A sweet tale of friendship that will educate readers about life in a Civil War camp.
In Leppo’s debut YA novel, a teenage boy from 2012 time-travels 150 years into the past and becomes a drummer in the Union army.
For young Josh, an extended vacation full of chores in rural Tennessee sounds like a complete nightmare. Following his father’s death, Josh’s mother took the family—which also includes his sister, Evie—to their aunt and uncle’s historic inn, promising to help the older couple refurbish the building. Despite his initial reservations, Josh becomes charmed by the inn’s residents, who like to share tales of history. One night, he hears a strange drumming sound and encounters a young man named Tobias (nicknamed “Toby”) in the inn’s basement; he later realizes that it’s the ghost of his ancestor, whose father was anti-slavery and fought for the Union. After several encounters with Toby, Josh finds himself transported back to 1862, where he embarks on a quest to enlist in the Union army as a drummer boy. Leppo relates the Civil War-era narrative from a modern perspective that allows her to make commentary that may make the story feel more relevant to the book’s young audience. When Toby marvels at modern-day technological conveniences, Josh remarks, “Even though we have lots of things that make life easier, your life now is a whole lot less complicated….Where I come from most people spend all day at work or school, and families hardly see each other.” Although the book’s prose is straightforward and easy to read, it begins slowly and is somewhat heavy with exposition. However, once Josh joins Toby in the past, it’s difficult not to become invested in their fates. The characters in the Union camp are endearing, and scenes of army life are informative and intriguing. The time that Josh spends in battle is minimal and the descriptions aren’t overtly graphic, but Leppo does convey the grisly nature of war through conversations with affected characters. The story glosses over the logistical problems inherent in time-travel pieces, hinging the plot on supernatural forces. The ending is satisfying enough, however, to excuse any potential paradoxes.
A sweet tale of friendship that will educate readers about life in a Civil War camp.Pub Date: Jan. 29, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-9998798-0-1
Page Count: 326
Publisher: AllieBee Publishing
Review Posted Online: Nov. 13, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.
Four men who meet as college roommates move to New York and spend the next three decades gaining renown in their professions—as an architect, painter, actor and lawyer—and struggling with demons in their intertwined personal lives.
Yanagihara (The People in the Trees, 2013) takes the still-bold leap of writing about characters who don’t share her background; in addition to being male, JB is African-American, Malcolm has a black father and white mother, Willem is white, and “Jude’s race was undetermined”—deserted at birth, he was raised in a monastery and had an unspeakably traumatic childhood that’s revealed slowly over the course of the book. Two of them are gay, one straight and one bisexual. There isn’t a single significant female character, and for a long novel, there isn’t much plot. There aren’t even many markers of what’s happening in the outside world; Jude moves to a loft in SoHo as a young man, but we don’t see the neighborhood change from gritty artists’ enclave to glitzy tourist destination. What we get instead is an intensely interior look at the friends’ psyches and relationships, and it’s utterly enthralling. The four men think about work and creativity and success and failure; they cook for each other, compete with each other and jostle for each other’s affection. JB bases his entire artistic career on painting portraits of his friends, while Malcolm takes care of them by designing their apartments and houses. When Jude, as an adult, is adopted by his favorite Harvard law professor, his friends join him for Thanksgiving in Cambridge every year. And when Willem becomes a movie star, they all bask in his glow. Eventually, the tone darkens and the story narrows to focus on Jude as the pain of his past cuts deep into his carefully constructed life.
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.Pub Date: March 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-53925-8
Page Count: 720
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PROFILES
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Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
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