A sweet, affecting coming-of-age story that shows how believing in yourself goes a long way in the quest to forgive.
Creating family where you can find it underscores this charming middle school novel in which a girl learns compassion despite family turmoil and tragedy.
Debut author Gale slips effortlessly into the mind of Annie Logan, a perceptive 12-year-old burdened with a deeply depressed mother, Brenda, and a clueless father who walks out shortly after Annie’s brother, Jake, is born. When Brenda sinks into a near-catatonic state, her mother moves in to care for the children—that is, until Annie’s father returns to claim the house for his new wife. Cast out, Annie, her brother, mother and grandmother relocate to the grandmother’s house in rural Connecticut, where Brenda holes up in the attic bedroom, Jake acts up at school, and Annie tries to fit in. Friends are hard to come by until she meets Phoebe Goodwin, another bookish girl who understands the loss of a parent. Annie finds new family in Phoebe and her father, but another discovery hits harder: dizziness and flashing lights that precede disturbing visions. When Annie foresees her mother’s death, her grandmother explains that she’s inherited her great-great-grandmother Gilda’s gift of foresight. That gift, however, doesn’t prepare Annie for the shock of learning Brenda died from suicide or for her own brush with death when she crashes her bike after fleeing in anger. Hospitalized with broken bones and head trauma, Annie has another vision, this time of a young girl with cancer. Determined to use her gift for good, she dons a wig and visits the girl, seeing her through her chemo treatment in the guise of “Goddess Gilda.” Buoyed by newfound confidence, Annie’s life improves—until her father reappears, demanding custody. Gale has crafted Annie with equal parts fire and empathy as well as a heart big enough to encompass friends, teachers and stray dogs; but whether Annie can find room for her father is another matter. With dialogue that’s clever but wholly natural, the book is populated with warmhearted characters who never cross the line into mawkishness or bathos, and her journey of the heart will be a joy for readers of any age.
A sweet, affecting coming-of-age story that shows how believing in yourself goes a long way in the quest to forgive.Pub Date: July 11, 2013
ISBN: 978-1484834046
Page Count: 210
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Aug. 14, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 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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