An engaging, reality-bending tale with plenty of solid ground beneath it.
Wild imagination and harsh reality collide in this childhood adventure story.
Shapero’s (Wild Animus, 2004) second novel describes the sort of childhood curiosity that leads to finding miracles everywhere. That primordial innocence rarely lasts, and even where it has space to flourish, the circumstances of life can conspire to end those moments early. Six-year-old Robbie and his best friend, Fristeen, navigate these difficulties as they explore the Alaskan countryside near their families’ homes. As often as they can, they travel past the hill, past the old tree named He Knows and through the crooked limbs of the Bendies to Too Far, their wonderland. It’s there that they can escape their declining family lives: Robbie’s parents find their love dissipating, while Fristeen’s mother, Grace, regularly neglects her in favor of pills or her destructive boyfriend. Shapero paints nuanced parental figures, providing small details that suggest deep emotion and genuine relationships. This is not a young person’s novel despite the age of its protagonists; it’s not always clear whom Shapero intends for his audience, which may create some unhappy readers who end up above or below its age range. Adult matters, including drugs and sexual innuendos, play a strong but subtle role. Many of these details emerge in Robbie and Fristeen’s play as the duo enacts their parents’ behavior, or in dreams, where Robbie encounters the sublime Dream Man and Fristeen, the resplendent Dawn. As the children struggle to cope and their parents no longer seem as powerful as they once were, Dream Man and Dawn fulfill a psychological need. Shapero displays an impressive command of the unconscious, but not at the cost of dramatic scenes. In the disintegration of Robbie’s parents’ relationship, plates fly and screams bellow; and the Alaskan wilderness hosts its own threats. It’s a world with great potential, but one that’s slipping away as these dangers creep in.
An engaging, reality-bending tale with plenty of solid ground beneath it.Pub Date: June 6, 2010
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 244
Publisher: Outside Reading
Review Posted Online: June 27, 2012
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
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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