A bright, colorful book about an energetic baby girl.
A winsome picture book created for a baby shower.
Johnson’s short book, brightly illustrated by Captain Cartoon, centers on a young girl named Lilly who, readers are told, isn’t born yet when the book begins. This enigmatic note sets the tone for the pages that follow, which feature all the unintroduced characters and unexplained contexts one might expect in a private family keepsake. Lilly has an older sister named Skylar (“Know whom I love to kiss? Skylar! My big sis!”), a pet cat called Fraidy Cat, a dog called Punkin, a favorite cow named Blossom, a hair-pulling little boy friend named Ollie and a black-cloaked adult nemesis known as Eva (“I shut my eyes tightly when I go to sleep—so I won't see Eva creep!”). They all appear to be based on actual animals and people, imported into these pages as part of an in-joke to which general readers aren’t invited. Luckily, there are plenty of universal scenes of babyhood (crawling, playing, eating in a highchair, baby food, thumb-sucking) and plenty of harmless fantasies (driving a car, learning karate, riding on a roller coaster) to round out what would otherwise be more like one family’s photo album. The pages are brightly rendered, and each is bordered by multicolored stars and the trademarked logo of the author’s “Starlette Universe.” Throughout, the book depicts little Lilly with a baby’s body but a preteen girl’s head, complete with long flowing blonde hair, long black eyelashes, and beauty-contest rouge-red cheeks, and portrays her as being fond of toys, clothes and candy. The atmosphere is cheery and upbeat (“My life on Earth has gone well since birth!”), with Lilly as a happy, inquisitive, adventurous, stubborn, loving child prone to misadventures and full of love for her animal friends and for Skylar, who resembles her almost exactly. It’s all very accessible, except for the pages that seem aimed at a private audience.
A bright, colorful book about an energetic baby girl.Pub Date: Sept. 21, 2013
ISBN: 978-0615891743
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Kulpa Publishing Company
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Well-crafted with an authentic Southwestern setting, despite missing a compelling central character.
A grave robbing leads to a courtroom battle between two Texas attorneys.
Twenty-one-year-old Alexis Stone, a student at the University of Texas at Austin, has been seeing Senator Talmadge Worthman on the sly for seven months, even though he’s reluctant to divorce before his re-election. After arguing with the senator, Alexis parties hard and dies, presumably of a stroke or heart attack, and she’s buried at Caring Oaks. Later, her disinterred body is found in a church sanctuary beneath an upside-down crucifix, the building desecrated by graffiti indicative of a satanic ritual. Alexis’ parents hire attorney Cal Connors to sue Caring Oaks for failure to provide adequate security at the cemetery. Known in legal circles as “The Lone Wolf,” Cal is a plaintiff’s dream, easily winning case after case. The son of a steelworker, he practices law with his daughter at their prestigious firm in Fort Worth. Most recently, he won a multimillion-dollar verdict against Samson Pharmaceuticals, makers of an antidepressant tied to a murder–suicide. The high-profile case attracts Leah Rosen, an investigative reporter for Texas Matters, who’s suspicious that several of Cal’s latest victories have been against drug companies accused of “manufacturing” clinical test data. Defending Caring Oaks in the civil suit is attorney Jace Forman, whose son Matt was with Alexis the night she died, possibly of foul play. In the well-plotted tale, the author adeptly explores the complex interrelationships among politicos, the media, and various legal and law enforcement professionals. There are a number of thriller chestnuts, too: a 40-something, married senator having the aforementioned illicit fling with a young lovely; a hungry reporter intent on cementing her reputation with a cutting exposé; a flashy, ethically challenged attorney who’ll stop at nothing to win; and a hardworking father who wants to renew ties with his estranged son. Among the motley cast of characters, no one stands out in the center of the action, so the suspense is minimal. Most intriguing is image-conscious Cal, supremely confident in his black Stetson, bolo tie and ostrich-skin boots, despite his unconventional, possibly emotionally incestuous relationship with daughter, Christine. The connection between the title and the narrative is a bit unclear, and a courtroom confession doesn’t quite ring true, but it’s nothing to sink the narrative. Overall, it reads like the first in a series, boding well for potential future installments with further development and greater focus.
Well-crafted with an authentic Southwestern setting, despite missing a compelling central character.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Dog Ear Publisher
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The repetitive anti-war sentiments become tiresome, but the harsh realities of battle from a young citizen’s perspective...
In Etchison’s novel, a 17-year-old girl faces the ultimate test of survival when her nation goes to war.
Samantha “Sam” Riggleman seems to have a bright future ahead of her. A junior in high school, she’s excited to graduate soon, and she’s thrilled that Brandon, the boy she has long admired, finally asked her out. Brandon is finishing high school and has plans to go to college, but his and Sam’s dreams are dashed when the president of their fictional country declares war. Young men must enlist to help the war effort (the narrative uses clichés like: “Our only hope is our children”); even though Brandon hates the violence, he doesn’t want to be perceived as a coward, so he decides to defend his country. Sam fears for Brandon’s life, especially since a former classmate was killed after he joined the service. Her understandable worries are only intensified when an enemy attack forces her to flee with Brandon’s family instead of her own. Desperately trying to escape the bombing, Sam and her friend Meg run to safety, but Brandon and his parents are killed. Sam witnesses the devastation of war and loss firsthand, but she must leave the bodies behind and continue on if she hopes to have any chance of surviving. At times, the dialogue is unrealistic for a 17-year-old girl. Circumstances cause her to grow up quickly, but the way she talks is improbably stiff, and the prose often comes across as an adult narrator declaring that war is unnecessary, rather than a teenager showing the reader why war is not the answer. Sam is surrounded by fatalities and destruction as she walks miles in search of her family and safety. As she tries to overcome the horrors of war, the smells of death and almost being raped by men from the enemy’s army, she encounters different survivors along the way, including three young children whose parents were killed, whom she takes under her wing. Her maternal instinct toward the children and her commitment to them are admirable, albeit a bit over-the-top for someone of her age. Sam’s fear and desperation are convincing, though the intense subject matter might be overwhelming for younger adolescents. Her journey reaches an unsettling, abrupt conclusion.
The repetitive anti-war sentiments become tiresome, but the harsh realities of battle from a young citizen’s perspective will be eye-opening, especially for young-adult readers.Pub Date: Feb. 23, 2012
ISBN: 978-1612251097
Page Count: 140
Publisher: Mirror Publishing
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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