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
For a girl who is—by most standards—not perceived to be extraordinary, it is not easy living with a family of beautiful people. Jennifer Thayer both envies and resents her gourmet restaurateur/salad-dressing entrepreneur father, her industrial- psychologist mother who seems to care more about her work than about her younger daughter, and especially older sister Cass: lovely, talented, brainy, and preparing for marriage. Desperate for attention, Jennifer fakes an attempted rape, and at first, it works; for once in her life she is at center stage. Soon, however, the detective on the case figures out that something in the girl’s story isn’t right, and suspects that Jennifer’s mother has been abusing her. Caught up in the net of lies, Jennifer has to decide whether or not she can live with a growing sense of shame and guilt. Once again, Cadnum (Heat, 1998, etc.) has dissected the mind of one of society’s troubled young people, who has everything on the surface but is desperately trying to fill an unnamed emptiness. Deep, dark, and moving, this is a model tale of adolescent uneasiness set amid the roiling emotions of modern life. (Fiction. 12-14)
Pub Date: June 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-670-88377-8
Page Count: 167
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1999
Small for her age, bright 14-year-old Sylvie is only just experiencing the first longings of puberty. Sylvie hopes her lifelong friendship with Carl will blossom into something more like what her bold new friend, alpha girl Miranda, means when she says “boyfriend.” But Carl’s object of desire is a boy at his new school, a soccer star on whom he has an intense crush, and he is moody and withdrawn with Sylvie. Wilson competently gets inside the world of younger teens and displays her usual sure hand with details (Miranda’s cheerful theft of her parents’ vodka, the quirks and foibles of parents), but there’s some predictability to the plot. Paul is furious when he discovers Carl’s feelings for him, and Carl takes out his subsequent humiliation on the Glass House sanctuary he and Sylvie have shared for years. Miranda’s audacious response to Carl’s classmates’ homophobia is a bright spot at the end, as is Sylvie’s recognition of the value of simple friendship; Carl’s parents’ bland suggestion that he might be going through a phase seems awkward and unnecessary. Mixed, but diverting. (Fiction. 12-14)
Pub Date: April 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-59643-242-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Roaring Brook Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 21, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2010
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
