A culturally astute story that showcases the values of patience and discipline.
This debut middle-grade novel features a farmer’s son who studies with Shaolin monks in the hope of finding his missing mother.
A remote mountain village in China’s Henan province has been destroyed by an earthquake. Ten-year-old Xiao Gui and his father, Da Gui, are struggling to recover provisions from their ruined home. The quake is only the latest in a string of disasters, including the kidnapping of Xiao’s mother, Cheng Mei, and a drought that’s left the family with little to eat. Thankfully, Shaolin monks arrive with rice and water. After the monk Shi Xing Jian sees Xiao stop a thief by using rudimentary fighting skills, the teacher invites him to study kung fu (and Buddhism) at the Shaolin Temple. Da encourages his son to go, not only to fulfill his potential, but also to try to find his mother. Xiao agrees, and Da then travels to Henan’s capital, Zhengzhou, to find work. Meanwhile, it turns out that Cheng Mei has been sold into the family of a truck driver, whom she sees maybe twice a year. Mostly, she labors at the feet of a vicious mother-in-law who speaks a dialect of Mandarin that Cheng Mei only partially understands. It’s for Cheng Mei’s sake that Xiao must overcome the curse of the Gui family name, which means “ghost.” Debut novelist Blappert offers fabulous insight into the Shaolin way of life, sharing bits of knowledge that will be valuable to readers of all cultures, as when Shi Xing Jian says, “That is the thing about suffering. It is always temporary.” Although Xiao’s story arc highlights positive aspects of both modern and ancient China, the plight of his parents reveals the darker side of the society in which they live. For instance, Da eventually gets a job with a crew that obtains trees illegally from a national forest for housing developments, risking imprisonment. Readers will delight in seeing Xiao learn Buddhist principles, however, such as, “Anger is attachment,” and apply them to reversing his family’s bad luck. Blappert’s smooth prose and strong narrative structure make for an uplifting tale for all ages.
A culturally astute story that showcases the values of patience and discipline.Pub Date: April 15, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-73366-650-3
Page Count: 238
Publisher: Schlisselthal
Review Posted Online: June 6, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Unquestionably readable, full of action and suspense.
An intensely readable yet alarmingly violent cross between TV shows Lost and Survivor.
In book one of this series, Marcus, a runaway, is kidnapped and taken to an island in the Bermuda Triangle where a government-sponsored experiment is supposedly under way to measure how bodies react to extreme pressures in a hostile environment. Wounded 13-year-old Lynn is also trapped in the frightening wilderness surrounded by electrified fences. The teens are told they will be hunted and killed, but they adjust amazingly fast, finding water and shelter and creating weapons. When Lynn is apparently killed, Marcus becomes obsessed with vengeance and uses great ingenuity to murder many mysterious agents. He does capture one, however, who is willing to cooperate, and the two are helped by an unseen yet terrifying monster that remains one of the island’s greatest unexplained mysteries. The strange island, hostiles, traps, dangerous boars and experimenting on humans are all reminiscent of Lost; the need for companionship, shelter, food and weapons remind one of Survivor. A few details detract from the storyline throughout, such as whether the captured agent would so quickly become an ally or that Marcus would know how to build grenades and bombs so easily. Abrupt shifts between first and third person are also quite jarring. Despite these pitfalls, readers will root for Marcus and his crew to prevail over the sinister Survival Op staff, and the story concludes with plenty of plot threads to explore in further editions.
Unquestionably readable, full of action and suspense.Pub Date: March 1, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-595-42062-9
Page Count: -
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 23, 2010
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
BOOK REVIEW
Taking a page from Avi’s The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle (1990), Kehret (I’m Not Who You Think I Am, p. 223, etc.) pens a similar story of a girl who goes to sea. Determined not to be separated from her seriously ill mother, Emma, 12, embarks on a plan that results in the adventure of a lifetime. Sent to live with Aunt Martha and her arrogant son, Odolf, Emma carefully plots her escape. Disguising herself in her cousin’s used clothes, she sneaks out while the household slumbers and stows away on what she believes to be a ship carrying her parents from England to the warmer climate of France. Instead, the ship is the evil, ill-fated Black Lightning, under the command of the notorious Captain Beacon. Emma finds herself sharing quarters with a crew of filthy, surly, dangerous men. When a fierce storm swamps the ship, Emma desperately seizes her chance to escape, drifting for several days and nights aboard a hatch cover and finally carried to land somewhere on the coast of Africa. Hungry, thirsty, and alone, Emma faces the daunting prospect of slow starvation, but survives due to a relationship she builds with a band of chimpanzees. This page-turning adventure story shows evidence of solid research and experienced plotting—the pacing is breathless. Kehret paints a starkly realistic portrait, complete with sounds and smells of the difficult and unpleasant life aboard ship. (Fiction. 8-12)
Pub Date: Dec. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-671-03416-2
Page Count: 138
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1999
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