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STEPPING ON THE CRACKS

Name: STEPPING ON THE CRACKS
Author: Mary Downing Hahn
ISBN: 0547076606

by Mary Downing Hahn ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1991

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It's late 1944; Margaret and friend Elizabeth, 12, are hoping that their brothers, who until recently were at the local high school, will be home from Europe for Christmas. Meanwhile, tracking their archenemy, bully Gordy, they discover that his older brother Stuart is hiding in the woods near their Maryland community of College "Hill" (a.k.a. Park). The girls are outraged because Stu is a deserter, but as they learn about his family's circumstances—his alcoholic father is violently abusive; thoughtful, scholarly Stu is a pacifist out of deep conviction—they gain sympathy for his stand. Gordy hasn't been able to bring Stu enough food, and, as winter deepens, he contracts pneumonia; reluctantly, Gordy accepts the girls' help, and they bring in another neighbor—a young war widow Stu's age—to get Stu desperately needed medical care. In the end, Stu is discovered because he chooses to confront his father in the hopes of saving the rest of his family. HIS father almost kills him; Margaret is left to make peace with her conventional parents, just when they are grieving for her brother, killed in action. Like Theresa Nelson's And One retail (1989), about the Vietnam era, Hahn's story re-creates the tensions and moral climate of its period in authentic detail. Subtly portraying the contrasting attitudes of several adults during a time when any "unpatriotic" thought was quickly condemned, she sets the stage for the girls' compassionate, unorthodox response to their moral dilemma. Suspenseful, carefully wrought, and thought-provoking—a fine achievement. (Fiction. 10-14)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1991

ISBN: 0547076606

Page Count: 218

Publisher: Clarion Books

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1991

Categories:

CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE OLD WILLIS PLACE GRAPHIC NOVEL
by Mary Downing Hahn ; adapted by Scott Peterson ; illustrated by Meredith Laxton ; color by Sienna Haralson

- BOOK REVIEW
ALL THE LOVELY BAD ONES
by Mary Downing Hahn ; adapted by Scott Peterson ; illustrated by Naomi Franquiz ; color by Brittany Peer

- BOOK REVIEW
WAIT TILL HELEN COMES
developed by Mary Downing Hahn ; adapted by Scott Peterson ; illustrated by Meredith Laxton ; color by Russ Badgett

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THE SEVENTH MOST IMPORTANT THING

by Shelley Pearsall ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 8, 2015

Luminescent, just like the artwork it celebrates. (Historical fiction. 10-14)

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Traumatized by his father’s recent death, a boy throws a brick at an old man who collects junk in his neighborhood and winds up on probation working for him.

Pearsall bases the book on a famed real work of folk art, the Throne of the Third Heaven, by James Hampton, a janitor who built his work in a garage in Washington, D.C., from bits of light bulbs, foil, mirrors, wood, bottles, coffee cans, and cardboard—the titular seven most important things. In late 1963, 13-year-old Arthur finds himself looking for junk for Mr. Hampton, who needs help with his artistic masterpiece, begun during World War II. The book focuses on redemption rather than art, as Hampton forgives the fictional Arthur for his crime, getting the boy to participate in his work at first reluctantly, later with love. Arthur struggles with his anger over his father’s death and his mother’s new boyfriend. Readers watch as Arthur transfers much of his love for his father to Mr. Hampton and accepts responsibility for saving the art when it becomes endangered. Written in a homespun style that reflects the simple components of the artwork, the story guides readers along with Arthur to an understanding of the most important things in life.

Luminescent, just like the artwork it celebrates. (Historical fiction. 10-14)