Stock characterization and puerile romance dull a promising fantasy. Dreamy Bryn, a poor stonecutter’s daughter, expects splendid adventure when she is chosen to serve in the Temple of the Oracle, but her impulsiveness and naïveté lead her afoul of its strict rules and her snobbish fellows. Even after being “wind–chosen” and granted special gifts in prophecy, she makes friends only with other outcasts—especially Kiran, the straightforward acolyte who can speak to animals. But Bryn’s remarkable powers plunge her into the murderous intrigues of both priesthood and nobility, and soon not only her own life, but the fate of the entire kingdom, is imperiled. While setting this in the same world as her earlier efforts, Hanley shows none of their structural complexity or moral conflicts. The rich possibilities of the setting and characters are left unexplored in favor of endless scenes of Bryn being picked on by mean rich girls, Bryn mooning about Kiran’s feelings, Bryn and her friends gossiping, fixing their hair and swooning over popular troubadours. Too little suspense, depth, or wonder, and far too much teen soap opera, make this misfire eminently skippable. (Fantasy. 12+)
Pub Date: May 10, 2005
ISBN: 0-385-75086-2
Page Count: 320
Publisher: David Fickling/Random
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2005
When Death tells a story, you pay attention. Liesel Meminger is a young girl growing up outside of Munich in Nazi Germany, and Death tells her story as “an attempt—a flying jump of an attempt—to prove to me that you, and your human existence, are worth it.” When her foster father helps her learn to read and she discovers the power of words, Liesel begins stealing books from Nazi book burnings and the mayor’s wife’s library. As she becomes a better reader, she becomes a writer, writing a book about her life in such a miserable time. Liesel’s experiences move Death to say, “I am haunted by humans.” How could the human race be “so ugly and so glorious” at the same time? This big, expansive novel is a leisurely working out of fate, of seemingly chance encounters and events that ultimately touch, like dominoes as they collide. The writing is elegant, philosophical and moving. Even at its length, it’s a work to read slowly and savor. Beautiful and important. (Fiction. 12+)
Pub Date: March 14, 2006
ISBN: 0-375-83100-2
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2006
Certain to provoke controversy and difficult to see as a book for children, who could easily miss the painful point.
After Hitler appoints Bruno’s father commandant of Auschwitz, Bruno (nine) is unhappy with his new surroundings compared to the luxury of his home in Berlin.
The literal-minded Bruno, with amazingly little political and social awareness, never gains comprehension of the prisoners (all in “striped pajamas”) or the malignant nature of the death camp. He overcomes loneliness and isolation only when he discovers another boy, Shmuel, on the other side of the camp’s fence. For months, the two meet, becoming secret best friends even though they can never play together. Although Bruno’s family corrects him, he childishly calls the camp “Out-With” and the Fuhrer “Fury.” As a literary device, it could be said to be credibly rooted in Bruno’s consistent, guileless characterization, though it’s difficult to believe in reality. The tragic story’s point of view is unique: the corrosive effect of brutality on Nazi family life as seen through the eyes of a naïf. Some will believe that the fable form, in which the illogical may serve the objective of moral instruction, succeeds in Boyne’s narrative; others will believe it was the wrong choice.
Certain to provoke controversy and difficult to see as a book for children, who could easily miss the painful point. (Fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2006
ISBN: 0-385-75106-0
Page Count: 224
Publisher: David Fickling/Random
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2006
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