WHERE HAVE ALL THE TIGERS GONE?

by Lynn Hall ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 1, 1989

Now 50 and a successful Western writer, Jo leaves her Arizona canyon cabin to go to her high-school reunion--where she hopes to find out how robust Roberto, popular Alton, ugly Hazel, and the rest have turned out. En route, she recalls incidents from her school days--her mother picking up Jo's ""best"" Friend, clingy, unimaginative Charlotte, at the grocery; being a wallflower at her first high-school dance; casting herself as a loner who didn't really like her friends; yearning for a true soulmate. Unfortunately, this promising plot is given little detail and stars a cold narrator who is often self-congratulatory, defensive, or vindictive. And the reunion brings few surprises: the brainy boy on whom Jo had a crush is a boring professor; the ugly girl has transformed herself into a beauty and exchanges real confidences with Jo for the first time: apparently appearance is more significant than their shared high intelligence. Meanwhile, Jo herself is insensitive to the struggle that minority classmates had in getting an education (though she is delighted at Roberto's success), and seems to dismiss all adolescent relationships as superficial; she is happiest (she tells us--but does not show us) with her horse and the woman next door in Arizona. A disappointing book from a popular author, with a valid message--some ugly ducklings prove to be swans--but a point of view too adult to appeal to its intended audience.

Pub Date: April 1, 1989

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 137

Publisher: Scribners

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1989

Categories: CHILDREN'S