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TREMBLING EARTH

Name: TREMBLING EARTH
Author: Kim L. Siegelson
ISBN: 0-399-24021-7

by Kim L. Siegelson ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 2004

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In the Okefenokee, swampers and outlanders don’t mix much, and 12-year-old Hamp Cravey has never met a Yankee, his father’s never owned slaves, and he’s never had to examine the complexities of “what hain’t true and what is.” But when he and his little sister Neeta discover runaway slaves in a neighbor’s smokehouse and Neeta takes the initiative in helping them escape, Hamp must decide where he stands in relation to God, the Confederacy, and the mistreatment of fellow human beings. The tale becomes a journey across the Okefenokee and into the tangles of his own conscience. Siegelson’s rich descriptions of the swamp, Hamp’s nightmares about swamp monsters, threats of giant rattlesnakes and killer boars, and a slaveowner out to avenge his brother’s death make for an exciting, multi-layered tale. The ending is a bit tidy and didactic, but not so much as to mar a sumptuously written narrative. A great match with Richard Peck’s The River Between Us (2003) or Margaret McMullan’s How I Found the Strong (p. 333). (Fiction. 10+)

Pub Date: May 1, 2004

ISBN: 0-399-24021-7

Page Count: 176

Publisher: Philomel

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2004

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
DANCING THE RING SHOUT!
by Kim L. Siegelson & illustrated by Lisa Cohen

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THE SEVENTH MOST IMPORTANT THING

by Shelley Pearsall ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 8, 2015

Luminescent, just like the artwork it celebrates. (Historical fiction. 10-14)

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Traumatized by his father’s recent death, a boy throws a brick at an old man who collects junk in his neighborhood and winds up on probation working for him.

Pearsall bases the book on a famed real work of folk art, the Throne of the Third Heaven, by James Hampton, a janitor who built his work in a garage in Washington, D.C., from bits of light bulbs, foil, mirrors, wood, bottles, coffee cans, and cardboard—the titular seven most important things. In late 1963, 13-year-old Arthur finds himself looking for junk for Mr. Hampton, who needs help with his artistic masterpiece, begun during World War II. The book focuses on redemption rather than art, as Hampton forgives the fictional Arthur for his crime, getting the boy to participate in his work at first reluctantly, later with love. Arthur struggles with his anger over his father’s death and his mother’s new boyfriend. Readers watch as Arthur transfers much of his love for his father to Mr. Hampton and accepts responsibility for saving the art when it becomes endangered. Written in a homespun style that reflects the simple components of the artwork, the story guides readers along with Arthur to an understanding of the most important things in life.

Luminescent, just like the artwork it celebrates. (Historical fiction. 10-14)