A bright future goes dim when Mandy's father is killed in WWII, and a returning veteran takes her mother's job. They have to move, to cranky Aunt Bess's farm. At first, Mandy doesn't want to fit in, either at her new school, or on the farm, where Aunt Bess tells her to tend the sheep—but her stubbornness begins to melt as she develops affection for the flock, and makes two friends. Still, she pines for her old town and the house her father had always talked of buying. A spring flood and a family crisis develop simultaneously when Mandy's mother proposes buying a local general store with Aunt Bess's lamb money; in a heavy rainstorm, Mandy finds the sheep cut off on a low rise, and must decide whether to prevent the sale by leaving them to their fate, or try a rescue. As it turns out, the water is already too deep, but she keeps the flock together through a long night, and by the time help arrives in the morning, has straightened her priorities. Willis plots a predictable but sturdy story, with a slightly antique flavor and a cast whose good hearts are frequently disguised beneath crusty or careless exteriors. (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: March 27, 1995
ISBN: 0-395-68708-X
Page Count: 188
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1995
Norbert Meaney earns his moniker by throwing horses through windows and terrorizing children—because, he boasts, he has no heart. To save their lives and town, young Gregory and Maw (a fiery-tempered crow who has raised the lad) propose taking The Mean One back in time to find his missing organ. The humor here is in contrasting Gregory—likable, gentle, enjoying a close relationship with his feathered parent—and the rank, bellowing, hairy giant. But that's not enough to carry a story of this length, and Meaney never seems all that nasty anyway; in the end, heart recovered (he lost it at 13 to a pretty classmate), he charges off to bathe and right all the wrongs he's committed. An aimless and loose-jointed yarn, but mildly funny. (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: Sept. 21, 1992
ISBN: 0-395-60821-X
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1992
Gary, 12, idolizes his vital, affectionate uncle Rob and is devastated when his mother tells him that Rob is HIV-positive. Though this is clearly a novel with a message, Durant imparts information without lecturing, surrounds Gary with helpful, sympathetic people, and allows him the common sense to deal with his feelings of denial, anger, and confusion when he learns that Rob is gay, and with grief after his quick deterioration and death. Shy and uncomfortable around girls (particularly a certain classmate), Gary worries about his own sexual identity, especially after his mother makes the (debatable) assertion that sexual orientation is formed before birth; but Rob, in his last lucid moment, gives him a reassuring sense of perspective. Despite some oversimplification of characters and issues—not to mention several instances of crude schoolboy banter—in the end the author has everyone behave with maturity, meanwhile offering helpful suggestions about reacting and remembering when AIDS strikes down a friend. (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: Oct. 30, 1992
ISBN: 0-689-31764-6
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1992
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