A savory legend that also serves as an advertisement for artisanal sausage.
An apocryphal tale of a mustachioed sausage-maker who, with nowhere left to run, disguises himself as a nun.
In this colorful debut picture book, Wilhelms tells the story of a friendly Mexican butcher and his wildly popular sausage. He grows so famous that meat-lovers from all over visit his store to try his gourmet links. He tries his best to keep up with demand, but he takes the process seriously and doesn’t want to skimp on ingredients. His craftsmanship makes an enemy of El Gordo, a local mobster who wants the tasty chorizo on demand—and all to himself. El Gordo sends his underlings to steal the secret recipe, so the sausage man makes a run for it. He finds refuge in a nunnery, in which the sisters have taken a vow of silence. Outfitted in a full habit (though still sporting his signature bushy mustache), he hides among the nuns. Soon, El Gordo’s goons hear of a hairy-faced nun who makes delicious sausage, and they can’t ignore the coincidence. But the silent sisters don’t turn him in; instead, they protect him by also donning mustaches—wide ones, with comical curves that call to mind Salvador Dali’s. The sausage maker revels in his newfound camaraderie among the nuns, who bestow upon him the honorific “Mother Choriza” (after the chorizo sausage). El Gordo’s vain pursuit of the secret recipe, in contrast to Mother Choriza’s magnanimity, will allow parents and teachers to discuss bullying and the folly of selfishness, appropriate topics for preschoolers and elementary school students. The warm-toned illustrations give the Mexican countryside, with its cheery campesinos, a pastoral appeal, and the well-paced plot will keep young readers engaged. The legend also includes a handful of alternate endings for the tale, which may be confusing for some younger readers. Unfortunately, the book takes an unappetizing turn in its final pages, as it’s revealed that the story is branded marketing for a commercial sausage company.
A savory legend that also serves as an advertisement for artisanal sausage.Pub Date: Aug. 4, 2014
ISBN: 978-1496091284
Page Count: 68
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Oct. 10, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The heartbreaking story of an emotionally battered child delivered with captivating candor and grace.
The former iCarly star reflects on her difficult childhood.
In her debut memoir, titled after her 2020 one-woman show, singer and actor McCurdy (b. 1992) reveals the raw details of what she describes as years of emotional abuse at the hands of her demanding, emotionally unstable stage mom, Debra. Born in Los Angeles, the author, along with three older brothers, grew up in a home controlled by her mother. When McCurdy was 3, her mother was diagnosed with breast cancer. Though she initially survived, the disease’s recurrence would ultimately take her life when the author was 21. McCurdy candidly reconstructs those in-between years, showing how “my mom emotionally, mentally, and physically abused me in ways that will forever impact me.” Insistent on molding her only daughter into “Mommy’s little actress,” Debra shuffled her to auditions beginning at age 6. As she matured and starting booking acting gigs, McCurdy remained “desperate to impress Mom,” while Debra became increasingly obsessive about her daughter’s physical appearance. She tinted her daughter’s eyelashes, whitened her teeth, enforced a tightly monitored regimen of “calorie restriction,” and performed regular genital exams on her as a teenager. Eventually, the author grew understandably resentful and tried to distance herself from her mother. As a young celebrity, however, McCurdy became vulnerable to eating disorders, alcohol addiction, self-loathing, and unstable relationships. Throughout the book, she honestly portrays Debra’s cruel perfectionist personality and abusive behavior patterns, showing a woman who could get enraged by everything from crooked eyeliner to spilled milk. At the same time, McCurdy exhibits compassion for her deeply flawed mother. Late in the book, she shares a crushing secret her father revealed to her as an adult. While McCurdy didn’t emerge from her childhood unscathed, she’s managed to spin her harrowing experience into a sold-out stage act and achieve a form of catharsis that puts her mind, body, and acting career at peace.
The heartbreaking story of an emotionally battered child delivered with captivating candor and grace.Pub Date: Aug. 9, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-982185-82-4
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 30, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2022
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
An intriguing but uneven family memoir and travelogue.
An author’s trip to Venice takes a distinctly Borgesian turn.
In November 2020, soccer club Venizia F.C. offered Nigerian American author Madu a writing residency as part of its plan “to turn the team into a global entity of fashion, culture, and sports.” Flying to Venice for the fellowship, he felt guilty about leaving his immigrant parents, who were shocked to learn upon moving to the U.S. years earlier that their Nigerian teaching certifications were invalid, forcing his father to work as a stocking clerk at Rite Aid to support the family. Madu’s experiences in Venice are incidental to what is primarily a story about his family, especially his strained relationship with his father, who was disappointed with many of his son’s choices. Unfortunately, the author’s seeming disinterest in Venice renders much of the narrative colorless. He says the trip across the Ponte della Libertà bridge was “magical,” but nothing he describes—the “endless water on both sides,” the nearby seagulls—is particularly remarkable. Little in the text conveys a sense of place or the unique character of his surroundings. Madu is at his best when he focuses on family dynamics and his observations that, in the largely deserted city, “I was one of the few Black people around.” He cites Borges, giving special note to the author’s “The House of Asterion,” in which the minotaur “explains his situation as a creature and as a creature within the labyrinth” of multiple mirrors. This notion leads to the Borgesian turn in the book’s second half, when, in an extended sequence, Madu imagines himself transformed into a minotaur, with “the head of a bull” and his body “larger, thicker, powerful but also cumbersome.” It’s an engaging passage, although stylistically out of keeping with much of what has come before.
An intriguing but uneven family memoir and travelogue.Pub Date: April 2, 2024
ISBN: 9781953368669
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Belt Publishing
Review Posted Online: Nov. 17, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2023
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