An immersive YA novel about teens attempting to survive increasingly extreme scenarios.
Klaassen (The Frog Prince, 2017, etc.) tells the story of a troubled teenager forced to survive after a natural disaster in this YA novel.
Sixteen-year-old delinquent Bodie McCann is on an excursion to explore a cave system as part of his community-service sentence for driving under the influence. He’s accompanied by a judge, a fireman, a couple of policemen, and four other troubled teens; the judge’s idea, according to Bodie, is to “take a bunch of guys out in the woods and let them experience nature—to open their eyes to the world and to encourage each of them to turn his life around before it was too late.” The group is deep underground when things go horribly wrong: an earthquake shakes the cave, killing all the adults and leaving the teens to find their own way out alive. Bodie—who isn’t quite as nihilistic as he wants people to think—is an experienced camper, and his survival skills turn out to be a tremendous boon for the group. But on their way back to civilization, the boys confront all manner of obstacles, from aftershocks and forest fires to animal attacks and armed outlaws. To survive, Bodie will also need to negotiate the tenuous dynamic between himself and his peers, who may not have his best interests at heart. The novel unfolds smoothly thanks to Klaassen’s direct, accessible prose, which adeptly captures the story’s action sequences: “Boys and men shouted as more bits of rock tumbled onto them. Wavering beams of light revealed a cloud of dust. A massive column wobbled and snapped at the narrow midpoint.” A few aspects of the novel seem rough or outdated, such as distracting mentions of characters’ skin color and a few slang terms, such as “butthead.” But the violent, eventful plot is compelling and quite unlike other titles in the contemporary YA market. It’s a sort of Deliverance for younger readers, and those who find that idea appealing will likely enjoy this often brutal book.
An immersive YA novel about teens attempting to survive increasingly extreme scenarios.Pub Date: June 8, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4835-9928-1
Page Count: 208
Publisher: AbbottPress
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2017
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...
Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.
Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.
The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.Pub Date: March 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-609-60737-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001
A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.
Pub Date: July 11, 1960
ISBN: 0060935464
Page Count: 323
Publisher: Lippincott
Review Posted Online: Oct. 7, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 1960
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
© Copyright 2026 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
