Spinner (Expiration Date: Never, 2001, etc.) hops aboard the mythological bandwagon, turning the tale of Atalanta into a teenager’s coming-of-age. Having been saved by Artemis after her father abandoned her as a newborn, Atalanta has dedicated herself to the goddess’s service by taking a vow of chastity—a vow which comes back to haunt her when her father demands that she marry, and present him with an heir forthwith. Having already seen the entire royal line of Calydon ruthlessly exterminated for failing to sacrifice to Artemis, Atalanta is in a bind—so she presents her father with what she hopes are impossible conditions: suitors must race her, and must die if—when—she wins. Atalanta reckons not on the gods, however, who show up in snatches of dialogue between chapters to comment (“Artemis: ‘ . . . the hunt is far from over.’ Apollo: ‘You frighten me sometimes.’ Artemis: ‘I’m your older sister. I probably should.’ ”), place wagers, and interfere. Nonetheless, despite Aphrodite’s help in the climactic race (golden apples, an arrow from Eros’s bow), handsome Hippomenes wins only because Atalanta lets him. Proud, strong, strong-minded, and naïve (though rather less so by the end), Atalanta cuts a figure at once heroic and human. Spinner sticks closely to classical sources, rounding out her rendition with a lesser-known episode in which the randy newlyweds fall afoul of Zeus, and are changed into lions. Brutal in spots, but lighter than the psychodramas Donna Jo Napoli and others are fond of crafting from the old tales. (afterword) (Fiction. 12-15)
Pub Date: Oct. 8, 2002
ISBN: 0-375-81489-2
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2002
Reading like a long term paper, this dry, abstract recitation of teams and players brings neither the game nor the people who played and are playing it to life. McKissack (with Patricia C. McKissack, Black Diamond, 1994, not reviewed, etc.) opens with a chapter on basketball’s invention and original rules, closes with a look at women’s basketball, and in between chronicles the growth of amateur, college, and pro ball, adding clipped quotes, technical observations about changing styles of play and vague comments about how players black and white respected each other. The information is evidently drawn entirely from previously published books and interviews. A modest selection of black-and-white photographs give faces to some of the many names the author drops, but readers won’t find much more about individual players beyond an occasional biographical or statistical tidbit. McKissack frequently points to parallels in the history of African Americans in basketball and in baseball, but this account comes off as sketchy and unfocused compared to Black Diamond. (glossary, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 12-14)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-590-48712-4
Page Count: 148
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A wry sequel to The Silent Treatment (1988): here, summer jobs put high-school seniors Ricky and Nate through a mystery from the past, as well as through some timeless rites of passage. Having to clean toilets and listen to gloomy, sex-obsessed Norman the Foreman seems like a fair exchange for a free stay at Quiver Lake resort, especially with all the college women around; Nate moves into hot (and eventually successful) pursuit of a Berkeley student, but Ricky is more inclined to watch from a distance. Meanwhile, what appear to be new but genuine artifacts of the long-integrated Miwok tribe begin to turn up, and Ricky almost loses his life in a primitive deer trap. Is there still a Miwok alive in the wild? Or, as someone suggests, is it the spirit of a young Miwok who never completed his manhood ritual and is unable to find the Aimah, an anthropomorphic rock formation? Carkeet's characters are portrayed sympathetically but broadly enough to keep the story light. The climax is big and dramatic: Ricky wakes one morning to find that the whole lake has suddenly drained away, exposing not only a field of slick mud but the Aimah, with piles of warm ashes at its crotch and armpits. There's no ghost to be seen, but readers can draw their own conclusions. (Fiction. 12-15)
Pub Date: Oct. 30, 1991
ISBN: 0-06-022453-3
Page Count: 256
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1991
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