THE TIN MOON

Name: THE TIN MOON
Author: Stephen Lacey
ISBN: 0-684-02086-6

by Stephen Lacey ‧ RELEASE DATE: Dec. 1, 2003

Too small a world to be interesting: nicely written and sincere, but Lacey’s unpretentious debut badly needs a touch of the...

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A young boy in small-town Australia gradually discovers the world around him.

Jimmy Smith lives in the little village of Point Henry, not far from Melbourne, in a region that is still open country in 1969 but is soon to become heavily developed. He lives with his grandparents and his parents and some of his uncles in his grandfather’s house—a large extended family that seems to get along remarkably well. Nine-year-old Jimmy’s world is still made up of little more than his family and school, and he spends most of his spare time chasing mischief with his friends. His best pals are Keith Brandon, Owen Carter, and Scott Waters. Keith was badly burned in an accident and wears a sack over his head to prevent infection; he also has a really big thingy. Nearby live the Gorries, Seventh-Day Adventists whom everybody finds a bit odd, although Andrew Gorry is a friend of Jimmy’s and Mrs. Gorry grew up in New York City. Jimmy’s teacher is Mrs. Scanlon, and one of the other teachers, Mr. Diamond, was caught making out with a senior girl in a car. Jimmy’s Dad likes to go to the greyhound races, and he shoots tin cans with an air rifle in the backyard. Jimmy’s grandfather once accidentally killed a man in a wood-chopping contest when his axe head came loose: he’s never entered the contest since. The moon landing is on everyone’s mind this particular summer, and the war in Vietnam casts a grim shadow across Australia. But for the most part, Jimmy learns about the larger meanings of life from his neighbors.

Too small a world to be interesting: nicely written and sincere, but Lacey’s unpretentious debut badly needs a touch of the unusual.

Pub Date: Dec. 1, 2003

ISBN: 0-684-02086-6

Page Count: 304

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2003

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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SUMMER ISLAND

by Kristin Hannah ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2001

The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with...

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Talk-show queen takes tumble as millions jeer.

Nora Bridges is a wildly popular radio spokesperson for family-first virtues, but her loyal listeners don't know that she walked out on her husband and teenaged daughters years ago and didn't look back. Now that a former lover has sold racy pix of naked Nora and horny himself to a national tabloid, her estranged daughter Ruby, an unsuccessful stand-up comic in Los Angeles, has been approached to pen a tell-all. Greedy for the fat fee she's been promised, Ruby agrees and heads for the San Juan Islands, eager to get reacquainted with the mom she plans to betray. Once in the family homestead, nasty Ruby alternately sulks and glares at her mother, who is temporarily wheelchair-bound as a result of a post-scandal car crash. Uncaring, Ruby begins writing her side of the story when she's not strolling on the beach with former sweetheart Dean Sloan, the son of wealthy socialites who basically ignored him and his gay brother Eric. Eric, now dying of cancer and also in a wheelchair, has returned to the island. This dismal threesome catch up on old times, recalling their childhood idylls on the island. After Ruby's perfect big sister Caroline shows up, there's another round of heartfelt talk. Nora gradually reveals the truth about her unloving husband and her late father's alcoholism, which led her to seek the approval of others at the cost of her own peace of mind. And so on. Ruby is aghast to discover that she doesn't know everything after all, but Dean offers her subdued comfort. Happy endings await almost everyone—except for readers of this nobly preachy snifflefest.

The best-selling author of tearjerkers like Angel Falls (2000) serves up yet another mountain of mush, topped off with syrupy platitudes about life and love.

Pub Date: March 1, 2001

ISBN: 0-609-60737-5

Page Count: 336

Publisher: Crown

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2001

Categories:

GENERAL FICTION

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TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD

by Harper Lee ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 11, 1960

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A first novel, this is also a first person account of Scout's (Jean Louise) recall of the years that led to the ending of a mystery, the breaking of her brother Jem's elbow, the death of her father's enemy — and the close of childhood years. A widower, Atticus raises his children with legal dispassion and paternal intelligence, and is ably abetted by Calpurnia, the colored cook, while the Alabama town of Maycomb, in the 1930's, remains aloof to their divergence from its tribal patterns. Scout and Jem, with their summer-time companion, Dill, find their paths free from interference — but not from dangers; their curiosity about the imprisoned Boo, whose miserable past is incorporated in their play, results in a tentative friendliness; their fears of Atticus' lack of distinction is dissipated when he shoots a mad dog; his defense of a Negro accused of raping a white girl, Mayella Ewell, is followed with avid interest and turns the rabble whites against him. Scout is the means of averting an attack on Atticus but when he loses the case it is Boo who saves Jem and Scout by killing Mayella's father when he attempts to murder them. The shadows of a beginning for black-white understanding, the persistent fight that Scout carries on against school, Jem's emergence into adulthood, Calpurnia's quiet power, and all the incidents touching on the children's "growing outward" have an attractive starchiness that keeps this southern picture pert and provocative. There is much advance interest in this book; it has been selected by the Literary Guild and Reader's Digest; it should win many friends.