by Monika Schröder ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 1, 2010
Akash, in his seventh and last year of education in India, has a gift for math, finding patterns in numbers by using Vedic math, an ancient system of Indian mathematics. The Hindu boy prays to Saraswati, goddess of wisdom and knowledge, to help him raise money to hire a tutor and win a scholarship, but when the monsoon fails to bring rain to his family’s crops and his father dies unexpectedly, he is forced to work in their landlord's quarry. Quickly realizing that he will never pay off the debt, Akash runs away to New Delhi, where his experiences give an authentically gritty portrait of life on the streets. Homeless and hungry, he follows a group of boys, some sniffing correction fluid to forget their troubles, others gambling and dealing drugs. With the help of a kind newspaper seller, Akash realizes that Saraswati will only help him if he deserves it. Although most runaways’ lives turn tragic, the author mercifully offers a hopeful ending. This rare combination of math and culture is a boon for discussions and makes this stand out. (author’s note, glossary) (Fiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-374-36411-3
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Frances Foster/Farrar, Straus & Giroux
Review Posted Online: Oct. 1, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2010
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by Marie Lu ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 29, 2011
This is no didactic near-future warning of present evils, but a cinematic adventure featuring endearing, compelling heroes
A gripping thriller in dystopic future Los Angeles.
Fifteen-year-olds June and Day live completely different lives in the glorious Republic. June is rich and brilliant, the only candidate ever to get a perfect score in the Trials, and is destined for a glowing career in the military. She looks forward to the day when she can join up and fight the Republic’s treacherous enemies east of the Dakotas. Day, on the other hand, is an anonymous street rat, a slum child who failed his own Trial. He's also the Republic's most wanted criminal, prone to stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. When tragedies strike both their families, the two brilliant teens are thrown into direct opposition. In alternating first-person narratives, Day and June experience coming-of-age adventures in the midst of spying, theft and daredevil combat. Their voices are distinct and richly drawn, from Day’s self-deprecating affection for others to June's Holmesian attention to detail. All the flavor of a post-apocalyptic setting—plagues, class warfare, maniacal soldiers—escalates to greater complexity while leaving space for further worldbuilding in the sequel.
This is no didactic near-future warning of present evils, but a cinematic adventure featuring endearing, compelling heroes . (Science fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25675-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: April 8, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2011
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BOOK TO SCREEN
by Jack Gantos ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 13, 2011
Characteristically provocative gothic comedy, with sublime undertones. (Autobiographical fiction. 11-13)
An exhilarating summer marked by death, gore and fire sparks deep thoughts in a small-town lad not uncoincidentally named “Jack Gantos.”
The gore is all Jack’s, which to his continuing embarrassment “would spray out of my nose holes like dragon flames” whenever anything exciting or upsetting happens. And that would be on every other page, seemingly, as even though Jack’s feuding parents unite to ground him for the summer after several mishaps, he does get out. He mixes with the undertaker’s daughter, a band of Hell’s Angels out to exact fiery revenge for a member flattened in town by a truck and, especially, with arthritic neighbor Miss Volker, for whom he furnishes the “hired hands” that transcribe what becomes a series of impassioned obituaries for the local paper as elderly town residents suddenly begin passing on in rapid succession. Eventually the unusual body count draws the—justified, as it turns out—attention of the police. Ultimately, the obits and the many Landmark Books that Jack reads (this is 1962) in his hours of confinement all combine in his head to broaden his perspective about both history in general and the slow decline his own town is experiencing.
Characteristically provocative gothic comedy, with sublime undertones. (Autobiographical fiction. 11-13)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-37993-3
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2011
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