This charming, engrossing tale set in a vividly realized world is expertly paced and will appeal to fans of wilderness...
When the bell rings and the green boat emerges from the mist, gliding up into the cove, Jinny knows that it is time: time for her beloved Deen to leave and for a new child to take his place.
Now Jinny will become the Elder, and the balance of life on the island will be maintained. The ragtag bunch of nine orphans—each one “boat” (year) apart in age—are the sole human residents of a benevolent wilderness, busy chasing wild kittens and harvesting honey from docile bees, reading from a stockpile of tattered books, and inducting each new arrival into their ways. Once someone broke the rule about never picking the last of anything, but having experienced the consequences (no more curlyferns!), they are careful now to behave. That is, until Jinny—spirited, curious, and defiant—decides to break the most sacred rule of the island, throwing their universe frighteningly out of whack. The children’s hair (black, red, blond) and eyes (blue, brown) are described, and Jinny remarks on the dark skin of two of her fellow orphans; the cover art shows a girl with dark brown skin. Despite the idyllic setting, one where children can safely fling themselves off cliffs and surf air currents, the story is suffused with melancholy and the haunting absence of parents and former residents. The mystery of the children’s origins and the source of their stockpile of supplies are never resolved, perhaps indicating a sequel to come.
This charming, engrossing tale set in a vividly realized world is expertly paced and will appeal to fans of wilderness adventure stories and character-driven relationship novels alike. (Fiction. 9-13)Pub Date: May 30, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-06-244341-0
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Walden Pond Press/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 19, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Mildly inspirational at best.
Three seventh graders struggle with family, community, and self.
Libby and Jack live in a rural Vermont populated with broadly drawn families: entitled men, submissive mothers, bullies, and government-averse hunters with a fear of gender nonconformity. After opening in Vermont, the story shifts to Vincent, who lives in Seattle and is mocked by his peers due to his obsession with triangles, love of puffins, and unconventional clothing choices. The contrived conflict vaguely centers around trans and nonbinary youth, who are positioned as a problem to be resolved. A local bureaucrat threatens to withhold funds for Jack’s school, citing a number of policy violations, including the absence of a gender-neutral restroom. Jack defends his school’s right to run as it pleases, and, in the process, the well-meaning but clumsy boy makes comments that a horde of strangers—some angry, some more constructive in tone—interprets as transphobic. Ultimately, the comments lead him to understand things differently, including a matter that cuts close to home. Vincent meets T, a nonbinary homeless youth whose perspective is wrought through brief, poetic italics and who functions mainly to teach Vincent important lessons about gratitude and strength. Libby, the least involved in the conflict, also has the least-developed story arc and mainly functions to unite the narratives through postcards. This story puts forward many messages but never coheres as a story and treats trans and nonbinary youth as convenient plot points rather than fully developed human beings. Characters default to White.
Mildly inspirational at best. (Fiction. 9-13)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-984816-06-1
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Nancy Paulsen Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 25, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
This engaging, heartwarming story does everything one can ask of a book, and then some.
A Somali boy living in a refugee camp in Kenya tries to make a future for himself and his brother in this near memoir interpreted as a graphic novel by collaborator Jamieson.
Omar Mohamed lives in Dadaab Refugee Camp in Kenya with his younger brother, Hassan, who has a seizure disorder, and Fatuma, an elderly woman assigned to foster them in their parents’ absence. The boys’ father was killed in Somalia’s civil war, prompting them to flee on foot when they were separated from their mother. They desperately hope she is still alive and looking for them, as they are for her. The book covers six years, during which Omar struggles with decisions about attending school and how much hope to have about opportunities to resettle in a new land, like the United States. Through Omar’s journey, and those of his friends and family members, readers get a close, powerful view of the trauma and uncertainty that attend life as a refugee as well as the faith, love, and support from unexpected quarters that get people through it. Jamieson’s characteristically endearing art, warmly colored by Geddy, perfectly complements Omar’s story, conjuring memorable and sympathetic characters who will stay with readers long after they close the book. Photographs of the brothers and an afterword provide historical context; Mohamed and Jamieson each contribute an author’s note.
This engaging, heartwarming story does everything one can ask of a book, and then some. (Graphic memoir. 9-13)Pub Date: April 14, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-525-55391-5
Page Count: 264
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 25, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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