An earnest, if somewhat by-the-numbers, tale of a wanderer’s inner awakenings.
A bildungsroman tells the story of an ordinary man seeking a sense of fulfillment in his life.
Susnow’s (Dancing on the River, 2010) novel stars a young man named Roderick Bartholomew McPherson III, known to everybody as “Buddy,” as he progresses through his life seeking wisdom and direction in the second half of the 20th century on the West Coast. Readers are taken through Buddy's life at a fairly steady, often leisurely, pace: the early death of his father, his experience facing down a bully in military school, his budding interest in music, and so on. Instead of going to college, he and his dog take to the road and begin wandering in Northern California, where Buddy quickly encounters a mysterious older man named Mervin. Mervin is careful to distinguish himself from the mythical Merlin of King Arthur fame, but nevertheless offers to become Buddy’s mentor and teach him to harness the magic he has inside. Although they'll meet again at key intervals throughout the book, their initial encounter is brief, only long enough for some fairly unsurprising gnomic utterances on Mervin’s part—“Universal rules and principles are always true, except when they’re not. Be open to all possibilities”—and other fortune-cookie truisms that mean nothing because they can mean anything. While quoting from business-seminar gurus like Napoleon Hill, Mervin imparts to Buddy an optimism about life’s opportunities, and the young man carries this with him as he embarks on the kind of voyage of self-discovery that was once a mainstay of the hippie counterculture movement in California. During this predictable journey, Buddy strums his guitar at a cafe/bookstore/hangout named Annie’s, meets characters with names like Scorpia and The Blues, and attends a dreamy institution called the University of the Curious, where he meets like-minded seekers and tries to expand his awareness of the human brain’s potential (the often-debunked Uri Geller gets an obligatory mention). Fortunately, Susnow’s narrative picks up both speed and interest once Buddy becomes a lawyer, gets married, begins a career in socially conscious litigation, and undergoes business reversals and personal betrayals in the novel’s latter half. Readers who've stuck around thanks to the author’s easy, inviting prose should find themselves rewarded from the mid-point on.
An earnest, if somewhat by-the-numbers, tale of a wanderer’s inner awakenings.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: -
Publisher: Inspire Possibility Media
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.
A fifth-grade New Orleans girl discovers a mysterious chrysalis containing an unexpected creature in this middle-grade novel.
Jacquelyn Marie Johnson, called Jackie, is a 10-year-old African-American girl, the second oldest and the only girl of six siblings. She’s responsible, smart, and enjoys being in charge; she likes “paper dolls and long division and imagining things she had never seen.” Normally, Jackie has no trouble obeying her strict but loving parents. But when her potted snapdragon acquires a peculiar egg or maybe a chrysalis (she dubs it a chrysalegg), Jackie’s strong desire to protect it runs up against her mother’s rule against plants in the house. Jackie doesn’t exactly mean to lie, but she tells her mother she needs to keep the snapdragon in her room for a science project and gets permission. Jackie draws the chrysalegg daily, waiting for something to happen as it gets larger. When the amazing creature inside breaks free, Jackie is more determined than ever to protect it, but this leads her further into secrets and lies. The results when her parents find out are painful, and resolving the problem will take courage, honesty, and trust. Dumas (Jaden Toussaint, the Greatest: Episode 5, 2017, etc.) presents a very likable character in Jackie. At 10, she’s young enough to enjoy playing with paper dolls but has a maturity that even older kids can lack. She’s resourceful, as when she wants to measure a red spot on the chrysalegg; lacking calipers, she fashions one from her hairpin. Jackie’s inward struggle about what to obey—her dearest wishes or the parents she loves—is one many readers will understand. The book complicates this question by making Jackie’s parents, especially her mother, strict (as one might expect to keep order in a large family) but undeniably loving and protective as well—it’s not just a question of outwitting clueless adults. Jackie’s feelings about the creature (tender and responsible but also more than a little obsessive) are similarly shaded rather than black-and-white. The ending suggests that an intriguing sequel is to come.
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943169-32-0
Page Count: 212
Publisher: Plum Street Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.
In the ninth book in the Bluford young-adult series, a young Latino man walks away from violence—but at great personal cost.
In a large Southern California city, 16-year-old Martin Luna hangs out on the fringes of gang life. He’s disaffected, fatherless and increasingly drawn into the orbit of the older, rougher Frankie. When a stray bullet kills Martin’s adored 8-year-old brother, Huero, Martin seems to be heading into a life of crime. But Martin’s mother, determined not to lose another son, moves him to another neighborhood—the fictional town of Bluford, where he attends the racially diverse Bluford High. At his new school, the still-grieving Martin quickly makes enemies and gets into trouble. But he also makes friends with a kind English teacher and catches the eye of Vicky, a smart, pretty and outgoing Bluford student. Martin’s first-person narration supplies much of the book’s power. His dialogue is plain, but realistic and believable, and the authors wisely avoid the temptation to lard his speech with dated and potentially embarrassing slang. The author draws a vivid and affecting picture of Martin’s pain and confusion, bringing a tight-lipped teenager to life. In fact, Martin’s character is so well drawn that when he realizes the truth about his friend Frankie, readers won’t feel as if they are watching an after-school special, but as though they are observing the natural progression of Martin’s personal growth. This short novel appears to be aimed at urban teens who don’t often see their neighborhoods portrayed in young-adult fiction, but its sophisticated characters and affecting story will likely have much wider appeal.
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2004
ISBN: 978-1591940173
Page Count: 152
Publisher: Townsend Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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