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ABOUT FACE

Name: ABOUT FACE
Author: June Rae Wood
ISBN: 0-399-23419-5

by June Rae Wood ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1999

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By virtue of a brief but meaningful friendship, two dissatisfied girls from sharply different backgrounds come to realize the value of what they have. Glory Bea Goode, who just finished seventh grade, hates living in her rural Missouri town in an old historic home that doubles as a junk shop. But Glory’s stable life in “a house without wheels” is the envy of Marvalene Zulig, who travels around the country with a touring carnival. Although they are at opposite ends of the temperamental spectrum—Marvalene is in-your-face assertive while Glory is timid and diffident—each embraces past hurts that poison their lives. Marvalene holds her father and the grueling carnival life he loves responsible for her mom’s disfiguring stroke, while Glory, whose face is marred by a large birthmark, is too self-conscious to make friends. In the course of this colorfully written novel, Glory finds out that if she sees herself “as imperfect, other people will, too,” and Marvalene comes to learn that she’s a true carnival “firefly,” a person who “only shine(s) while on the wing.” Peopled with a quirky mix of improbable characters and somewhat lacking in emotional punch, this humane story conveys, in a quiet but stubbornly persuasive style, that happiness comes from within. (Fiction. 11-13)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999

ISBN: 0-399-23419-5

Page Count: 273

Publisher: Putnam

Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1999

Categories:

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
TURTLE ON A FENCE POST
by June Rae Wood

- BOOK REVIEW
WHEN PIGS FLY
by June Rae Wood

- BOOK REVIEW
THE MAN WHO LOVED CLOWNS
by June Rae Wood

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DRAWING LESSONS

by Tracy Mack ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2000

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A teenager suffers through her parents’ separation in this smoothly stylized, if conventional, debut. Aurora’s world comes crashing down when she catches her artist father nuzzling a model. Rory, a talented artist herself, furiously burns her sketchbook; suddenly he’s gone, leaving Rory and her mother wallowing in teary guilt, sending back a letter with lines that infuriate: “one day you’ll understand,” and “someday, when you’re older . . . “ Rory stops all painting and drawing, and curls up around the hurt, stonewalling even her best friend, Nicky. Rory’s almost continual awareness of light and color gives her a convincing artist’s voice, and Mack sets her back on her feet in the end, with the help of time, Nicky’s loyalty, and a startling gift from her father: her charred sketchbook, rescued and repaired both as a sign of his love, and to remind her to believe in herself. Psychological insight here is but skin deep, and the characters play it pretty close to type, but readers may be affected by the story’s overall emotional intensity. (Fiction. 11-13)

Pub Date: March 1, 2000

ISBN: 0-439-11202-8

Page Count: 168

Publisher: Scholastic

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1999

Categories:

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FICTION | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FAMILY | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SOCIAL THEMES

- BOOK REVIEW
SHERLOCK HOLMES AND THE BAKER STREET IRREGULARS
by Tracy Mack & Michael Citrin & illustrated by Greg Ruth

- BOOK REVIEW
BIRDLAND
by Tracy Mack

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GOODBYE, AMANDA THE GOOD

by Susan Shreve ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2000

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PLB 0-679-99241-3 In Shreve’s funny version of a junior high identity crisis, a good girl goes bad, but redeems herself before any real crimes have been committed. When Amanda gets to junior high, she’s pretty much on her own. All of her old friends have either moved or are in other schools, and there aren’t any new friends on the horizon. Amanda tries to dye her hair black, digs out her mother’s old black clothes, a pair of clunky shoes, and dark lipstick, and sets out shock anyone looking on. At first it seems as if her efforts are paying off; she has already attracted the attention of the ninth-grade bad boy, Slade, and Fern, who wants Amanda to join her club. Amanda can’t wait to be a member, but must first accompany Fern on a shoplifting mission. It turns out that the only person Amanda shocks is herself, and she takes stock of all the other strikes against her—bad grades, annoyed parents and teachers, the disgust of her little brother. Shreve is not forging new ground, but she provides a wonderful look at the rebels and wannabes inhabiting every junior high school on the planet, and creates in Slade a bad boy/romantic interest that will have readers rooting. The angst of starting out friendless in a new school is written across most pages, and other Amandas out there who find this refreshingly real. (Fiction. 10-13)