by R. G. Ziemer ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 21, 2019
A brisk, nuanced story of supernatural sightings and adolescent tribulations.
In Ziemer’s debut YA tale, a teenager believes he’s seen a ghost from his town’s folklore.
Brian Krueger’s life is a struggle after the death of his paternal grandfather. The teen’s dad responds by drinking heavily, prompting his unemployment. So Brian’s mom finds a job, which takes the family from Chicago to just outside Winston, Illinois. Their new neighbors, the Vincenzis, include teenage “Pete the Pyro,” a bully who loves building huge bonfires but clearly doesn’t like Brian. Luckily, Brian has a friend in Sharon Rice. They have English class together at Winston North and team up on a research paper. Their topic is the reputed ghost of Jamie McVay, a local legend. Brian’s interest is personal: One night, he sensed the presence of a speeding train in the same spot, he later learns, of a fatal train accident decades ago. He also saw a red signal light evidently belonging to McVay, the conductor reputedly on the doomed train. Research dredges up secrets surrounding both the wreck and McVay himself. Brian, meanwhile, already has his share of problems: his alcoholic father, constant bullying from Pete and his cronies, and Sharon’s new social status, which may sever their friendship. It all culminates in a Halloween night of shocks and revelations. Despite supernatural elements, Ziemer’s novel is consistently subtle. For example, the red signal light typically indicates McVay’s presence, in lieu of a more overt ghostly image. Likewise understated is Brian and Sharon’s relationship. While potential romance between the teens is apparent, their steadily developing friendship deepens organically, and their mutual attraction is obvious, though neither explicitly addressing it. There’s minimal suspense with regard to the restless spirit of McVay. The scariest parts are generally more relatable, involving such things as Brian’s inebriated dad behind the wheel (with Brian in the passenger seat) and Pete’s rather unnerving fondness for flames. The author’s tight prose helps the story retain a swift pace all the way to a climax that, even if readers see it coming, is wholly gratifying.
A brisk, nuanced story of supernatural sightings and adolescent tribulations.Pub Date: Feb. 21, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-68433-215-1
Page Count: 237
Publisher: Black Rose Writing
Review Posted Online: Jan. 30, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by J.D. Salinger ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 15, 1951
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.
A violent surfacing of adolescence (which has little in common with Tarkington's earlier, broadly comic, Seventeen) has a compulsive impact.
"Nobody big except me" is the dream world of Holden Caulfield and his first person story is down to the basic, drab English of the pre-collegiate. For Holden is now being bounced from fancy prep, and, after a vicious evening with hall- and roommates, heads for New York to try to keep his latest failure from his parents. He tries to have a wild evening (all he does is pay the check), is terrorized by the hotel elevator man and his on-call whore, has a date with a girl he likes—and hates, sees his 10 year old sister, Phoebe. He also visits a sympathetic English teacher after trying on a drunken session, and when he keeps his date with Phoebe, who turns up with her suitcase to join him on his flight, he heads home to a hospital siege. This is tender and true, and impossible, in its picture of the old hells of young boys, the lonesomeness and tentative attempts to be mature and secure, the awful block between youth and being grown-up, the fright and sickness that humans and their behavior cause the challenging, the dramatization of the big bang. It is a sorry little worm's view of the off-beat of adult pressure, of contemporary strictures and conformity, of sentiment….
A strict report, worthy of sympathy.Pub Date: June 15, 1951
ISBN: 0316769177
Page Count: -
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Nov. 2, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1951
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SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
APPRECIATIONS
by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2006
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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