Eleven-year-old Sebastian “Sebby” Daniels’s home life is no longer much fun. His Pa has become a layabout drunk. His beloved brother Jed has run away, and his Ma, Grum (grandmother) and perfect twin sister Barbie won’t let Sebby have any fun. He regularly escapes to his hole in the wall, a cave on the edge of a strip mine, where he can set his imagination free. When his mother’s chickens start laying stone eggs and disappearing and the hippie family next door deserts their commune, Sebby and Barbie investigate. All trails lead to the suspicious activities of mine owner Stanley “Boots” Odum. Chickens and people start petrifying, and the investigation becomes a matter of life and death. Winner of this year’s Milkweed Prize for Children’s Literature, Fraustino’s rural fantasy disappoints with a studied false quirkiness and uneven, unlikable characters. The humor relies on aged and at times inappropriate jokes, and the science fantasy is never fully realized. The meandering plot gets a little fizzy near the end but never sparkles the way an award winner should. (Fantasy. 8-11)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-57131-696-7
Page Count: 214
Publisher: Milkweed
Review Posted Online: Sept. 15, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2010
A summer adventure that determined young readers may enjoy.
Tracy—gratingly—delights in calling her younger brother “Pig Face”; although she has a reasonably amicable relationship with him, she appears oblivious to the hurtful nature of her chronic name-calling.
But, surprisingly, since “Pig Face” comes up over and over, that is not the point of this overlong debut novel for early chapter-book readers. Tracy, 11, her best friend, Ralph, and her astute 9-year-old brother Lester, aka Pig Face, embark on the investigation of a mystery: why was a bag of money left in the detritus under the dugout bench of their small Canadian town’s ballpark? Slightly complicating their investigation is the presence of handsome visitor Zach, whom Tracy is developing a crush on and Ralph (perhaps partly because of that) dislikes. Tracy, Ralph, and Lester, all white, pursue their investigation in a kid-appropriate way, hiding the money and asking around, using a way-too-obvious approach that’s sure to spell trouble later—and it does. There are plenty of red herrings and an unexpected villain in this plot-driven adventure that eventually explores bullying but never, disappointingly, addresses the “pig face” problem. Tracy is a colorful character, dressing in vintage clothing and not ashamed of her intelligence, and Lester is amusingly wise for his years, their well-rounded characters adding authenticity.
A summer adventure that determined young readers may enjoy. (Mystery. 9-11)Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-5107-0621-7
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Sky Pony Press
Review Posted Online: Nov. 22, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A page-turner with an intrepid protagonist.
Thirteen-year-old Valor is determined to rescue her twin sister, Sasha, from Tyur’ma—a children’s prison resembling Siberian forced-labor camps.
There’s some nice bending of gender tropes right from the start: Valor has the excellent archery skills of her mother—the omnipotent queen’s first huntswoman—and Sasha, poised to be the princess’s adviser, has the intellectual skills and interests of their father—the queen’s top political adviser. Valor’s entire family has been disgraced by Sasha’s imprisonment for allegedly stealing a politically important music box, although the object has not been recovered. In order to free her sister, Valor deliberately gets herself arrested and sent to Tyur’ma. Valor relates the action-packed, suspenseful tale in present tense. Her first hours at the juvenile hall from hell convince her that she must trust a few other inmates to help with her breakout plans. Enormous, tattooed guards called Peacekeepers, a warden whose eyes and personality match the icy landscape, ferocious wolves, heart-racing action scenes, and frequent, impossible brushes with death give the text a feeling of fantasy, although there are no allusions to magic. Valor is both true to her name and resourceful. She also humbly acknowledges her shortcomings, especially errors in judgment, as the plot twists and turns. The satisfying ending includes an easy lead toward a sequel: the real music-box thief has suddenly disappeared. Russian names and words are abundant; the world appears to be populated by light-skinned characters.
A page-turner with an intrepid protagonist. (Fantasy. 8-11)Pub Date: April 4, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-68119-131-7
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Jan. 31, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
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