A beautifully written story of a ``growing-up'' summer on an Illinois farm, recollected 20 years later by Victoria, who was then a shy, self-effacing girl of 14, overshadowed by her ebullient younger sister Sara. Victoria and her two male cousins, all outsiders in different ways, become a tightly bonded trio that gradually shuts Sara out, leading to near-tragedy when Sara attempts to emulate their ``rimwalking''—walking a thin ledge above danger (e.g., on the roofbeams of a crumbling old house, the railings of an abandoned bridge, or the rim of a huge grain wagon). The themes of sibling conflict and growth through risk-taking, the saga of family history, and even a tantalizingly ambiguous ghost story are seamlessly interwoven, while the rural setting is rendered with complete authority. Grove's earlier plots were driven by social problems (farm foreclosure in Good-Bye, My Wishing Star; unemployment, alcoholism, and witch-hunting in Junglerama; homelessness in The Fastest Friend in the West). Here her gift for characterization allows events to flow from personalities and their interactions. A talented novelist, hitting her stride. (Fiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Oct. 13, 1993
ISBN: 0-399-22430-0
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1993
It’s 1949, and 13-year-old Francine Green lives in “the land of ‘Sit down, Francine’ and ‘Be quiet, Francine’ ” at All Saints School for Girls in Los Angeles. When she meets Sophie Bowman and her father, she’s encouraged to think about issues in the news: the atomic bomb, peace, communism and blacklisting. This is not a story about the McCarthy era so much as one about how one girl—who has been trained to be quiet and obedient by her school, family, church and culture—learns to speak up for herself. Cushman offers a fine sense of the times with such cultural references as President Truman, Hopalong Cassidy, Montgomery Clift, Lucky Strike, “duck and cover” and the Iron Curtain. The dialogue is sharp, carrying a good part of this story of friends and foes, guilt and courage—a story that ought to send readers off to find out more about McCarthy, his witch-hunt and the First Amendment. Though not a happily-ever-after tale, it dramatizes how one person can stand up to unfairness, be it in front of Senate hearings or in the classroom. (author’s note) (Fiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Aug. 14, 2006
ISBN: 0-618-50455-9
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2006
Illegal immigrant sisters learn a lot about themselves when their family faces deportation in this compelling contemporary drama. Immigrants from Bangladesh, Nadira, her older sister Aisha and their parents live in New York City with expired visas. Fourteen-year-old Nadira describes herself as “the slow-wit second-born” who follows Aisha, the family star who’s on track for class valedictorian and a top-rate college. Everything changes when post-9/11 government crack-downs on Muslim immigrants push the family to seek asylum in Canada where they are turned away at the border and their father is arrested by U.S. immigration. The sisters return to New York living in constant fear of detection and trying to pretend everything is normal. As months pass, Aisha falls apart while Nadira uses her head in “a right way” to save her father and her family. Nadira’s need for acceptance by her family neatly parallels the family’s desire for acceptance in their adopted country. A perceptive peek into the lives of foreigners on the fringe. (endnote) (Fiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2006
ISBN: 1-4169-0351-8
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Ginee Seo/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2005
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