A traditional addition to the genre of frontier living.
A close-knit family endures the rough life of farming in Colorado in the early 20th century.
Hail, snow, locusts, sickness, death—the list of setbacks encountered by the Martin family as they try to earn their homestead by farming the dry ground of Colorado is a long one. But they can depend on one another for love and support, and they rely on their friendly neighbors for everything from food when times are especially tight to a helping hand in a snowy emergency. And it’s not all hardship. There are fun parties, plans for college, and holiday celebrations. Told from the point of view of 12-year-old Belle, who is pleased to discover that their nearest neighbor is a woman on her own, proving that women can be independent homesteaders, the details of rural American life are rendered with care and precision in Dallas’ third novel for children. The story occasionally offers events that feel too convenient and even saccharine, as when neighbor Hans Kruger saves the children from a snowstorm and thus proves himself to be a kind and generous soul, far from the dangerous German immigrant most thought him to be. A white cast of characters populates this book set in the 1910s, with obvious parallels to the Little House series.
A traditional addition to the genre of frontier living. (Historical fiction. 9-11)Pub Date: March 15, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-58536-375-9
Page Count: 264
Publisher: Sleeping Bear Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 10, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Prefaced by a full-page close-up portrait, each of Arato’s nine short tales describes a watershed day in the life of a young person in a different part of the world and a time between the eighth and 14th centuries. In locales ranging from the Mayan city of Tikal and Tang Dynasty China to Timbuktu and Toledo, the children enjoy a ball game or a joust, visit a doctor, get married, make friends and like familiar experiences. The best and least purpose-driven of the lot is the closing episode, in which a young Spanish apprentice discovers that his loving master is a converso (a secret Jew) but reaches a wordless understanding with him. Because the settings aren’t described in close detail and in Ferguson’s pictures all of the children sport similar features and the same faraway look, readers will get a better feeling for the various societies’ commonalities than their differences. Still, each story is supplemented by a map and a spread of background facts, and overall the collection may pique readers' interest in finding out more about some of these realms and eras. (Informational fiction. 9-11)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-897349-94-6
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Maple Tree Press
Review Posted Online: Dec. 25, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Shame on you, Gerald Morris, for treating the Matter of Britain with insufficient solemnity.
Prophecies. A young knight learns that they’re just not to be trusted in this fourth of the light-hearted Arthurian Knights’ Tales.
A seeress’ ominous prediction that he would grow up to be known as the noblest knight in England but bring misfortune to all his companions and deliver the Dubious…er, Dolorous Stroke weighs heavily on Sir Balin of the Two Swords—but, in the end, proves less accurate than his own mother’s prediction that he’d grow up to marry a nice northern girl. This last happens after much knightly questing, a certain amount of slaughter, plenty of side banter and fateful meetings with both Balin’s skeptical brother Sir “Oh, put a cork in it!” Balan and levelheaded Lady Annalise, the Questing Lady. Said banter shows off to excellent advantage Morris’ability to put a 21st-century spin on the ancient legends: “ ‘I bring this enchanted sword, seeking the one knight who is able to draw it from its sheath!’ ‘Stuck, is it?’ asked Sir Kay. ‘I used to have a sword that would do that,’ said another knight. ‘Have you tried jiggling the hilt?’ ” Renier liberally salts the short chapters with scenes of armored knights looking startled or vigorously clobbering one another.
Shame on you, Gerald Morris, for treating the Matter of Britain with insufficient solemnity. (Snicker.) (Fantasy. 9-11)Pub Date: April 3, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-547-68085-9
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: Jan. 3, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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