A poignant intergenerational story about finding and honoring your roots.
A 12-year-old Mexican-American girl moves in with her estranged grandfather, who tells her fantastic tales she thinks might be true.
The summer before seventh grade, Carolina (she now calls herself Carol) can't believe her bad luck. Instead of hanging with her friends in Albuquerque, Carol moves with her family to the New Mexico desert to help her paternal grandfather, Serge, whom she's never met. Serge suffers from dementia and thinks "Caro-leeen-a" needs to learn about her roots. He tells her the area's drought is because of the lack of bees, but Carol hears buzzing and spots bees. While her parents prepare to sell Serge's sheep ranch and her older sister, Alta, complains, Carol bonds with Serge over his fairy tales about Sergio and Rosa's centuries-old love story sustained by a magical life-giving tree. With shades of Tuck Everlasting flavored with Latin American magical realism, the atmospheric story within a story shines. But the debut author is less skilled with characterization. Supporting characters don't evolve, and several details don't add up, such as Carol’s calling Serge "Grandpa" instead of "Abuelo" or her mom’s secret mastery of Mexican cuisine despite her use of Hamburger Helper at home. Despite minor flaws, Serge and Carolina's story is a touching reminder to "squeeze the juice out of every day" and remember where (and who) you call home.
A poignant intergenerational story about finding and honoring your roots. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: March 8, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-7636-7922-4
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Jan. 8, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2016
The other settlers think Ty's parents are crazy for their willingness to do business with "surfs"—the unwanted surfeit...
Ty, the underwater settler from Dark Life (2010), has to rescue his harvest, his parents and a slew of ragged surfs in this breakneck adventure.
The other settlers think Ty's parents are crazy for their willingness to do business with "surfs"—the unwanted surfeit population who sail the oceans in floating townships and are notorious for raids, crime and untrustworthy behavior. Were the cynics right? Drift township kidnaps Ty's parents and steals their crop of seaweed. While Ty searches for his parents, he finds signs that something bigger than the kidnapping of his parents is afoot: An entire township has sunk to the bottom of the ocean, its population left to die. Ty and his erstwhile girlfriend Gemma also learn a lot more about the politics of the settlements than they ever expected. Alas, despite Ty's frequent brushes with moral complexity—perhaps the laws protecting the settlement help make things so bad for the surfs they have few ethical choices; perhaps sometimes he needs to look "at the consequences down the line" for society instead of at his own immediate need—the ultimate resolution is all too simple.Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-545-17843-3
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: June 6, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2011
A nifty concept that never really quite leaves the conceptual stage. (Graphic novel. 11-14)
This may be a book that’s better on the second reading.
In medias res is a dangerous trick to play on unsuspecting readers. In the first six pages of this graphic meta-goof on The Odyssey, our stick-figure hero, Zozimos, nearly drowns, gets lost in a jungle, is captured by golems and gets thrown in jail. The pace never really lets up over the 200 pages of the book, as he tries to find his way home to Sticatha. Readers may feel as though they’re flipping channels on a remote, and every channel is showing an action movie. There’s too much medias, too much res and not enough time spent developing the characters. Ford almost seems afraid to let them sit down and just talk. Some readers may need to page through the story a second time to realize that Zozimos is sort of charming, and a few turns of phrase are quite funny (“By Hades’ pajamas”). It would be easy, though, to get distracted by Zozimos’ many selfish actions and his refusal to listen to anyone else. Early in the book, King Marnox says, “The way I see it, everything that happened was your own fault for being a shortsighted jerk.” It’s hard to disagree. A few leisurely pauses here and there might have given readers more opportunity to sympathize with the main character.
A nifty concept that never really quite leaves the conceptual stage. (Graphic novel. 11-14)Pub Date: Aug. 4, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25426-0
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: July 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2011
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