by John H. Ritter ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 13, 1998
Writing in a vivid, suspenseful style, Ritter debuts with the story of a boy coming into his own as “a thinking man.” In 1921, when some religious folk believe that the left side of a person is the domain of the devil—“contrary to God”—Luke Bledsoe, 13, who is left-handed, is forced to use his right hand or suffer his preacher father’s harsh words and physical abuse. When his family moves to Ohio, Luke accidentally finds out that he has the ability to become an incredible southpaw pitcher, and is tempted by the game his father calls “the devil’s playground.” With the encouragement of his black-sheep Uncle Micah, Luke explores his talent and gathers the courage to stand up to his father’s irrational rules and abuse. Some outstanding scenes include Luke’s thrilling first ride on a steamboat, the harrowing punishment he receives when his father finds him out, and his hilarious and life-altering first professional ballgame, featuring lefty Babe Ruth at bat. Luke’s emotions are meticulously conveyed, and Ritter avoids making the boy’s father a one-dimensional villain, showing his troubled, conflicted psychological make-up. No ordinary baseball book, this is a rare first novel. (Fiction. 12-15)
Pub Date: April 13, 1998
ISBN: 0-399-23185-4
Page Count: 163
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1998
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by Kate DiCamillo ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2001
Themes of freedom and responsibility twine between the lines of this short but heavy novel from the author of Because of Winn-Dixie (2000). Three months after his mother's death, Rob and his father are living in a small-town Florida motel, each nursing sharp, private pain. On the same day Rob has two astonishing encounters: first, he stumbles upon a caged tiger in the woods behind the motel; then he meets Sistine, a new classmate responding to her parents' breakup with ready fists and a big chip on her shoulder. About to burst with his secret, Rob confides in Sistine, who instantly declares that the tiger must be freed. As Rob quickly develops a yen for Sistine's company that gives her plenty of emotional leverage, and the keys to the cage almost literally drop into his hands, credible plotting plainly takes a back seat to character delineation here. And both struggle for visibility beneath a wagonload of symbol and metaphor: the real tiger (and the inevitable recitation of Blake's poem); the cage; Rob's dream of Sistine riding away on the beast's back; a mysterious skin condition on Rob's legs that develops after his mother's death; a series of wooden figurines that he whittles; a larger-than-life African-American housekeeper at the motel who dispenses wisdom with nearly every utterance; and the climax itself, which is signaled from the start. It's all so freighted with layers of significance that, like Lois Lowry's Gathering Blue (2000), Anne Mazer's Oxboy (1995), or, further back, Julia Cunningham's Dorp Dead (1965), it becomes more an exercise in analysis than a living, breathing story. Still, the tiger, "burning bright" with magnificent, feral presence, does make an arresting central image. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-7636-0911-0
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2001
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by Kate DiCamillo ; illustrated by Julie Morstad
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by Kate DiCamillo ; illustrated by Chris Van Dusen
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BOOK TO SCREEN
by Irene Smalls ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1999
There is something profoundly elemental going on in Smalls’s book: the capturing of a moment of unmediated joy. It’s not melodramatic, but just a Saturday in which an African-American father and son immerse themselves in each other’s company when the woman of the house is away. Putting first things first, they tidy up the house, with an unheralded sense of purpose motivating their actions: “Then we clean, clean, clean the windows,/wipe, wipe, wash them right./My dad shines in the windows’ light.” When their work is done, they head for the park for some batting practice, then to the movies where the boy gets to choose between films. After a snack, they work their way homeward, racing each other, doing a dance step or two, then “Dad takes my hand and slows down./I understand, and we slow down./It’s a long, long walk./We have a quiet talk and smile.” Smalls treats the material without pretense, leaving it guileless and thus accessible to readers. Hays’s artwork is wistful and idyllic, just as this day is for one small boy. (Picture book. 5-8)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-316-79899-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
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by Irene Smalls & illustrated by Cathy Ann Johnson
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