It’s the summer of 1947 in small-town South Carolina, and 14-year-old Afton has a lot to worry about. Her beloved brother died in the war, and her father, a merchant marine, is rarely home, leaving her alone with her increasingly unhinged mother. The beautiful Jo Helen has come to town, turning the head of John Howard, Afton’s longtime intended beau. The waif-like Pearl Ann, a “sorry-looking child from the cheap, stale-beer side of town,” has attached herself to her, tugging Afton’s unwilling heartstrings. And a mysterious man—an uncle Afton has never heard of—has moved in, disturbing what little peace remains in her household. Matthews (John Riley’s Daughter, 2000) lets Afton tell her story in the present tense, vividly bringing to life the climatological and cultural closeness of a small Southern town, where just about anything becomes grist for the neighborhood gossip mill. Her voice is searingly honest in describing her relationships, particularly when speaking of her mother: “All I know is that the older I get, the wider the distance between us grows, and now, with Bailey here, it has a sharper edge to it.” While voice, setting, and relationships are skillfully presented, the story itself lacks momentum, plodding along until the end, where events rush to resolve themselves in a most melodramatic fashion after Pearl Ann’s mother is found murdered and Uncle Bailey’s terrible secret is found out. And despite the emotional honesty of the bulk of the narrative, the conclusion seeks an easy and unconvincing rapprochement between mother and daughter. Ultimately, superbly realized voice and atmosphere cannot here compensate for flawed plotting. (Fiction. 11-14)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-8126-2890-X
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Cricket
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Set in 16th-century feudal Japan, a slow, uninvolving episode in the adventures of two wandering samurai previously met in Namioka's The Coming of the Bear (1992). A mysterious figure in a white fox mask is fomenting rebellion in a misty, newly annexed valley—intending, it turns out, not to throw out the small occupying force, but to steal its payroll and leave the locals to their fate. Enter unemployed ronin (masterless samurai) Zenta and Matsuzo, who discover that they've been cleverly maneuvered only after helping with the heist, but do manage to recover the gold, thus saving the valley's residents from slaughter. The contrast between impulsive Matsuzo and his crafty, saturnine mentor Zenta plays as well as ever, but that's all that works here: The pace never picks up after the hookless, sluggish opening scene; readers expecting suspense, heroics, authentic atmosphere, or at least some action will come away disappointed; and the fleeting appearance of a second, possibly supernatural White Fox is as forced as the attraction that develops between Zenta and Kinu, daughter of a once-noble clan and the valley's secret jujitsu instructor. The criminal mastermind's escape at the end implies his return in future adventures, but the series is plainly running out of steam. (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: May 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-15-201282-6
Page Count: 213
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1997
A Newcastle lad loses both parents to enemy action in the Battle of Britain, but passes up a tailor-made chance for revenge in this heavy, predictable story, first published abroad in 1994. When a stray bomb kills Sonny's mother, his father leaves him in the care of grandparents and rushes off to join the RAF, swearing vengeance, and later dying heroically. Westall (Gulf, 1996, etc.) gives readers a strong taste of life in those perilous times, as the war comes to England and the English respond with matter-of-fact courage—but he's likely to lose readers, if not with the occasionally thick dialect, the plot's deliberate pace, or the standard issue cast (a schoolyard bully, two adopted wounded pets, and a set of grownups who always say the right things, notably Sonny's patient, canny Granda, ever ready to dispense wisdom or reminisce at length), then with the general focus on adult conversation and relationships. Granda's sneering comment about ``dagoes'' doesn't sit too well, either. In the contrived, inevitable climax, Sonny, seized by a downed German airman, coolly plies him with elderberry wine, lets him fall into a handy flooded pit, then, upon reflection, holds the soldier's head above water until rescue comes. To an unusual degree—even for Westall—this book's situations, characters, language, and historical background will have far more resonance for readers across the pond. (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-590-47746-3
Page Count: 172
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1997
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