As WW II rages overseas, domestic battles keep a Washington family simmering in this vigorously told, unconventionally cast story. In the ten years since the fire that killed their father and baby sister, twins Theadora (Teddy) and Howie, 14, have been estranged from their Grandma Rose—but are now stationed with her for the summer while Dee Dee, their bubbleheaded, fashion-conscious mother, goes in search of a man. At once bitterly quarrelsome and deeply devoted to each other, the siblings have sworn a deep oath- -``Honor Bright''—not to talk about the accident, which Howie unknowingly started, and for which Teddy, to protect him, has always taken the blame. Platt builds the major characters and the plot on first impressions that intentionally mislead: Rose, despite a Dee Deelike first appearance, is really a crusty, loving sort; only gradually is the huge heart beneath Teddy's profane, defiant exterior revealed; and Dee Dee's new husband, met and married in a single month, is not at all as slow and stupid as he seems. In a rousing climax, Teddy and a new friend, Steve, race floodwaters to finish a dam; Teddy sees Rose and Dee Dee leave the scene arm in arm: ``It wasn't peace in Europe. It wasn't peace in the Pacific. But it was a start.'' Although sometimes disturbing and overdone, the frequent ugly spats, profanity, and heavy teen drinking are startling but effective ways of getting beneath each character's surface. A tour de force with a tough, unforgettable protagonist. (Fiction. 12-15)
Pub Date: April 1, 1997
ISBN: 0-385-32216-X
Page Count: 229
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1997
Though it lacks references or suggestions for further reading, Arn's agonizing story is compelling enough that many readers...
A harrowing tale of survival in the Killing Fields.
The childhood of Arn Chorn-Pond has been captured for young readers before, in Michelle Lord and Shino Arihara's picture book, A Song for Cambodia (2008). McCormick, known for issue-oriented realism, offers a fictionalized retelling of Chorn-Pond's youth for older readers. McCormick's version begins when the Khmer Rouge marches into 11-year-old Arn's Cambodian neighborhood and forces everyone into the country. Arn doesn't understand what the Khmer Rouge stands for; he only knows that over the next several years he and the other children shrink away on a handful of rice a day, while the corpses of adults pile ever higher in the mango grove. Arn does what he must to survive—and, wherever possible, to protect a small pocket of children and adults around him. Arn's chilling history pulls no punches, trusting its readers to cope with the reality of children forced to participate in murder, torture, sexual exploitation and genocide. This gut-wrenching tale is marred only by the author's choice to use broken English for both dialogue and description. Chorn-Pond, in real life, has spoken eloquently (and fluently) on the influence he's gained by learning English; this prose diminishes both his struggle and his story.
Though it lacks references or suggestions for further reading, Arn's agonizing story is compelling enough that many readers will seek out the history themselves. (preface, author's note) (Historical fiction. 12-15)Pub Date: May 8, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-06-173093-1
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Balzer + Bray/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 20, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
When Clara Luna, 14, visits rural Mexico for the summer to visit the paternal grandparents she has never met, she cannot know her trip will involve an emotional and spiritual journey into her family’s past and a deep connection to a rich heritage of which she was barely aware. Long estranged from his parents, Clara’s father had entered the U.S. illegally years before, subsequently becoming a successful business owner who never spoke about what he left behind. Clara’s journey into her grandmother’s history (told in alternating chapters with Clara’s own first-person narrative) and her discovery that she, like her grandmother and ancestors, has a gift for healing, awakens her to the simple, mystical joys of a rural lifestyle she comes to love and wholly embrace. Painfully aware of not fitting into suburban teen life in her native Maryland, Clara awakens to feeling alive in Mexico and realizes a sweet first love with Pedro, a charming goat herder. Beautifully written, this is filled with evocative language that is rich in imagery and nuance and speaks to the connections that bind us all. Add a thrilling adventure and all the makings of an entrancing read are here. (glossaries) (Fiction. 12-14)
Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2006
ISBN: 0-385-73343-7
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2006
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