A suspense story without much suspense, constructed from disparate elements that never quite mesh. Injured physically and emotionally in the small plane crash that killed the rest of his family, Finn, 15, moves in with his Vermont grandmother; mute and angry, he becomes a project for Julia, a younger friend from past summers who has been training one of the farm’s horses for shows. Nearby, a wood lot not only has become home for a family of coyotes and a wolf-dog named Toq, but also a drop for a local ring of drug dealers. While Finn recalls details of the crash piecemeal and works his way out from under a huge load of guilt, he and Julia become close, the coyotes stage raids on several farms, the teenagers help Toq escape a trap and are later repaid in kind, and one of the dealers becomes a desperate, pitiful cocaine addict who meets a horrible end. After literally riding through fire and storm to rescue Julia from the bottom of a well, Finn experiences a breakthrough, and regains his voice. The author creates some tension by continually shifting the point of view among the human and animal characters, though without a unifying climax; Bacon never brings everyone face to face and their subplots trail away unresolved. Bits and pieces of the narrative, especially those involving horses, other animals, and descriptions of the farm, are well-crafted, holding out a promise of a story telling that is never realized. (Fiction. 12-14)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1998
ISBN: 0-689-82216-2
Page Count: 171
Publisher: McElderry
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1998
When Clara Luna, 14, visits rural Mexico for the summer to visit the paternal grandparents she has never met, she cannot know her trip will involve an emotional and spiritual journey into her family’s past and a deep connection to a rich heritage of which she was barely aware. Long estranged from his parents, Clara’s father had entered the U.S. illegally years before, subsequently becoming a successful business owner who never spoke about what he left behind. Clara’s journey into her grandmother’s history (told in alternating chapters with Clara’s own first-person narrative) and her discovery that she, like her grandmother and ancestors, has a gift for healing, awakens her to the simple, mystical joys of a rural lifestyle she comes to love and wholly embrace. Painfully aware of not fitting into suburban teen life in her native Maryland, Clara awakens to feeling alive in Mexico and realizes a sweet first love with Pedro, a charming goat herder. Beautifully written, this is filled with evocative language that is rich in imagery and nuance and speaks to the connections that bind us all. Add a thrilling adventure and all the makings of an entrancing read are here. (glossaries) (Fiction. 12-14)
Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2006
ISBN: 0-385-73343-7
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2006
The format of this taut and moving drama forcefully regulates the pacing; breathless, edge-of-the-seat courtroom scenes...
In a riveting novel from Myers (At Her Majesty’s Request, 1999, etc.), a teenager who dreams of being a filmmaker writes the story of his trial for felony murder in the form of a movie script, with journal entries after each day’s action.
Steve is accused of being an accomplice in the robbery and murder of a drug store owner. As he goes through his trial, returning each night to a prison where most nights he can hear other inmates being beaten and raped, he reviews the events leading to this point in his life. Although Steve is eventually acquitted, Myers leaves it up to readers to decide for themselves on his protagonist’s guilt or innocence.
The format of this taut and moving drama forcefully regulates the pacing; breathless, edge-of-the-seat courtroom scenes written entirely in dialogue alternate with thoughtful, introspective journal entries that offer a sense of Steve’s terror and confusion, and that deftly demonstrate Myers’s point: the road from innocence to trouble is comprised of small, almost invisible steps, each involving an experience in which a “positive moral decision” was not made. (Fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: May 31, 1999
ISBN: 0-06-028077-8
Page Count: 280
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1999
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