by R. Neighbor ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 25, 2016
Realistic local color and characters make up for a somewhat poor mystery plot.
In Depression-era Kansas, young Ralph McConnell and his friends find a body down by the river in the latest in the Young Ralph McMystery series.
Veteran author Neighbor (Princess Waconda, 2016, etc.) takes readers back to a story of childhood in north-central Kansas in the 1930s. (The dedicatee—and the protagonist’s namesake—is the author’s uncle, who died in a car crash in 1937 at the age of 10.) The discovery of the titular awful smell sets the plot in motion. Intrepid Ralph and his best buddies, Rusty and Teag, eventually steel themselves and fight through horseflies and stench to discover a body. It’s terribly decomposed, and no one has a clue whose it could be. Other characters include Ralph’s “maw,” Esther; his stepfather, Jeb; and various townspeople, relatives, disreputable “gandy dancers” from the railroad, and carnies, as the annual Celebration carnival is in town. Much of the story involves the kids’ pastimes and camaraderie and, especially, the backdrop of the Celebration. After word gets out about the body, practically the whole town comes out to gawk, but there are very few clues, as nobody has been reported missing. The lawmen and forensic people move in, the body is taken to a lab in Topeka, and the boys get caught up in the Celebration. Later, though, Ralph barely escapes from the bad guy. Overall, the mystery itself is rather weak. However, Neighbor still tells a good story, and his picture of life in that time and place is lovingly detailed. The language the author uses is true-to-life except for a couple of fancy words put in Ralph’s mouth, such as “castigate” and “explicated.” These characters are good people: Ralph’s anxious maw, his taciturn stepfather (the brother of Ralph’s late father), and others don’t have much money, but they do have love and religion and spunk, and that carries the day. All of this rings true.
Realistic local color and characters make up for a somewhat poor mystery plot.Pub Date: March 25, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-5227-1057-8
Page Count: 134
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Trudy C. Hart ‧ RELEASE DATE: N/A
Worthy for inclusion in studies of pioneer days and the westward expansion of the United States.
An illustrated children’s western adventure story brings little-known events of the late 1800s into the present day.
The fifth picture book in a series about a pair of young brothers finds Bryn and Bryce Chance celebrating a birthday with a horseback ride across a rocky western trail, as author Hart (The Chance Brothers Ride to the Rescue, 2007, etc.) imagines a new adventure for her own sons in their home territory of northwestern Oklahoma. As they follow Outlaw Trail, named for notorious real-life horse thief and bank robber Dick Yeager, to its end at the outlaw’s alleged cave hideout, the boys experience the region’s landscape and wildlife. Surprises lurk around every turn as the boys and their horses are startled by a turkey, a coyote and fragile canyon edges. Educational opportunities abound in the geological features of the region, and discussion of isinglass is woven into the story, although Hart omits the risk and amazement of climbing a canyon trail. When the narrow trail crumbles, creating a chasm and separating them from their guide, the surprisingly unperturbed boys calmly continue alone and, narrowly escaping a rockslide in the outlaw’s cave, discover with excitement what Yeager left behind. This tale might be of special interest to readers from the region, who may be interested in seeking out this trail and learning about its historical background. The book’s illustrations are bright but rather one-dimensional and appear to be computer-aided. The Chance Brothers will mostly appeal to beginning readers due to the simplicity of the story, though it suffers from a lack of character development. The basis of the story on actual places and events creates opportunities for further reading and discussion by children and adults.
Worthy for inclusion in studies of pioneer days and the westward expansion of the United States.Pub Date: N/A
ISBN: 978-1-419-68642-9
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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by Eve Bunting ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1999
Bunting (I Have an Olive Tree, p. 719, etc.) once again explores larger themes through a quiet family story. Every October, on Lady Liberty’s birthday, Tony and his extended family have a picnic on Liberty Island. The family rendezvous at Battery Park to take the ferry out to the island. Waiting in line, Tony, who thinks the picnic is pretty corny, is approached by a woman, obviously a new immigrant. She gestures her alarm when the ferry departs without her; she is soothed when Tony motions that the ferry will return. Once on the island, Tony’s family has the picnic before toasting the statue and blowing kisses to her. Later, Tony spies the woman he had helped earlier, and the way they look up at the statue, “so still, so respectful, so . . . so peaceful, makes me choke up.” This sense of refuge drifts through Bunting’s text, as fundamental and natural an element of life as are the everyday incidentals she braids into the story and all of which are exquisitely caught by Carpenter’s vivid illustrations. (Picture book. 5-10)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-15-201656-2
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1999
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