Banks (The Key to the Cupboard, 1998, etc.) introduces a highly appealing character in an ultimately disappointing novel. Nine-year-old Alice Williamson-Stone loves to write stories, so much so that when her teacher gives the class an assignment to write about themselves, Alice can’t stop and writes a full-length autobiography. Alice—spunky, resilient, creative, and funny—has had her share of hard knocks and sadness. Raised by a single mom, she learns early on that she came into life “by accident” (hence the title) and that her father wanted to play no part in her life. Alice’s mother does the best she can, but she is often overwhelmed by the job of raising such a feisty girl on her own. Alice’s paternal grandmother Gene, a famous English actress, enters Alice’s life when Alice is three. She often takes Alice to the theater and ballet, encourages her love of books and art, and even takes her on a trip to Spain. Gene is the second most important person in Alice’s life, and the void that’s left when Gene and Alice’s mother, who have always had a hostile relationship, have a final row and Gene is suddenly out of Alice’s life, is enormous. But despite Alice’s likable personality, this is not Banks at her best. The story is often confusing, with many jumps back and forth in time. Many plot elements are hard to buy—for example, it’s difficult to believe that Gene could so easily drop out of Alice’s life when she knows there are no other adults in Alice’s life, aside from her mother. In fact, all the adults here come up rather short. The deliberate misspellings—“applord” for applaud, “dier emerjency,” “ile” for aisle, “ortobiography” for autobiography—and deliberate grammatical mistakes will be confusing for children. The cover illustration depicts a girl of 14 or 15, while Alice is 9 and 10 during the course of the story. Although the reading level is 9 to 13, many of the older kids in that age range will resist reading about a child that much younger than themselves (the reason, perhaps, behind the misleading cover). (Fiction. 9-13)
Pub Date: June 30, 2000
ISBN: 0-380-97865-2
Page Count: 144
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2000
A touching tale of preteen angst and translation troubles.
A trip to Vietnam did not figure in Laguna, California, girl Mai Le's summer plans!
Twelve-year-old Mai (Mia at school) was looking forward to a summer at the beach with her bestie, Montana, trying to catch the eye of HIM (a boy from school), but she's forced on to a plane to keep her grandmother, Bà, company on a trip of indeterminate length. Ông, Bà's husband, went missing during the Vietnam War, and a detective claims to have found a man who knows something about Ông. Mai and Bà stay in Bà's home village, while Mai's doctor father heads into the mountains to run a clinic. Mai's Vietnamese is rusty, and only teenage boy Minh speaks English (but with a Texas accent). The heat, the mosquitoes...even the maybe-relatives are torture. Out of touch with all things American, Mai worries that Montana may put the moves on HIM; and the only girl in the village her age, Ut, is obsessed with frogs. For her sophomore effort, Newbery Honor author Lai delivers a funny, realistic tale of family and friendship and culture clashes. The subtle humor of clunky translations of Vietnamese into English and vice versa are a great contrast to Mai’s sharp and sometimes-snarky observations that offer a window into Vietnamese village life and language.
A touching tale of preteen angst and translation troubles. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Feb. 17, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-222918-2
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2014
Dominican lore brings a fresh perspective to a thrilling tale.
A gutsy tween faces mystical dangers to protect the ones she loves and bring peace to the island of Zafa for good in this duology closer.
It’s been almost a year since Pilar Ramirez, now 13, defeated demons and escaped from Zafa, the magical world inhabited by Dominican legends and influenced by the ruthless real-life dictator Rafael Trujillo. Unsure of how and when to break the news of the reappearance of her cousin Natasha, who had been missing for 50 years and presumed dead, Pilar is still grappling with the terror of what she experienced in Zafa while learning to hone her newly acquired bruja powers. Pilar is excited to tag along on a trip to the Dominican Republic with her family and her sister’s professor (who played an instrumental role in the previous volume), hoping to find more answers about her heritage and abilities there. It’s no relaxing vacation however, as Pilar immediately begins experiencing unsettling visions and is soon contacted by Carmen, her dear Zafan friend who happens to be a ciguapa, a mythological being from Dominican folklore. Up against terrifying new enemies, Pilar returns to Zafa to find the answers she’ll need to protect her family from sinister supernatural danger. Pilar celebrates her Afro-Latina heritage and is open about her desire to improve her Spanish; she uses Spanish words and phrases liberally throughout the story, adding to the text’s delightful rhythm and flavor.
Dominican lore brings a fresh perspective to a thrilling tale. (Adventure. 9-13)Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-77412-5
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2023
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