Zachary believes his father has been dead since he was five; like younger brother Joshua, he recognizes that his mother has done an admirable job of raising them. Then an art class assignment and sessions with his psychologist bring him close to the source of nightmares he's been having. Suddenly, Zack recalls events of 13 years ago and learns that his father's ``death'' (i.e., disappearance from their lives) was part of a bizarre divorce settlement. He and his father, a moderately successful painter, happily reunite while Zack takes the first steps toward independence from his domineering mother. It's disappointing when both Joshua and his mother blot out the truth with little more than angry shrugs, but Sweeney handles the melodrama with ease, creating characters and emotions worthy of the explosive passions that resulted in Zack's dilemma. Not all is tidily resolved, nor should it be; most memorable is a scene when a five-year-old Zack and his father made an aborted attempt to run away from home. A study in paternal love and good intentions gone awry, in a story of YA angst transcended. (Fiction. 12+)
Pub Date: May 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-385-30841-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 1993
An inventive, character-driven twist breathes new life into tired fantasy trends.
Amid a war and rising civil unrest, a young thief discovers the shocking power within her that sparks a revolution.
At 17, Mare knows that without an apprenticeship or job, her next birthday will bring a conscription to join the war. She contributes to her poor family’s income the only way she can, stealing from the Silvers, who possess myriad powers and force her and her fellow Reds into servitude. The Silvers literally bleed silver, and they can manipulate metal, plants and animals, among many other talents. When Mare’s best friend, Kilorn, loses his job and is doomed to conscription, she is determined to change his fate. She stumbles into a mysterious stranger after her plan goes awry and is pulled out of her village and into the world of Silver royalty. Once inside the palace walls, it isn’t long before Mare learns that powers unknown to red-blooded humans lie within her, powers that could lead a revolution. Familiar tropes abound. Mare is revealed as a great catalyst for change among classes and is groomed from rags to riches, and of course, seemingly kind characters turn out to be foes. However, Aveyard weaves a compelling new world, and Mare and the two men in her life evolve intriguingly as class tension rises. Revolution supersedes romance, setting the stage for action-packed surprises.
An inventive, character-driven twist breathes new life into tired fantasy trends. (Fantasy. 13 & up)Pub Date: Feb. 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-231063-7
Page Count: 400
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Nov. 10, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
BOOK TO SCREEN
Characters to love, quips to snort at, insights to ponder: typical Spinelli.
For two teenagers, a small town’s annual cautionary ritual becomes both a life- and a death-changing experience.
On the second Wednesday in June, every eighth grader in Amber Springs, Pennsylvania, gets a black shirt, the name and picture of a teen killed the previous year through reckless behavior—and the silent treatment from everyone in town. Like many of his classmates, shy, self-conscious Robbie “Worm” Tarnauer has been looking forward to Dead Wed as a day for cutting loose rather than sober reflection…until he finds himself talking to a strange girl or, as she would have it, “spectral maiden,” only he can see or touch. Becca Finch is as surprised and confused as Worm, only remembering losing control of her car on an icy slope that past Christmas Eve. But being (or having been, anyway) a more outgoing sort, she sees their encounter as a sign that she’s got a mission. What follows, in a long conversational ramble through town and beyond, is a day at once ordinary yet rich in discovery and self-discovery—not just for Worm, but for Becca too, with a climactic twist that leaves both ready, or readier, for whatever may come next. Spinelli shines at setting a tongue-in-cheek tone for a tale with serious underpinnings, and as in Stargirl (2000), readers will be swept into the relationship that develops between this adolescent odd couple. Characters follow a White default.
Characters to love, quips to snort at, insights to ponder: typical Spinelli. (Fiction. 12-15)Pub Date: Aug. 3, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-30667-3
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
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