Funny, self-aware 14-year-old Ariel "find[s] making fantastic food gives me sanity" in this highly entertaining and multilayered sequel to Discovering Pig Magic (2008). She lives in Alameda, Calif. (a suburb of San Francisco), in a close-knit family whose house is "generally kind of messy, usually loud, and frequently crowded." Ariel is grateful to face the first day of eighth grade with her two best friends, M and Nicki, and her "Too Cool for School Cucumber Salad," but nothing can prepare her for how the day unfolds—at the end of it, M calls sobbing with the news that she and her recovering agoraphobic mother may be moving 360 miles north to Crescent City, Calif. The girls come up with a plan that goes dramatically awry. Crabtree is particularly adept at capturing the emotional life of teens. The ease with which she weaves Ariel's clear (and fabulous) recipes and passion for cooking into this story about how even close friends can change unexpectedly is equally impressive. Though very much a work of fiction, it's also an inspiring introduction into how a young chef thinks, and it does in fact include interesting and helpful cooking tips. Creative and refreshing like a good soufflé, this perceptive, heartfelt narrative nevertheless has real meat on its bones. (recipe index, glossary, selected sources) (Fiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: April 4, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-57131-693-6
Page Count: 248
Publisher: Milkweed
Review Posted Online: March 6, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
When his father publicly shames him, Jebel Rum takes the brand of quester and seeks the blessing of the fire god to obtain strength and invincibility. Guided by his sacrificial slave, Tel Hasani, Jebel encounters a fanatical cult, grave robbers and secretive regimes along the way. When he finally encounters the god, Jebel must decide if his quest goal has changed in the course of his journey. Shan works to blend action with social education and occasionally misses both. Readers will find less gore than in previous novels—though the corporeal mortification scenes are intense and disturbing—which tamps down the former, and the exploration of justice, fairness, morality and religion are at times oversimplified. Hasani’s annoyance with his spoiled charge is perfectly fitting, though, and Jebel’s character development arcs nicely. Readers familiar with Huckleberry Finn may recognize parallels between Hasani and Jebel and Jim and Huck, a deliberate echo that is perhaps this book's greatest success. Heads roll at the start, but by the end, Shan reaches for the heartstrings. (Fantasy/horror. 10-14)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-316-07865-8
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2010
Heavy for its small size but light as a feather in content, this vade mecum for the newly necrotic fills garishly hued pages of coated stock with advice and superficial “information” about zombie varieties, makeup and fashion wear; zombie friends and predators; “zombielicious” party food, rock bands, reading matter, board and video games and more. Written in digestible blocks over generic but blood-spattered, heavily manipulated photomontages, the narrative goes down like freshly scooped entrails, thanks to its chatty tone and upbeat sentiments like, “With proper care any zombie can have a long, fulfilling reanimation,” and “Nothing can stand in your way when you’re comfortable in your own (rotting) skin.” Compared to vampires and werewolves, zombies don’t get their fair share of undead love outside of a handful of classic films; for partly decomposed—or still-breathing zombie wannabes—this is a shamble in the right direction. (index) (Faux-nonfiction. 10-13)
Pub Date: July 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-7636-4934-0
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: June 2, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2010
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