“This couldn’t be real. They must be in some fantasy story.” Francie Cavanaugh feels like an elf in a fairy tale next to the giant sequoia tree she has discovered, the Emperor of Trees, right there in front of her. It’s 1894. Francie’s sister Carrie died in a landslide six years before, but Carrie’s note left in a sequoia stump and her newly uncovered diary have led Francie on a mission to save this impossibly ancient tree from loggers. The economy of the town, the jobs of the loggers, and even Mr. Cavanaugh’s hotel business depend on logging, and that one tree by itself could provide wood enough for many houses. But Carrie’s diary leads Francie to an old will giving Carrie rights to the giant tree and the land around it. With the will in hand, Francie must ride the log flume to St. Joseph, many miles away—something only two men have tried before; one died, and one was injured. Pfitsch’s (Keeper of the Light, 1997, etc.) story is based on the real stands of Sierra redwood near Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks in California, and a real giant called the Boole Tree, 35 feet in diameter. Though the writing is wordy and awkward in spots, the story itself is exciting. By the end, Francie has proven herself and brought her family together in the wake of her sister’s death. A satisfying adventure with an environmental message. (author’s note, glossary, bibliography) (Fiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-689-83823-9
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2002
BOOK REVIEW
Certain to provoke controversy and difficult to see as a book for children, who could easily miss the painful point.
After Hitler appoints Bruno’s father commandant of Auschwitz, Bruno (nine) is unhappy with his new surroundings compared to the luxury of his home in Berlin.
The literal-minded Bruno, with amazingly little political and social awareness, never gains comprehension of the prisoners (all in “striped pajamas”) or the malignant nature of the death camp. He overcomes loneliness and isolation only when he discovers another boy, Shmuel, on the other side of the camp’s fence. For months, the two meet, becoming secret best friends even though they can never play together. Although Bruno’s family corrects him, he childishly calls the camp “Out-With” and the Fuhrer “Fury.” As a literary device, it could be said to be credibly rooted in Bruno’s consistent, guileless characterization, though it’s difficult to believe in reality. The tragic story’s point of view is unique: the corrosive effect of brutality on Nazi family life as seen through the eyes of a naïf. Some will believe that the fable form, in which the illogical may serve the objective of moral instruction, succeeds in Boyne’s narrative; others will believe it was the wrong choice.
Certain to provoke controversy and difficult to see as a book for children, who could easily miss the painful point. (Fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2006
ISBN: 0-385-75106-0
Page Count: 224
Publisher: David Fickling/Random
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2006
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
Illegal immigrant sisters learn a lot about themselves when their family faces deportation in this compelling contemporary drama. Immigrants from Bangladesh, Nadira, her older sister Aisha and their parents live in New York City with expired visas. Fourteen-year-old Nadira describes herself as “the slow-wit second-born” who follows Aisha, the family star who’s on track for class valedictorian and a top-rate college. Everything changes when post-9/11 government crack-downs on Muslim immigrants push the family to seek asylum in Canada where they are turned away at the border and their father is arrested by U.S. immigration. The sisters return to New York living in constant fear of detection and trying to pretend everything is normal. As months pass, Aisha falls apart while Nadira uses her head in “a right way” to save her father and her family. Nadira’s need for acceptance by her family neatly parallels the family’s desire for acceptance in their adopted country. A perceptive peek into the lives of foreigners on the fringe. (endnote) (Fiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2006
ISBN: 1-4169-0351-8
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Ginee Seo/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2005
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