Glorifying individual achievement without addressing the complex, ongoing legacy of race and racism, this naïve fable fails...
Clarence, 14, saw his African-American mother shot and killed in their Richmond, Virginia, home; three years later, he and his hard-drinking, Irish-American dad live off Johnnyprice’s dogfighting and crack-dealing business.
Delivering crack to Johnnyprice’s customers, Clarence dreams of escape, of becoming a superhero like Batman, taking comfort in the memory of his mother and his bond with a customer’s affectionate Great Dane. Working for Johnnyprice’s higher-paying competitor, Y, brings risks and rewards. In high school, perennial A student Clarence impresses a kindly black teacher, who asks him to mentor a troubled white boy. (How he earns his A’s under hellish conditions isn’t described.) With some missteps, Clarence begins to shape his destiny. After a powerful first half, increasingly one-dimensional characterization hampers the novel. Whether evil or angelic, victim or victimizer, all share a profound isolation, and race is treated as irrelevant to outcome. Clarence is abused by his father, ignored or rejected by relatives. Though both mentor and mentee, he lacks peer friendships. Likewise, the neighborhood—populated by addicts and dealers—seems adrift from the rest of the world. Current cultural referents, such as cellphones, are puzzlingly absent. Crack’s the drug of choice; policing and the criminal justice system play no role. Without history, community, or culture, it’s a jungle or prison—here, decency resides only in individuals.
Glorifying individual achievement without addressing the complex, ongoing legacy of race and racism, this naïve fable fails to convince. (Fiction. 13-16)Pub Date: Sept. 6, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-670-01646-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
An enjoyable, if predictable, romantic holiday story.
Is an exuberant extended family the cure for a breakup? Sophie is about to find out.
When Sophie unexpectedly breaks up with her boyfriend, she isn’t thrilled about spending the holidays at her grandparents’ house instead of with him. And when her grandmother forms a plan to distract Sophie from her broken heart—10 blind dates, each set up by different family members—she’s even less thrilled. Everyone gets involved with the matchmaking, even forming a betting pool on the success of each date. But will Sophie really find someone to fill the space left by her ex? Will her ex get wind of Sophie’s dating spree via social media and want them to get back together? Is that what she even wants anymore? This is a fun story of finding love, getting to know yourself, and getting to know your family. The pace is quick and light, though the characters are fairly shallow and occasionally feel interchangeable, especially with so many names involved. A Christmas tale, the plot is a fast-paced series of dinners, parties, and games, relayed in both narrative form and via texts, though the humor occasionally feels stiff and overwrought. The ending is satisfying, though largely unsurprising. Most characters default to white as members of Sophie’s Italian American extended family, although one of her cousins has a Filipina mother. One uncle is gay.
An enjoyable, if predictable, romantic holiday story. (Fiction. 13-16)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-368-02749-6
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: June 22, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2019
The Phantom of the Opera served as inspiration, but this wouldn’t last on Broadway.
Stephanie and her family move into an old mansion rumored to have been put under a curse after a turn-of-the-20th-century rich boy meddled with an Egyptian mummy.
After her young sister complains about strange events, high school student Stephanie befriends Lucas, a geeky, good-looking boy, and meets the other members of SPOoKy, the Scientific Paranormal Organization of Kentucky: Charlotte, Wes, and Patrick. Stephanie learns the history of her new home from Lucas, who attracts her romantic attention, but the usually levelheaded girl is soon drawn to Erik, the handsome phantom who first comes to her in dreams. The story is told in chapters narrated by Stephanie, Lucas, and Zedok, whose identity is initially a source of confusion to Stephanie. Zedok appears wearing different masks, “personified slivers” of his soul, representing states of mind such as Wrath, Madness, and Valor. Meanwhile, until gifted singer Stephanie came along and he could write songs for her, Erik’s dreams were thwarted; he wanted to be a composer but his family expected him to become a doctor. In the gothic horror tradition, Erik’s full background and connection with Zedok are slowly revealed. Romantic dream sequences are lush and swoon-y, but the long, drawn-out battle to end the curse, aided by a celebrity clairvoyant, is tedious, and the constant introduction of Erik’s different personae is confusing. Most characters default to White; Patrick is Black.
The Phantom of the Opera served as inspiration, but this wouldn’t last on Broadway. (Horror. 13-16)Pub Date: Aug. 17, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-11604-3
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 26, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2021
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