An elegant tale, perfect for golfers and nongolfers alike.
In Rosa’s (Birdie, 2012, etc.) novel, Sam Parma, an observant, self-conscious teenager, learns about life, love, human nature and himself as he caddies for an ex-president at a local golf tournament.
This thoroughly enjoyable, deceptively simple story, ostensibly penned by Sam with the help of his language arts teacher, opens with him awaiting a ride home from the aforementioned match, mooning over what he calls “The Big Goof.”Sam narrates the tale in a kind of teenage-noir style: “Futile—that‘s the word I was looking for....I could’ve used others like useless, pointless, or wasted. Any of those would’ve done just fine. But I decided on futile.” During the round, he engagingly compares the actions of different people in his party; the unnamed ex-president has a friendly but standoffish manner, which contrasts starkly to baseball star Ernie Banks’, who exudes an affable generosity, signing autographs for all who ask. Sam also notes how other caddies’ actions differ from his own. Major, a friendly veteran caddy who coaches Sam, takes notes on the course and checks wind direction by tossing grass in the air; Chip Swanson, a popular, self-important up-and-comer in the golf world, instructs his player in what sounds to Sam like a foreign language: “This one’s a real slider…Play it about three balls to the high side. It falls off past the hole, so careful with the pace. Let it die over the lip.” In the crowd, a girl named Theresa Bellissima seems to be flirting with him, and later provides Sam with a hard-knocks lesson in love. Throughout, Sam entertainingly daydreams, establishing details about his relationships with his family and the world at large. As the story unfolds in flashback,Rosa deftly builds suspense over what the mistake might have been, while also building a relatable character through solid storytelling.
An elegant tale, perfect for golfers and nongolfers alike.Pub Date: July 4, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-9828225-0-0
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Jackpot Press
Review Posted Online: May 17, 2014
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
What if the market was closed when you wanted to bake a pie? You could embark for Europe, learn Italian en route, and pick up some semolina wheat in Italy, an egg in France, kurundu bark for cinnamon in Sri Lanka, and an entire cow in England (butter) before coming home via Jamaica (sugar) and Vermont (apples). The expertly designed illustrations in which a dark-haired lass journeys by various means to these interesting places to get her groceries are lovely and lively, and the narrative, too, travels at a spritely pace. The journey is neither quite logical enough to be truly informative nor quite bizarre enough to be satisfyingly silly, while the rich, sweet recipe that's appended will take some adult assistance. Still, fun. (Picture book. 4-8)
Pub Date: May 2, 1994
ISBN: 0-679-83705-1
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1994
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
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