An odd, imaginative story filled with sweet sadness, glowing with limited but vivid appeal.
A bizarre fantasy that tries to piece together what happens to a young man after his untimely death places him in dark exile.
When you die before you’re supposed to, sometimes you end up in a strange, in-between place. At least that’s where the unnamed narrator finds himself after a mysterious accident places him in the pathway of a pooch named Parley. Turns out, the Grim Reaper only uses his black cape as a ruse; Parley is actually his true form. And with that knowledge, readers are quickly catapulted into the outlandish, slightly off-kilter explanation of what happens to people in this version of purgatory. They’re not meant to be there, so they’ve got to find a way to pass the time. The book’s main character—though he’s never truly named, he earns the nickname Wit because of his sense of humor—is understandably puzzled by his predicament and filled with a strong desire to go home. In his often disturbing yet oddly endearing first novel, Miller creates a kind of “Jabberwocky”-style story in which fans of strange, Seuss-ian characters—“Pillow is the goddess of Lost Sleep. Don’t let her yawn on you or you’ll be snoring for a hundred years; or until a passing virgin kisses you”—will feel right at home. Readers never get terribly comfortable with the characters Wit meets, and they’re probably not supposed to; this is the afterlife, after all. Yet the story is so whimsically told that the Through the Looking Glass frivolity starts to make a strange sort of sense. Miller’s work here might be inspired by his own son’s untimely death, and his grief is palpable. In the author’s estimation, young men, especially those in their teens, should not die; their move into maturity is reflected in Wit’s slow understanding of the alternate world he now lives in and how he copes with the oddness of everything around him. Take this small exchange: “The whale started again, ‘I came here when I was a boy, like you, but already as big as a bus. Who wants to swim in skim milk?! So the first thing I did was to try to get back by beaching myself. I didn’t even realize you can’t die here.’ ” At times, dialogue can be excessive and descriptions somewhat limited, making the read feel a bit burdensome, but for the right adventurous reader, this trek off the beaten path will yield wonderful results.
An odd, imaginative story filled with sweet sadness, glowing with limited but vivid appeal.Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: N/A
Page Count: 155
Publisher: Smashwords
Review Posted Online: Nov. 6, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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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