Enticing young people to leave the brightly lit Glitter and join him in the decrepit part of town known as The Gloom, a parent-hating, teenage bully sets himself up as King Streetwise in this plodding British farce from Ridley (Krindlekrax, 1992, etc.). Kasper Whiskey, having spent all of his ten years with his indolent mother, Pumpkin, in her beauty parlor surrounded by leveled buildings, has never met anyone his age until the day he catches Heartthrob Mink, one of King Streetwise's troops, stealing roses. When Pumpkin's prized brooch disappears, Kasper sets out in pursuit. Streetwise is looking for Heartthrob, too, for helping his intended queen, Hushabye Brightwing, escape; Kasper joins the hunt but is so offended by the king's tactics that he switches sides and brings the two fugitives to the beauty parlor. Ultimately, Pumpkin turns over a new leaf, Heartthrob deals the king a black eye, the brooch turns up, and Hushabye declares her love for Kasper. Cautionary messages about bad friends and the dangers of running away are woven into a story that, for all its quirky elements and exaggerated characters, never hits the funny bone; few readers will notice that the king sounds like Elvis, nor will they attach much hilarity to repeated glimpses of Kasper's skill at whipping up a kind of banana cream pie. Riddell's black-and-white drawings have an expressive, graphic-novel-style sophistication, but can't leaven this leaden effort. (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-525-45799-2
Page Count: 204
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1997
BOOK REVIEW
This piercingly sad tale of a haunted family is assembled like a jigsaw puzzle, piece by piece. Skylar’s resolve to take a summer class at a high school downtown is almost buried beneath her own apprehension and her mother’s irrationally frantic concern for her safety. Alexandra, Skylar’s older sister and sole confidante, offers only weak encouragement, and withdraws even that when Skylar begins making friends with several classmates. Thesman (The Other Ones, 1999) brings the picture into focus slowly, dropping tantalizing hints about why Skylar is so fragile emotionally, her mother sliding rapidly toward a nervous breakdown, and all of their friends and neighbors gone cold and distant. Observant readers will gradually catch on that there is something strange about Alexandra; as it turns out, however real she may be to Skylar, she was in fact abducted three years before. Exploring the public and private effects of a family member’s sudden, never-explained disappearance, Thesman takes a more restrained, but no less emotionally intense, tack than Michael Cadnum in Zero at the Bone (1996), adds a further hint of mystery by suggesting that Alexandra is visible not just to Skylar, but to her two-year-old brother too, and ultimately brings Skylar to the point where she can bid her sister’s ghost good-bye. One and a half hankies. (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: June 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-670-88874-5
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2000
Soon the kingdom of Comnor, which like Narnia exists only in the imagination, will become a free republic, but not before a rebel named Com is removed. Tasha’s father abdicated his throne to begin a democratic republic, and Marko has been duly elected its president. In his absence, however, Com has declared himself the new king and has put Tasha and Marko’s little sister, Raina, into a compound for political prisoners. When Marko sends the symbol of a white dove, Tasha knows the time has come for her and Raina to flee. Her father’s brother, Ari, wearing the disguise of an old man, plans and executes their harrowing escape and their return to Marko—but not before vital state documents are retrieved from a secret bedroom compartment, thus ensuring Com’s downfall. Readers will not want to put this book down. Accounts of treachery, deceit, and truth rewarded fill this novel. Escaping from caves and a dungeon, Tasha’s determination to oust Com and rejoin the rebels gives her the courage to strive for her personal freedom and the freedom of her country. Boundless determination, hope, and desire put into action—these are the messages here. (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: April 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-618-00464-5
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2000
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