There are interesting developments in the Bronx bailiwick of Laura and Amy, Peter and Veronica. For one thing Mrs. Sachs seems to be extending her series inward rather than onward: if the addition of Mary, master tinker, family failure, is indicative, then the table-turning on Peter and Veronica was no isolated tour de force—in the eyes of Mary's admiring family, and in his admiration of Marv, Peter takes on still a different aspect. For the first time, too, the date of the story, 1939 onwards, is stipulated, and carries the weight of world events: in an inspired sequence Mary meticulously plots Hitler's kidnapping to please his chief critic, college sister Frances, who'd have him do something useful for mankind (the only hitch—"nobody drives"); and increasingly Papa worries about Cousin Lebel, caught in France. Moreover Papa is secretary of Baker's Union Local 27, which takes the family on a picnic that's another yeasty slice of life. But the story doesn't take Mary anywhere, and that's the rub: after he's labored for the month that Frances is away absorbing the life of migrant workers to transform the front yard into the sylvan bower she once admired, she has one look and bursts into tears. He's confounded but "it's too complicated for today"; meanwhile he has new and better ideas. The suspicion that Mrs. Sachs is edging over into the incertitudes and ironies of adulthood is confirmed by the conclusion (Cousin Lebel's fate is in abeyance too); but Marv's bearding of Zelitsky the butcher or his pride that takes a fall with the dumbwaiter stand for something that doesn't need to be spelled out.
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1970
ISBN: 038500009X
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: May 8, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1970
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A prototypical survival story: after an airplane crash, a 13-year-old city boy spends two months alone in the Canadian wilderness. In transit between his divorcing parents, Brian is the plane's only passenger. After casually showing him how to steer, the pilot has a heart attack and dies. In a breathtaking sequence, Brian maneuvers the plane for hours while he tries to think what to do, at last crashing as gently and levelly as he can manage into a lake. The plane sinks; all he has left is a hatchet, attached to his belt. His injuries prove painful but not fundamental. In time, he builds a shelter, experiments with berries, finds turtle eggs, starts a fire, makes a bow and arrow to catch fish and birds, and makes peace with the larger wildlife. He also battles despair and emerges more patient, prepared to learn from his mistakes—when a rogue moose attacks him and a fierce storm reminds him of his mortality, he's prepared to make repairs with philosophical persistence. His mixed feelings surprise him when the plane finally surfaces so that he can retrieve the survival pack; and then he's rescued. Plausible, taut, this is a spellbinding account. Paulsen's staccato, repetitive style conveys Brian's stress; his combination of third-person narrative with Brian's interior monologue pulls the reader into the story. Brian's angst over a terrible secret—he's seen his mother with another man—is undeveloped and doesn't contribute much, except as one item from his previous life that he sees in better perspective, as a result of his experience. High interest, not hard to read. A winner.
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1987
ISBN: 1416925082
Page Count: -
Publisher: Bradbury
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1987
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