In a funny, warmly romantic tale from Howe (Shoot for the Moon, 1992, etc.) an impulsive decision leads an average teenager into fulfilling his desire to be “Secret champion of the underdog, modest seeker of truth, fearless innovator of the unknown.” David, after announcing on his 16th birthday that he’s officially naming himself after a comic book hero, is catapulted into a string of situations requiring quick, clever action, from a killer bee attack on the principal to the impending demise of the privately funded school newspaper due to a certain very explicit illustration showing how to don a condom. Meanwhile, discovering in himself a new streak of boldness, David—now Blue—connects with Omaha Nebraska Brown, a soul mate capable both of cogently arguing determinism vs. free will and delivering knee-buckling kisses. Howe sweeps her smart, wide-open characters through an irresistible tumble of twists and coincidences, Big Ideas, and unanswerable questions, pausing for an occasional set piece before ingeniously furnishing a grand climax; having already achieved national fame, both for his principal’s rescue and for solving the “weeping meringue” problem (his recipe for “Blue Avenger’s Weepless Wonder Lemon Meringue Pie” is included), Blue reaches higher glory still by introducing the city council to a new gun control measure. It’s unabashed, cockle-warming wish fulfillment in a novel that has priceless moments and is the perfect respite from all the bleak YA fiction out there. (Fiction. 13-15)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8050-6062-6
Page Count: 230
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The format of this taut and moving drama forcefully regulates the pacing; breathless, edge-of-the-seat courtroom scenes...
In a riveting novel from Myers (At Her Majesty’s Request, 1999, etc.), a teenager who dreams of being a filmmaker writes the story of his trial for felony murder in the form of a movie script, with journal entries after each day’s action.
Steve is accused of being an accomplice in the robbery and murder of a drug store owner. As he goes through his trial, returning each night to a prison where most nights he can hear other inmates being beaten and raped, he reviews the events leading to this point in his life. Although Steve is eventually acquitted, Myers leaves it up to readers to decide for themselves on his protagonist’s guilt or innocence.
The format of this taut and moving drama forcefully regulates the pacing; breathless, edge-of-the-seat courtroom scenes written entirely in dialogue alternate with thoughtful, introspective journal entries that offer a sense of Steve’s terror and confusion, and that deftly demonstrate Myers’s point: the road from innocence to trouble is comprised of small, almost invisible steps, each involving an experience in which a “positive moral decision” was not made. (Fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: May 31, 1999
ISBN: 0-06-028077-8
Page Count: 280
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1999
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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