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CHESHIRE MOON

Name: CHESHIRE MOON
Author: Nancy Butts
ISBN: 1-886910-08-1

by Nancy Butts ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 16, 1996

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Beneath the crescent moon, a shared dream becomes life-threatening reality for two angry young people—one deaf, the other fatherless. Having isolated herself by refusing to vocalize or wear a hearing aid, Miranda takes her usual summer trip to Summerhaven, a Penobscot Bay island, fully aware that since the death of her friend Timothy—the only islander who could sign fluently—it won't be the tranquil escape it had been in past years. There she meets Boone, nursing grievances of his own since the abrupt departure of his father—and his mother's work schedule leaves him to cope (not too well) with unruly younger siblings. The two do not warm to each other until, spurred by a recurring dream of a shadowy figure on a nonexistent island, Miranda rows out into the bay, encounters Timothy's ghost, and rescues Boone, who had been dreaming the same dream. Butts convincingly shapes Miranda's resentment, fueled by the exaggerated but not entirely unjustified conviction that she's a victim of prejudice, describing with uncommon clarity her signs and how deafness affects her acts and perceptions. The supernatural twist seems superfluous, however, less a healing device than a contrivance for creating dramatic tension—this and the perfunctory way Boone's family troubles vanish without explanation strand a strong protagonist. (Fiction. 10-12)

Pub Date: Sept. 16, 1996

ISBN: 1-886910-08-1

Page Count: 105

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1996

Categories:

TEENS & YOUNG ADULT FICTION

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FORBIDDEN SEA

by Sheila A. Nielson ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 1, 2010

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Life in the seaside village has been hard for Adrianne and her family, even before the arrival of the mermaid. Since Papa’s death, they’ve been living with horrible Auntie Minnah, the village boys ignore Adrianne in favor of wealthier and prettier girls and the villagers despise the whole family. Adrianne gets the opportunity for her dream job, but as soon as things start looking up, the Windwaithe Mermaid comes, summoning Adrianne and terrifying the superstitious villagers. Now Adrianne needs to make a choice between a magical life of undersea romance and the poverty and degradation she knows on land. It ought to be an easy choice, but perhaps not. Lucky, lucky Adrianne. Her magical adventure will bring out her true potential—as a girl who is “quite attractive” and whose outer beauty is now visible both to herself and to the handsome boys of the island. Readers obsessed with paranormal romance could do worse, but they probably won’t remember this for very long. (Fantasy. 10-12)

Pub Date: July 1, 2010

ISBN: 978-0-545-09734-5

Page Count: 304

Publisher: Scholastic

Review Posted Online: June 2, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2010

Categories:

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

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NEVER CRY ``ARP!''

by Patrick F. McManus ‧ RELEASE DATE: May 1, 1996

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Stories about the author's childhood adventures growing up in a small town, including one in which a delinquent dog tangles with a skunk, and two in which eminently satisfying tricks are played on pompous bullies. Others involve youthful disasters, accident-prone friends, eccentric townsfolk, camp-outs, and crazy schemes. McManus is a sort of Dave Barry for kids. His stories are not merely amusing: They are laugh-out-loud, stomach-clutching, tears-rolling-down-your-cheeks hilarious. Factual or not, the names of people display a backwoods Dickensian humor, from Rancid Crabtree, the old woodsman, to a friend, Retch Sweeney, and his two kid brothers, Erful and Verman, and to Miss Goosehart, a teacher at Delmore Blight Grade School. The humor is often broad, but its expression is matter-of-fact; McManus writes for those with good vocabularies who can read between the lines. Really comic stories that also treat this audience with intelligence are something of a rarity; this collection is as welcome as lemonade in the desert. (Short stories. 10-12)