Despite a few good poems and the much-needed subject matter, the end result lacks cohesion.
Durango’s ambitious, inventive poetry collection on Latino music and dance covers an enticing subject but ultimately tries to do too much.
During the summer, Marisol helps her father run his music store. This store attracts a plethora of Latino characters, many of whom long for the music of their home countries. Marisol’s first-person free-verse poem frames 14 one-page poems, each titled after different characters. The book alternates between Marisol’s evening at the store and these other poems, which appear in duos and trios until Marisol’s own verse on the title mambo ends the collection. VandenBroeck’s illustrations also rotate, from black and white for the frame narrative to color (replete with grinning, rosy-cheeked characters) for the individual poems. The shorter verses vary in style and length, including free verse, rhymed and concrete poems. Musical styles range from mariachi to vallenato, while the dances cover everything from the cha-cha-cha [sic] to the tango. Adding to the wave of characters, musical styles and dances are Spanish words with few, if any, textual clues, although the author does discuss each style briefly at the book’s end. While a few poems allude to the tumultuous backgrounds of some of the styles, the author’s note glosses over colonization and slavery in Latin American history.
Despite a few good poems and the much-needed subject matter, the end result lacks cohesion. (author’s note, glossary) (Poetry. 8-12)Pub Date: July 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-57091-723-3
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: June 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2011
Any sports aficionado will easily be lost in these pages.
The title says it all.
There will certainly be the temptation to ask if some of these endeavors are sports at all. Rolling down a hill in a plastic ball (aka “zorbing”)? Professional-grade pillow fighting? Lawn-mower racing, or rushing about in a toilet bowl? Extreme ironing (that’s with an ironing board and laundry, up high on some radical rock spire)? But, ultimately, this collection of odd-fellow sports is good fun. You can see it on the faces of the participants pictured here—just joy, or terror or complete flabbergastation, though thoroughly in the moment. Each sport gets a two-page spread, and its depiction can be somewhat hectic and haphazard. Yet the photographs and artwork are sharp and nicely illustrative of the strange happenings. The text is bell-clear as well, if a little overloaded with exclamation marks: “Inuit even skip rocks on ice!” Birmingham has done her homework, however, and come up with some of the most bizarre sporting stories to be told, including a football game during which the fog got so dense, the players couldn’t see the ball and the baseball game that lasted 33 innings (only 19 fans were in the bleachers at the end).
Any sports aficionado will easily be lost in these pages. (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: April 15, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-926973-60-9
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Owlkids Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 15, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2013
Whether or not readers are swayed by Flood’s enthusiasm for the sport, there is one universal lesson in the rodeo: Pick...
Narrative poems, expository writings and the voice of a lively announcer combine to introduce a sport largely unknown outside of the West: the rodeo.
To many, a rodeo can seem frightening and even cruel. Flood, however, shares the excitement, athleticism and tradition of it all. From the morning, as the arena is set up at sunrise, until night falls and the dust settles, readers are taken on a journey through every rodeo event. The youngest compete in the “woolly rider” category: They sit atop a sheep and hold on for as long as they can. There is also roping, barrel racing, bucking broncos and, of course, riding the big Brahma bull. There is no denying the power of these animals—“hooves scraping dirt, / blocks of muscle / waiting to explode / out the chute”—nor of the riders: “I lean, lean, lean, / get positioned just right, / then split-second leap / on top his shoulders, / hold on to his horns, / crank his neck around / to twist him / down.” Sonnenmair’s quick-snapped action shots show simultaneous struggle and determination on every competitor’s face. Though Flood asserts the importance of the rodeo in Navajo culture, aside from the competitors’ faces (which are worth the price of admission), there is little here to differentiate this rodeo from others.
Whether or not readers are swayed by Flood’s enthusiasm for the sport, there is one universal lesson in the rodeo: Pick yourself up, dust yourself off and keep trying. Cowboy up! (afterword, resources) (Nonfiction. 8-12)Pub Date: March 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-59078-893-6
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Wordsong/Boyds Mills
Review Posted Online: Jan. 27, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2013
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