by Sally Grindley ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 4, 2004
When Lu Si-Yan’s father dies and her mother suffers a breakdown, her selfish, old-fashioned Uncle sells her to the wealthy Chen family as a servant. Barely 12 and inexperienced, Lu Si-Yan’s slave-labor is recognized as illegal by the Chen grandmother, who gives her money and helps her leave. After the money is stolen, the girl’s naïve innocence lets her fall into the trap of factory life, complete with unfair labor practices, compulsory overtime, withheld wages in a prison-like setting that offers room and board for unbearably long work days and nights. Grindley gives an eye-opening view at modern entrepreneurial China within the sweatshop environment of a toy factory. Her protagonist matures in the company of selfish, exploitive adults who take advantage of her youth and needy circumstances and some conscientiously courageous individuals like the Chen’s grandmother, their cook, and fellow factory worker and surrogate sister, Li Mei. Their support provides a source of strength and justice to aid in her return home. A well-developed page-turner with a somewhat idealistic ending as Uncle welcomes Lu Si-Yan home, ever remorseful for his role in her harsh, difficult life and her mother’s ultimate death. (Fiction. 12-15)
Pub Date: Sept. 4, 2004
ISBN: 1-58234-937-1
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2004
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by James Lincoln Collier ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 30, 1991
Characterizing Ellington as ``perhaps the most important figure in American music of the 20th century,'' the author looks at the composer's personality and career, focusing especially on his musical strengths and weaknesses. Collier, who has written several books on the history of jazzincluding a longer one on the Dukeclaims that Ellington didn't have the discipline to study either his instrument or music theory and that consequently he never became a brilliant pianist, while his longer compositions lacked cohesive structure. He did have a gifted ear, however, and, in working out musical ideas with his band (his preferred method of composition), he developed a fresh, unique, instantly recognizable sound that led to a long string of hits and standards. Collier succumbs occasionally to Jazz Historians' Diseasetedious recitation of names and personnel changesbut he makes clear what most of the musicians who played with Ellington contributed in the way of special techniques or abilities, while his musical analyses are easy to follow. Brief bibliography and discography. Index not seen. (Biography. 12-15)
Pub Date: Sept. 30, 1991
ISBN: 0-02-722985-8
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1991
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edited by Toss Gascoigne & Jo Goodman & Margot Tyrell ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 1991
Sixteen new, wonderfully diverse takes on the ``Dream Time,'' all by authors who have been honored by the Australian Book Council. The borders of reality shift here to reveal figures from the past (Gillian Rubenstein's ``Dolphin Dreaming'') or future (Lee Harding's ``Night of Passage''), spirits angelic (``Silent Reporter,'' by Frank Willmott) or otherwise (Victor Kelleher's ``River Serpent''), and, most of all, the power of dreams (John Marsden's ``Dreamer''; Emily Rodda's ``Zelda''). Change is another common theme: growing up, losing traditions (Christobel Mattingley and Thurley Fowler contribute angry stories about the latter), or trying to recapture the past. Patricia Wrightson's bittersweet ``You Can't Keep a Unicorn'' and Mary Steele's hilarious ``Aunt Millicent'' (about a very real, yet imaginary, relative) cap this uncommonly rich collection. (Short Stories. 12-15)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1991
ISBN: 0-395-57434-X
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1991
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