An amusing, worthwhile read that could use some fleshing out.
Resnicoff (Tom, the Talking Toilet, 2012, etc.) recounts the year in 1968 he spent living in an isolated Alaskan village as part of VISTA (Volunteers in Service to America).
Resnicoff’s book often feels more like a collection of anecdotes than a fully formed memoir. Most of the chapters are only one or two pages, and the reader isn’t given enough information about the author’s life before and after his time in Alaska to get a complete sense of what his time there meant to him. That said, the material he provides is incredibly entertaining. Resnicoff makes it clear from the book’s outset that he didn’t join VISTA to fulfill any philanthropic yearnings; instead, he was hoping to avoid the draft and spend a year in Hawaii, the state he said he’d like to be assigned to, especially since he hated New York winters. Unfortunately, VISTA not only ignored his request, they sent him to the coldest place in the country. When he arrives in Anchorage, he’s told that he and another man will be sent to a tiny village called Sleetmute since the place “was VISTA’s lowest priority, hardly even a village in their eyes, and that when, not if, we both quit it would not embarrass the VISTA Alaska program.” But Resnicoff doesn’t quit. He stays in Sleetmute the entire year, and although he doesn’t quite change the lives of the Eskimos living in the village, he does befriend them and learn how to drive a dog sled, hunt for moose and survive when it’s 54 degrees below zero. Resnicoff’s encounters fascinate not only because they introduce readers to a world few have ever seen, but also because he’s a gifted storyteller. He channels his 24-year-old self’s confusion and naïveté in a way that is by turns hilarious, endearing and often quite moving. Particularly insightful and poetic are passages that describe his viewing the northern lights for the first time and what he felt upon seeing a 14-year-old girl who died from tuberculosis. Also included are several lovely pictures of Sleetmute’s landscape and people.
An amusing, worthwhile read that could use some fleshing out.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2012
ISBN: 978-0615687711
Page Count: 146
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: Dec. 3, 2012
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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
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
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