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YELLOW DOG

Name: YELLOW DOG
Author: Miriam Körner
ISBN: 978-0-88995-546-2

by Miriam Körner ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 7, 2017

Heartwarming and optimistic.

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Jeremy and his best friend, Justin, seem inseparable until Jeremy's newfound interest in dogs and a mysterious old man threaten their friendship.

Thirteen-year-old Jeremy lives with his mother in the small Cree community of Poplar Point. He usually splits his time among school, home, and hanging out with Justin. When he and Justin cross paths with an old yellow dog and its elderly owner, Jack, Jeremy's life changes. The old man is strange. He chooses to live in an old log cabin and speaks to Jeremy as if they've met before. Jeremy soon bonds with Jack. The elder knows everything about dog sledding and the old ways of trapping and fishing. Once his mother catches wind of his new mentor, however, she bristles at the relationship. Moreover, Justin hates dogs and resents the time Jeremy spends with Yellow Dog. Körner hits the mark exploring the passions of a young boy and his relationships. The intergenerational relationship between Jack and Jeremy explores Cree culture and language with familiarity rather than cold observation. Jeremy's interest in his culture and history could spark conversations with readers’ elders and others about history and traditions. Körner also gently transforms Justin's understanding of Jeremy and dogs. Simmering with resentment and pride, Justin learns why Jeremy loves dogs and how to participate in his interests, beautifully demonstrating the hard work it takes to remain open-minded despite past trauma.

Heartwarming and optimistic. (Fiction. 10-14)

Pub Date: March 7, 2017

ISBN: 978-0-88995-546-2

Page Count: 296

Publisher: Red Deer Press

Review Posted Online: Jan. 16, 2017

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2017

Categories:

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT ANIMALS | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FICTION

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THE LOST TRIBES

by C. Taylor-Butler ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 25, 2015

Well-written and well-paced: a promising start to what should be an exciting and unusual sci-fi series.

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A boy, his sister and their three friends discover that their parents—and they themselves—are not what they seem.

When their uncle challenges seventh-grader Ben and his little sister, April, to beat a special computer game in a week, they employ the help of their neighborhood friends: Grace, Carlos and Serise. Together, the kids race against time to decode hieroglyphics, avoid booby traps and collect ancient artifacts. But as the game continues, it becomes strange, as does their parents’ behavior. They begin to feel they’re actually in the projected images of far-off locations—and sometimes they see their parents while there. But that doesn’t make sense....Though the mystery is spoilered by the flap copy, the fact that the characters don’t figure things out immediately makes sense within the context of the story. While the real action comes toward the last half of the book, the first half should keep readers (at least those who avoid the spoiler) engaged as the game is so interesting. And while Ben is likable, he’s no fearless leader but a fallible boy who does his best to be courageous in frightening situations. That the main characters are of diverse ethnic origins is laudable and a breath of fresh air, as is the lack of stereotypes and clichés.

Well-written and well-paced: a promising start to what should be an exciting and unusual sci-fi series. (Science fiction. 10-14)

Pub Date: March 25, 2015

ISBN: 978-0-9854810-8-7

Page Count: 368

Publisher: Move Books

Review Posted Online: Jan. 9, 2015

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2015

Categories:

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FICTION | TEENS & YOUNG ADULT SCIENCE FICTION & FANTASY

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A MAP OF DAYS

From the Peculiar Children series , Vol. 4

by Ransom Riggs ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 2, 2018

Not much forward momentum but a tasty array of chills, thrills, and chortles.

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The victory of Jacob and his fellow peculiars over the previous episode’s wights and hollowgasts turns out to be only one move in a larger game as Riggs (Tales of the Peculiar, 2016, etc.) shifts the scene to America.

Reading largely as a setup for a new (if not exactly original) story arc, the tale commences just after Jacob’s timely rescue from his decidedly hostile parents. Following aimless visits back to newly liberated Devil’s Acre and perfunctory normalling lessons for his magically talented friends, Jacob eventually sets out on a road trip to find and recruit Noor, a powerful but imperiled young peculiar of Asian Indian ancestry. Along the way he encounters a semilawless patchwork of peculiar gangs, syndicates, and isolated small communities—many at loggerheads, some in the midst of negotiating a tentative alliance with the Ymbryne Council, but all threatened by the shadowy Organization. The by-now-tangled skein of rivalries, romantic troubles, and family issues continues to ravel amid bursts of savage violence and low comedy (“I had never seen an invisible person throw up before,” Jacob writes, “and it was something I won’t soon forget”). A fresh set of found snapshots serves, as before, to add an eldritch atmosphere to each set of incidents. The cast defaults to white but includes several people of color with active roles.

Not much forward momentum but a tasty array of chills, thrills, and chortles. (Horror/Fantasy. 12-14)