When Grandpa's housekeeper, Doff, must return to England to care for her aged mother, the change is almost impossible for Amy to accept; her parents died when she was a baby, and affectionate, sensible Doff has always cared for her. In the weeks before Doff leaves, other transitions also trouble the sixth grader: Best friend Roger is preoccupied with boys' soccer; off-and-on friend Sukie is too quirky to be dependable; and bright, pretty new classmate Violetta is becoming Amy's first close female friend, despite oddities that at first set her apart—especially, an anxious, dependent mother who's on a hopeless quest for Violetta's long-departed dad. An excess of detail, realistic but not especially telling, slows Amy's narrative; and though the characters are essentially believable, they aren't realized in any depth and, disconcertingly, the author poses some puzzles that she never resolves. Is Sukie really ill, or just a habitual malingerer, and if so, why? More important, what causes Violetta's mother's turnaround? (The hints given are too vague for their crucial role in the conclusion.) Most effective are the girls' growing mutual understanding and Amy's gradual turn from irrational anger to acknowledgment of Doff's need to go to her own family. Too many promising themes go undeveloped here; still, enjoyable light fiction. (Fiction. 10- 12)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-525-65158-6
Page Count: 162
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1994
A world-class charmer, Clements (The Janitor’s Boy, 2000, etc.) woos aspiring young authors—as well as grown up publishers, editors, agents, parents, teachers, and even reviewers—with this tongue-in-cheek tale of a 12-year-old novelist’s triumphant debut. Sparked by a chance comment of her mother’s, a harried assistant editor for a (surely fictional) children’s imprint, Natalie draws on deep reserves of feeling and writing talent to create a moving story about a troubled schoolgirl and her father. First, it moves her pushy friend Zoe, who decides that it has to be published; then it moves a timorous, second-year English teacher into helping Zoe set up a virtual literary agency; then, submitted pseudonymously, it moves Natalie’s unsuspecting mother into peddling it to her waspish editor-in-chief. Depicting the world of children’s publishing as a delicious mix of idealism and office politics, Clements squires the manuscript past slush pile and contract, the editing process, and initial buzz (“The Cheater grabs hold of your heart and never lets go,” gushes Kirkus). Finally, in a tearful, joyous scene—carefully staged by Zoe, who turns out to be perfect agent material: cunning, loyal, devious, manipulative, utterly shameless—at the publication party, Natalie’s identity is revealed as news cameras roll. Selznick’s gnomic, realistic portraits at once reflect the tale’s droll undertone and deftly capture each character’s distinct personality. Terrific for flourishing school writing projects, this is practical as well as poignant. Indeed, it “grabs hold of yourheart and never lets go.” (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: June 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-689-82594-3
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2001
“Hear, and listen well, my friends, and I will tell you a tale that has been told for a thousand years and more.” It’s not exactly a rarely told tale, either, though this complete rendition is distinguished by both handsome packaging and a prose narrative that artfully mixes alliterative language reminiscent of the original, with currently topical references to, for instance, Grendel’s “endless terror raids,” and the “holocaust at Heorot.” Along with being printed on heavy stock and surrounded by braided borders, the text is paired to colorful scenes featuring a small human warrior squaring off with a succession of grimacing but not very frightening monsters in battles marked by but a few discreet splashes of blood. Morpurgo puts his finger on the story’s enduring appeal—“we still fear the evil that stalks out there in the darkness . . . ”—but offers a version unlikely to trouble the sleep of more sensitive readers or listeners. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-7636-3206-6
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2006
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