a crack surgical nurse and woman of the world. Her tensely platonic romance with a married surgeon ends when his broken, unbreathing body is airlifted out by helicopter; she throws her pent-up passion into a wild affair with a soldier who happens to be her dead brother’s best friend. In the second part of the book, after the war, Frankie seems to experience every possible bad break. A drawback of the story is that none of the secondary characters in her life are fully three-dimensional: Her dismissive, chauvinistic father and tight-lipped, pill-popping mother, her fellow nurses, and her various love interests are more plot devices than people. You’ll wish you could have gone to Vegas and placed a bet on the ending—while it’s against all the odds, you’ll see it coming from a mile away.
A dramatic, vividly detailed reconstruction of a little-known aspect of the Vietnam War.Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781250178633
Page Count: 480
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Nov. 4, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2023
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by Pete Seeger & Paul Dubois Jacobs & illustrated by Michael Hays ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2001
The seemingly ageless Seeger brings back his renowned giant for another go in a tuneful tale that, like the art, is a bit sketchy, but chockful of worthy messages. Faced with yearly floods and droughts since they’ve cut down all their trees, the townsfolk decide to build a dam—but the project is stymied by a boulder that is too huge to move. Call on Abiyoyo, suggests the granddaughter of the man with the magic wand, then just “Zoop Zoop” him away again. But the rock that Abiyoyo obligingly flings aside smashes the wand. How to avoid Abiyoyo’s destruction now? Sing the monster to sleep, then make it a peaceful, tree-planting member of the community, of course. Seeger sums it up in a postscript: “every community must learn to manage its giants.” Hays, who illustrated the original (1986), creates colorful, if unfinished-looking, scenes featuring a notably multicultural human cast and a towering Cubist fantasy of a giant. The song, based on a Xhosa lullaby, still has that hard-to-resist sing-along potential, and the themes of waging peace, collective action, and the benefits of sound ecological practices are presented in ways that children will both appreciate and enjoy. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-83271-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2001
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