In faux blog posts, a young resident of Tenochtitlán describes his training at a military school, confused melees with bands of warriors from rival cities and the portent-ridden arrival of Cortés. Considering himself more priest than warrior material (those being the two choices available), Yoatl chronicles his unhappiness as in various misadventures he inadvertently captures an enemy lad, then helps him escape being bloodily sacrificed and goes on to become a captive himself before falling in with the strange and duplicitous Spaniards. Side panels (“hyperlinked” to his narrative) offer encyclopedia-style entries on his culture’s theology and general customs—all accompanied by an undifferentiated blend of new illustrations and unsourced period art. Readers will be left with a clear sense of that culture’s pervasive fatalism but only vague notions about how the Aztecs lived their daily lives. A participant in the 1212 Children’s Crusade supplies a similarly hybridized report in Kids at the Crossroads: Crusades, illustrated by John Mantha (ISBN: 978-1-55451-147-1, paper: 978-1-55451-146-4). Both volumes try for too much and end up offering neither a properly developed story line nor a coherent picture of their narrators’ historical contexts. (Infofiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2009
ISBN: 978-1-55451-177-8
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Annick Press
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2009
For readers who can swallow the notion that a 12-year-old newly orphaned girl from a wealthy, sheltered upbringing would run away to become a hobo, this is a gratifying adventure from DeFelice (The Ghost of Fossil Glen, 1998, etc.). A year after the Great Crash, Frankie’s widower father has lost everything and commits suicide. The girl is to go to live with her aunt in Chicago, but Frankie cashes in the train ticket, disguises herself as a boy, and hops a freight to freedom. Luckily, she meets a boy who knows the ropes; Stewpot, as he’s called, with a cough to foreshadow his eventual demise, has been riding the rails for a long time. Frankie soon realizes how hard life is, for they are always cold, hungry, or both; train-hopping is dangerous and illegal. They persevere until Stewpot becomes too ill to travel; with the little money she has, Frankie attempts to get medical help, but no doctor will go out of his way for a hobo. When Stewpot dies, Frankie understands that her real life is with her aunt in Chicago. DeFelice gets the details of the period right, with especially well-realized scenes of what it means to be a hobo, even though much of this is just one more girl-disguised-as-a-boy story. Those seeking out tales on unfamiliar aspects of the Depression—or a different kind of survival story—will find it engaging. (Fiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: April 15, 1999
ISBN: 0-374-35552-5
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1999
Pygmies (as they are called here, rather than Mbuti) love to sing, but the hero, Mabuti, has not been blessed with a beautiful singing voice. In this uncomplicated tale, readers follow Mabuti’s efforts as he continues to practice, despite complaints from his playmates and the wild animals of the forest. Day after day, Mabuti spends time learning to sing; one day, day, much to his surprise, the doves commend him on his beautiful voice. Pleased, Mabuti plays a trick on his former tormentors, imitating a leopard to get their attention; the “leopard” demands to hear Mabuti’s singing voice in return for sparing the children’s lives. His song saves the day and endears him to his community (and he confesses the trick to an elder). The full-color illustrations deftly depict life in tropical Africa, the work of the villagers, and the wildlife that is part of this lush realm. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1999
ISBN: 1-902283-60-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Barefoot Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1999
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