The author of The Dark-Thirty: Southern Tales of the Supernatural (1992), illustrated by Brian Pinkney, mines a lighter vein with nine original tales that hark back to yarns from her Tennessee childhood. Opening with reminiscent scene-setters, all feature human “slicksters and tricksters” able to get what they want with charm, like con man Pete Bruce—who scores a generous portion of coconut cream pie from an undeceived cook—or despite bad reputations end up performing some worthy deed, as does chauffeur Lincoln Murphy, who excavates a prematurely buried employer. Other tales feature appearances from Frank and Jesse James, helping to rid sharecroppers of a white predator; from Ralph, king of the ghosts; and from the Devil himself, who makes a young musician the same so-tempting offer once made to bluesman Robert Johnson at a certain crossroads. Capped by blues harmonica player Cake Norris’s two-part odyssey up and down the ladder to Heaven, these tales all lend themselves to telling or reading aloud, and carry the common theme that even the worst rascals have saving graces. (author’s introduction) (Short stories. 10-12)
Pub Date: Aug. 22, 2006
ISBN: 0-375-83619-5
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Schwartz & Wade/Random
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2006
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A clear, visually attractive introduction by the author of several fine nature titles. Carefully describing the special features that help the cacti survive dry environments (e.g., accordion-pleated skin that expands without splitting), Lerner makes a strong plea for conservation and notes that there is at least one species native to every state except Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont. Her illustrations are detailed and carefully drawn, though scale is not given; scientific names appear in the back. Useful and unusually well written. Glossary; limited index (omitting some species, e.g., night-blooming cereus, described at length in the text). (Nonfiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Aug. 14, 1992
ISBN: 0-688-09636-0
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1992
In the ``Earthkeepers'' series, a true hero of the environmental movement gets his due in a simply phrased biography. Mendes, leader of the nonviolent movement to save the Brazilian rain forest, was gunned down by cattle ranchers just a few years ago. DeStefano gives a sympathetic account of his work, covering Mendes's organization of campaigns (as well as his public-relations efforts to attract world attention); the diversity of rain-forest life; its importance to humanity; the destruction threatening it; and the semifeudal living conditions of the rubber-tappers. Although her style plods a bit, she depicts the drama of the conflict fairly; readers who stick with her account will come to appreciate the enormous forces opposing Mendes and the scope of his achievements. Printed in large type and illustrated with b&w line drawings. Glossary; index; but no bibliography. (Biography. 10-12)
Pub Date: March 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-941477-41-X
Page Count: 76
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1992
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