Give this quite literally impressionistic portrait of a slice of the South after the Civil War to readers with patience and...
Multiple perspectives tell pieces of the story of Rainy, a 10-year-old girl found as an infant.
She lives with Will Barnes, her foster father, who found her snuggled in the crook of a tree, and his son, Ben. Nearby lives Gabrielle, a New Orleans native who gave birth to Rainy while her husband, Jared, was away fighting the Civil War. Among others who fill out the cast are Marie Bijoux, Gabrielle’s mixed-race half sister; her husband, Pondichéry; and Robert Ray, an elderly neighbor who saw Marie Bijoux put Rainy in the tree. A mysterious African-American girl who drops a scattering of jewelry for Rainy to find sets off a sequence of events that reveals the tangled connections among the members of the community, both white and black. Sauerwein’s writing is as lush as the Spanish moss draping Southern live oak trees, but this slight novella doesn’t do it justice. Amid the multitude of perspectives, no clear protagonist emerges, nor is there much of a plot. What there is, though, is a kaleidoscopically effective vision of disparate, messy, complicated humanity.
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-60898-186-1
Page Count: 132
Publisher: Namelos
Review Posted Online: July 28, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2014
Sexy and edgy, with plenty of surprises and fun.
In this series opener, assassination is a family affair.
Sixteen-year-old bisexual Kindra Weston is all too familiar with her family’s line of business. She has a penchant for sharp knives and elaborately costumed undercover stealth work—greatly aided by her family’s convenient “middle of the road skin tone” and ethnically ambiguous features—and she often does cleanup when her parents’ dirty work gets messy. This is all under the supervision of her tight-lipped, authoritarian mom, who’s kept the family business very professional and very close to the chest—unless, of course, that chest gets a bullet hole through it. Things go awry when Kindra’s father, the family’s lead assassin, misses a shot on a hit in New York City. With him temporarily out of the game, Kindra finds herself taking the lead in some of the business’ “wet work,” which leads to her kidnapping and the eventual unfurling of this complicated yet wholly enjoyable mystery. The plot moves quickly for the most part, and Cameron infuses her heroine and other characters with plenty of personality, sass, and coldhearted ruthlessness. There are biblical puzzles to be decrypted, Mafia-like family wars to be unraveled, mistaken personalities to be cleared, and many bodies to be piled up. The only disappointment readers might encounter is a lack of the kind of fantastical elements that the unconventional character names might inspire.
Sexy and edgy, with plenty of surprises and fun. (Thriller. 12-18)Pub Date: Sept. 5, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-62649-422-0
Page Count: 412
Publisher: Triton Press
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Not a breakout but worth a look.
New school, new rules, and a mysterious new…friend?
Fourteen-year-old Henry Walker and his mother relocated from Texas to Seattle so he could take advantage of a military dependent’s scholarship at the prestigious Clinton Academy while his father is in Afghanistan. Bethany befriends Henry right away and introduces him to another girl, who crushes on him. Though he’s really not ready to say he’s gay out loud, Henry’s more interested in enigmatic, intelligent, and (usually) unfriendly Julius Drake. (Lacking clues to the contrary, readers will infer that the principal characters are white.) When the popular star of the swim team attempts suicide and adults inexplicably decide Henry and Julius might have bullied him, Bethany and the boys investigate, uncovering a social media–centered mystery. Someone is catfishing the popular guys in Clinton Academy, and only Henry and his new friends can expose them. Gay-romance writer Harris aims at her youngest audience yet with this first title in the Life and Times of Julius Drake series, an obvious homage to Sherlock Holmes. The Holmes-ian Julius and Watson-esque Henry even have a Mrs. Hudson in Julius’ nanny, Mrs. Hundstead. (The boys’ relationship is tame, though this school is like many others in its hormone-fueled rumor mill.) The reason the boys begin the investigation could not be more flimsy; however, the mystery heats up three-quarters of the way in, and the denouement and setup for Book 2 are satisfying.
Not a breakout but worth a look. (Mystery. 13-15)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-62649-448-0
Page Count: 258
Publisher: Triton Press
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
