A beguiling work of political satire whose wit rivals a late-night sketch show.
Four women square off over the issue of book banning in Kasten’s political satire.
Barb Barbarien (pronounced Barbar-EE-en) is the wife of a Republican U.S. senator from Kansas, and she’s on a mission to eradicate an onslaught of so-called “wokeness” caused by particular books she dislikes. Armed with Christian fundamentalist theology and her trusty “go-fer/chauffeur,” Teri Todie,Barb begins building a coalition of mothers and daughters to fight against “questionable”books such as Charlotte’s Weband Winnie-the-Pooh. On the opposing side are Camille Hubbard and Frances Reid, two retired Kansas City librarians who are moved to defend every child’s right to read. As Barb’s star rises on conservative media, so does Camile and Frances’ fame in a series of viral protests in collaboration with a growing group of teen activists. When Barb joins forces with right-wing extremist groups who begin targeting the “Contrarian Librarians” with accusations of pedophilia and death threats, Camille and Frances only ramp up their efforts. Soon, Barb begins to unexpectedly see elements and characters from the targeted books in her daily life—including apparent spiders and spiderwebs. Kasten’s political perspectives are clear, although they’re sometimes heavy-handedly expressed. However, the struggle between the religious right and a pair of tenacious, retired librarians is conveyed beautifully, and the story has an abundance of empathy throughout. Many revelations, such as that Barb and her compatriots have never actually read the books they want to ban, are apt and amusing, and moments of magical realism are utterly delightful. Peripheral stories about Teri and Barb’s progressive daughter, Mart, can be distracting, but ultimately add to the multifaceted narrative.
A beguiling work of political satire whose wit rivals a late-night sketch show.Pub Date: May 19, 2024
ISBN: 9798989532100
Page Count: 172
Publisher: Islet Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 5, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The emotions run high, the conversations run deep, and the relationships ebb and flow with grace.
When tragedy strikes, a mother and daughter forge a new life.
Morgan felt obligated to marry her high school sweetheart, Chris, when she got pregnant with their daughter, Clara. But she secretly got along much better with Chris’ thoughtful best friend, Jonah, who was dating her sister, Jenny. Now her life as a stay-at-home parent has left her feeling empty but not ungrateful for what she has. Jonah and Jenny eventually broke up, but years later they had a one-night stand and Jenny got pregnant with their son, Elijah. Now Jonah is back in town, engaged to Jenny, and working at the local high school as Clara’s teacher. Clara dreams of being an actress and has a crush on Miller, who plans to go to film school, but her father doesn't approve. It doesn’t help that Miller already has a jealous girlfriend who stalks him via text from college. But Clara and Morgan’s home life changes radically when Chris and Jenny are killed in an accident, revealing long-buried secrets and forcing Morgan to reevaluate the life she chose when early motherhood forced her hand. Feeling betrayed by the adults in her life, Clara marches forward, acting both responsible and rebellious as she navigates her teenage years without her father and her aunt, while Jonah and Morgan's relationship evolves in the wake of the accident. Front-loaded with drama, the story leaves plenty of room for the mother and daughter to unpack their feelings and decide what’s next.
The emotions run high, the conversations run deep, and the relationships ebb and flow with grace.Pub Date: Dec. 10, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5420-1642-1
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Montlake Romance
Review Posted Online: Oct. 13, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2019
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
Still, a respectful and absorbing page-turner.
Hannah’s new novel is an homage to the extraordinary courage and endurance of Frenchwomen during World War II.
In 1995, an elderly unnamed widow is moving into an Oregon nursing home on the urging of her controlling son, Julien, a surgeon. This trajectory is interrupted when she receives an invitation to return to France to attend a ceremony honoring passeurs: people who aided the escape of others during the war. Cut to spring, 1940: Viann has said goodbye to husband Antoine, who's off to hold the Maginot line against invading Germans. She returns to tending her small farm, Le Jardin, in the Loire Valley, teaching at the local school and coping with daughter Sophie’s adolescent rebellion. Soon, that world is upended: The Germans march into Paris and refugees flee south, overrunning Viann’s land. Her long-estranged younger sister, Isabelle, who has been kicked out of multiple convent schools, is sent to Le Jardin by Julien, their father in Paris, a drunken, decidedly unpaternal Great War veteran. As the depredations increase in the occupied zone—food rationing, systematic looting, and the billeting of a German officer, Capt. Beck, at Le Jardin—Isabelle’s outspokenness is a liability. She joins the Resistance, volunteering for dangerous duty: shepherding downed Allied airmen across the Pyrenees to Spain. Code-named the Nightingale, Isabelle will rescue many before she's captured. Meanwhile, Viann’s journey from passive to active resistance is less dramatic but no less wrenching. Hannah vividly demonstrates how the Nazis, through starvation, intimidation and barbarity both casual and calculated, demoralized the French, engineering a community collapse that enabled the deportations and deaths of more than 70,000 Jews. Hannah’s proven storytelling skills are ideally suited to depicting such cataclysmic events, but her tendency to sentimentalize undermines the gravitas of this tale.
Still, a respectful and absorbing page-turner.Pub Date: Feb. 3, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-312-57722-3
Page Count: 448
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Nov. 19, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2014
BOOK TO SCREEN
SEEN & HEARD
BOOK TO SCREEN
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