TV viewers may be reminded of the Coneheads on Saturday Night Live (or My Favorite Martian), but this seriocomic,...
A refugee from a doomed planet, a teenage alien attempts—awkwardly—to blend into the landscape of an unsuspecting California town.
In this YA novel, a small family of extraterrestrials, actually reptilian but genetically modified to (hopefully) fit into human society, flees its dying world, concealing its spaceship near the small desert community of Prickly Pear, California. Using forged birth certificates (hinted to be based on Barack Obama’s) and unlikely names, the “Sminths”—mother, Crick; father, Watson; and daughter, Cricket—try to acclimate as newcomers. But their unfamiliarity with human customs and spoken English mark them instantly as oddballs, perhaps Russian. Cricket, who had no choice going on this one-way adventure, is especially moody and defiant (openly eating insects), and she is categorized as learning disabled at her school. The faculty pairs the attractive Cricket—to her discomfort—with a reluctant guardian in the form of another troubled teen, Tom Martinez, who lost his arm in a mysterious accident. Manos (Lucifer’s Revenge, 2012, etc.) has a go at the none-too-fresh YA fantasy trope of a modern-day high school “transfer student” who is actually a fantastic creature (vampire, witch, alien, you choose). Fortunately his grade A storytelling and insights into characterizations make the material enjoyable. With first-person narrative chores shared between Cricket and Tom, there is much culture-shock comedy, incipient romance, and some drama about the Sminths’ fear of discovery. Stock villainy is provided by a bullying biker gang, which overwhelms the tiny local police force, and a suspicious businessman who serves as town mayor. The official has long tried to turn Prickly Pear into a Roswell-level tourist trap with chintzy UFO displays (yet fails to recognize the real thing right in front of him). Even those Disney-esque threats and some too-convenient plot twists are given intelligent treatment by the author, who also expertly captures Cricket’s tart voice: a supersmart nonhuman nonetheless beset by the typical teen rigors of gym class, a school dance, mean girls, hormonal boys, and immigrant parents who are frequently embarrassing in their lack of assimilation. Things never get too dark, and the tone is comfortable for more mature YA readers.
TV viewers may be reminded of the Coneheads on Saturday Night Live (or My Favorite Martian), but this seriocomic, alien-in-school yarn skillfully maintains orbit and comedy-drama equilibrium.Pub Date: March 27, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-68046-603-4
Page Count: 260
Publisher: Melange Books - Fire and Ice YA
Review Posted Online: May 10, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.
A fifth-grade New Orleans girl discovers a mysterious chrysalis containing an unexpected creature in this middle-grade novel.
Jacquelyn Marie Johnson, called Jackie, is a 10-year-old African-American girl, the second oldest and the only girl of six siblings. She’s responsible, smart, and enjoys being in charge; she likes “paper dolls and long division and imagining things she had never seen.” Normally, Jackie has no trouble obeying her strict but loving parents. But when her potted snapdragon acquires a peculiar egg or maybe a chrysalis (she dubs it a chrysalegg), Jackie’s strong desire to protect it runs up against her mother’s rule against plants in the house. Jackie doesn’t exactly mean to lie, but she tells her mother she needs to keep the snapdragon in her room for a science project and gets permission. Jackie draws the chrysalegg daily, waiting for something to happen as it gets larger. When the amazing creature inside breaks free, Jackie is more determined than ever to protect it, but this leads her further into secrets and lies. The results when her parents find out are painful, and resolving the problem will take courage, honesty, and trust. Dumas (Jaden Toussaint, the Greatest: Episode 5, 2017, etc.) presents a very likable character in Jackie. At 10, she’s young enough to enjoy playing with paper dolls but has a maturity that even older kids can lack. She’s resourceful, as when she wants to measure a red spot on the chrysalegg; lacking calipers, she fashions one from her hairpin. Jackie’s inward struggle about what to obey—her dearest wishes or the parents she loves—is one many readers will understand. The book complicates this question by making Jackie’s parents, especially her mother, strict (as one might expect to keep order in a large family) but undeniably loving and protective as well—it’s not just a question of outwitting clueless adults. Jackie’s feelings about the creature (tender and responsible but also more than a little obsessive) are similarly shaded rather than black-and-white. The ending suggests that an intriguing sequel is to come.
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943169-32-0
Page Count: 212
Publisher: Plum Street Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.
In the ninth book in the Bluford young-adult series, a young Latino man walks away from violence—but at great personal cost.
In a large Southern California city, 16-year-old Martin Luna hangs out on the fringes of gang life. He’s disaffected, fatherless and increasingly drawn into the orbit of the older, rougher Frankie. When a stray bullet kills Martin’s adored 8-year-old brother, Huero, Martin seems to be heading into a life of crime. But Martin’s mother, determined not to lose another son, moves him to another neighborhood—the fictional town of Bluford, where he attends the racially diverse Bluford High. At his new school, the still-grieving Martin quickly makes enemies and gets into trouble. But he also makes friends with a kind English teacher and catches the eye of Vicky, a smart, pretty and outgoing Bluford student. Martin’s first-person narration supplies much of the book’s power. His dialogue is plain, but realistic and believable, and the authors wisely avoid the temptation to lard his speech with dated and potentially embarrassing slang. The author draws a vivid and affecting picture of Martin’s pain and confusion, bringing a tight-lipped teenager to life. In fact, Martin’s character is so well drawn that when he realizes the truth about his friend Frankie, readers won’t feel as if they are watching an after-school special, but as though they are observing the natural progression of Martin’s personal growth. This short novel appears to be aimed at urban teens who don’t often see their neighborhoods portrayed in young-adult fiction, but its sophisticated characters and affecting story will likely have much wider appeal.
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2004
ISBN: 978-1591940173
Page Count: 152
Publisher: Townsend Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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