Shusterman (The Dark Side of Nowhere, 1997, etc.) twines suspense and satire through this ingenious tale of a secret community living deep beneath the streets of New York City. The boundaries of Lindsay's lonely, friendless world expand suddenly when she meets Talon Angler, an oddly clad teenager who claims to have come from "Downside" in search of medicine for his sick little sister. Against his better judgement, Talon takes Lindsay on a forbidden tour of his own world, a subterranean maze of tunnels and chambers where he and 5,000 others live in peace and comfort, knowing "Topside" only from old tales and occasional peeks through street drains. Spinning Downside's origin from actual events in New York history, Shusterman creates a plausibly complex society with its own art, customs, and assumptions, then turns to view Topside culture, both through Downsider eyes and with a more general, broadly comic, vision. Despite frequent doses of social commentary, the pace never flags; their isolation breached by a Topsider aqueduct project, the Downsiders respond by cutting off all utilities (oblivious, New Yorkers respond with a huge block party), then, under Talon's leadership, filling upper levels with natural gas and setting it off. Urban readers, at least, will be checking the storm drains for peering faces in the wake of this cleverly envisioned romp. (Fiction. 11-15)
Pub Date: June 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-689-80375-3
Page Count: 246
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1999
Floca (The Frightful Story of Harry Walfish, 1997, etc.) offers a great explication of the small trucks that airline passengers see scurrying around jets on the runways. In brightly painted illustrations and simple descriptions, he introduces each vehicle, explains what it does, and shows it in action, e.g., the truck called the baggage conveyor is shown hoisting suitcases into the belly of the plane. All five trucks’ duties point to a big finale when the plane takes off. Given preschoolers’ well-documented fascination with heavy machinery, this book will strike a chord with young air travelers, and answer the questions of older travelers as well. (Picture book. 6-10)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-7894-2561-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: DK Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1999
The leap-at-you color and elegantly stylized illustrations, resembling airbrushed linoleum-cuts, give this book an instant allure; the story—a noble tale of character and social leveling, mock drama and high mirth—more than meets the expectations aroused by that first impression. A retired pirate, out on a stroll in Central Park, is prompted by his memories to build a scale-model replica of his pirate ship and launch it in the park’s sailboat pond. All is shipshape until an old queen arrives and has her servant launch an outsized liner—the S.S. Uppity Duchess. The liner barges about, swamping the other boats in the pond, but at the pirate’s suggestion to slow her vessel, the queen opens fire on his ship. He responds with a broadside of his own and a great battle ensues; tiny cannonballs zing this way and that, people take cover, dogs and young children run riot, taxis on Fifth Avenue come to a halt. Then the queen calls a truce; she’s in need of a nap, and from that need—which the pirate shares—flows the notes of reconciliation. “Peace and tranquility once again reigned at the pond. Sails were set, dogs recaptured, and gentle laughter returned to the soft summer air of New York City.” Priest tells the story with dash and verve, whether in a turn of phrase or a line of art; it not only features a contemporary city with one of its great pleasures—the park—in full flower, but a realm in which the wish for a little rest outweighs the wages of war. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-395-90505-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
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