From Wilson (Bringing Nettie Back, 1992, etc.), the story of Felix John Jasquith—JJ—his two great loves (his family's Massachusetts dairy farm and the clarinet he inherited from his grandfather), and his one great friend, Steven, a talented drummer. The boys' music teacher resolves to start a jazz band starring the two of them. But things are not good on the farm; it costs the family more to produce milk than they can sell it for, so JJ's dad has had to take a construction job in another town to make ends meet. JJ's mother does as much of the farm work as she can, while JJ's Gram keeps the house and cooks for the family. Most of the work falls on older brother, Ray, who hates the farm and plans to leave as soon as possible. JJ takes on extra work, too, at a terrible cost—giving up all other activities, including his music. Steven is angry enough at the development to end their friendship. At the news that his parents have decided to sell off the herd, a heartbroken JJ puts away his clarinet for good. How JJ faces his family's problems as well as his own is at the heart of this sensitive and beautifully told tale. It's also a sobering look at a once reliable way of life that is slowly vanishing. (Junior Library Guild selection) (Fiction. 9-13)
Pub Date: Oct. 18, 1996
ISBN: 0-374-30664-8
Page Count: 184
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 1996
The poem/novel ends with only a trace of hope; there are no pat endings, but a glimpse of beauty wrought from brutal reality.
Billie Jo tells of her life in Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl: Her mother dies after a gruesome accident caused by her father's leaving a bucket of kerosene near the stove; Billie Jo is partially responsible—fully responsible in the eyes of the community—and sustains injuries that seem to bring to a halt her dreams of playing the piano.
Finding a way through her grief is not made easier by her taciturn father, who went on a drinking binge while Billie Joe's mother, not yet dead, begged for water. Told in free-verse poetry of dated entries that span the winter of 1934 to the winter of 1935, this is an unremittingly bleak portrait of one corner of Depression-era life. In Billie Jo, the only character who comes to life, Hesse (The Music of Dolphins, 1996, etc.) presents a hale and determined heroine who confronts unrelenting misery and begins to transcend it.
The poem/novel ends with only a trace of hope; there are no pat endings, but a glimpse of beauty wrought from brutal reality. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1997
ISBN: 978-0-590-36080-7
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1997
Paulsen recalls personal experiences that he incorporated into Hatchet (1987) and its three sequels, from savage attacks by moose and mosquitoes to watching helplessly as a heart-attack victim dies. As usual, his real adventures are every bit as vivid and hair-raising as those in his fiction, and he relates them with relish—discoursing on “The Fine Art of Wilderness Nutrition,” for instance: “Something that you would never consider eating, something completely repulsive and ugly and disgusting, something so gross it would make you vomit just looking at it, becomes absolutely delicious if you’re starving.” Specific examples follow, to prove that he knows whereof he writes. The author adds incidents from his Iditarod races, describes how he made, then learned to hunt with, bow and arrow, then closes with methods of cooking outdoors sans pots or pans. It’s a patchwork, but an entertaining one, and as likely to win him new fans as to answer questions from his old ones. (Autobiography. 10-13)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-385-32650-5
Page Count: 150
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2000
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