At 12, Destiny Louise Capperson is the most competent member of her impoverished dysfunctional family. Her psychic-dependent mother is so sadly eccentric that when the family’s phone is disconnected, her response is “What do they expect people to do in emergencies? . . . Just hope a psychic happens to drop in right off the street?” Along with her mother, Destiny lives with her mother’s mean-spirited, disreputable boyfriend and her simply but sharply defined half-siblings in a small house bought with an insurance windfall gained when her brother’s “legs got crunched by the bad lady” in a car accident. To help make ends meet, Destiny seeks employment with Mrs. Peck, a retired teacher whose eyesight is failing but whose prodigious memory and ethical standards are blessedly intact. Stiff-backed yet courteous and respectful, Mrs. Peck introduces Destiny to the intellectually invigorating world of classical mythology and the concepts it embodies. But when she learns that Mrs. Peck may not be as perfect as she had imagined, Destiny slips up, then has to negotiate a moral crisis of her own making. Although Grove’s book has more coincidences than it can sustain and resolves too neatly, it’s full of lyrical prose, vibrant, gracefully detailed characters and a message of hope for the future. As Mrs. Peck tells Destiny, “To hope is to look yourself in the eye and realize that you’re capable of doing and being anything you really want to in this imperfect but fascinating world.” (Fiction.10-12)
Pub Date: June 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-399-23449-7
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2000
In an age of missing children, Kehret (The Blizzard Disaster, 1998, etc.) spins an exciting tale about a deranged mother and the child—not hers’she stalks. Ginger has long had the feeling that somebody is watching her; during her 13th birthday party in a restaurant, she sees a strange woman staring at her, who also appears to write down the license plate number when Ginger’s family drives away. Questions nag at Ginger but she brushes them off, facing other, more ordinary problems. A meddlesome parent, Mrs. Vaughn, is trying to get Mr. Wren, Ginger’s basketball coach, fired; wanting more playing time for her own daughter, Mrs. Vaughn has concocted a list of complaints, claiming that Mr. Wren doesn’t teach basic skills. Ginger, an aspiring sports announcer, has videotaped many of the practices and has the evidence to prove Mrs. Vaughn wrong, but is afraid—as is most of the community—of getting on the woman’s wrong side. The stalking of Ginger, her near-kidnapping, and her attempt to live honorably by coming forward to save Mr. Wren converge in a dramatic climax. While the story reads like a thriller, the character development and moral dilemmas add depth and substance. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-525-46153-1
Page Count: 154
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1999
In a quiet, introspective novel, Debbie, 13, faces one of the worst things that can happen to the young; she’s lost a best friend, Maureen, to a boring, rather unpleasant classmate, Glenna. With carefully observed details and moments, picture-book creator Perkins (Clouds for Dinner, 1997, etc.) shows why Debbie can believe that she’ll never have a happy day again. Of course, there are others around, such as her new neighbor, the worldly Maria, and girls from school, but none of them is as wonderful as Maureen. Debbie finds herself hating Glenna, but a kindly teacher helps her realize that Glenna didn’t “take” Maureen—Maureen left. It all adds up to a just examination of one of the small but piercing sorrows of growing up, with a cast of arresting characters, freckles of humor, and black-and-white drawings that enhance the muted tale; Perkins gives the significance of friendship its due, and then some. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-688-16881-7
Page Count: 132
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1999
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