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
This dynamic theater story stars Aggie, a girl whose enthusiasm, mad talent and diva qualities lead her astray. Steamed that she doesn’t get the lead in the school’s production of Hello, Dolly and convinced it’s because she’s fat, Aggie writes a roman à clef musical. It features two girls, the fat one an undisguised Aggie, the thin one suspiciously similar to the girl playing Dolly, Cynthia of the recent boob job. Aggie’s friends (techie Suzanne, ever-loyal Elliot and lyricist Cameron) support Aggie’s hostility toward Cynthia despite knowing it’s unfair: Cynthia’s nice and actually deserved the lead because of her singing skill. They mount a major production of Aggie’s show that, astonishingly, succeeds. Aggie’s almost failing math, Cameron comes out to his parents (and it goes badly) and Aggie resents the parental support that Karl, her father’s partner, gives Cameron—Aggie’s possessive of her stepfather’s attention. The prose, sometimes unpolished and forced but always infused with warmth, brims with musical-theater references. Unlike most arcs about fat teens, this one never equates emotional growth with weight loss; Aggie’s refreshingly non-symbolic fatness is just part of her. Like Elphaba in the song that Cameron rewrites, Aggie tries defying gravity—and succeeds, musically, socially and romantically. Given the ratings of Glee and the emerging popularity of teen lit combining queer themes and musicals, this should be a hit. (Fiction. 13 & up)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-59719-030-5
Page Count: 184
Publisher: Pearlsong Press
Review Posted Online: April 3, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
An enhanced movie tie-in e-pub of pseudonymous author James Frey’s slapdash, cliché-ridden foray into sci-fi for teenagers attempts to add value, though much of it is readily available for free on the Internet. A “message” from Pittacus Lore, nominal author and Elder of the planet Lorien, explains how nine children and nine guardians escaped to Earth before their planet was destroyed by the Mogadorians, but it can also be read online at http://iamnumberfourfans.com (advertised in the e-book). Likewise, online, readers can “meet” seven out of the 13 characters “introduced” in the ebook, learn the Lorien horoscope signs, find still images from the film and watch most of the same movie trailers (via http://www.findnumberfour.com/ and http://i-am-number-four.movie-trailer.com/). The unique e-book features include an extended text version of the opening scene of the movie (how Number Three dies in Africa); five brief grid-enhanced satellite videos of “Surveillance Clues,” locations supposedly key to the plot; the first two chapters of the upcoming sequel, The Power of Six; and the journal of Sarah, the human girlfriend of the alien hero John Smith (Number Four), in which she describes 11 scenes in the book from her point of view, to complement John’s. Fans must decide if it’s worth paying $3 more than the plain e-book for such meager morsels. (Science fiction. 12 & up)
Pub Date: Feb. 8, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-206042-6
Page Count: 480
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 1, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2011
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