A fugitive teenager has more than her sex to hide in this angst-ridden import, set aboard the Santa Maria as it begins its epic journey across the Atlantic. Disguised as a ship’s boy, Esther struggles to conceal her ignorance of ships and sailing from the coarse, narrow-minded, intrigue-ridden crew she has joined. Why is she taking such a chance? Because in 1492 the Jews are being systematically harried out of Spain, and the sea offers her only chance of escaping the brutal fate that befell her rabbi father. As if keeping her identity secret weren’t stressful enough, Lewin also throws her into the company of the vain, brilliant, sharp-eyed almirante of the little fleet, Don Cristóbal himself—and her feelings swiftly pass from admiration to something hotter. Several steamy scenes ensue, during one of which Esther is astounded to discover that Columbus is circumcised. As it turns out, he isn’t the only one aboard either. Though short on action—Esther makes her escape when the Santa Maria stops over in the Canary Islands, so she sees only the first part of the voyage—the tale is strong in emotional intensity, as the atrocities Esther witnesses, as well as the almost unrelenting cruelty and suspicion of the Christians surrounding her, convey a strong sense of what those ugly times must have been like. Lewin cites several sources in an afterword, both for the idea that Columbus had Jewish ancestors, and for the suggestion that he had ulterior motives for undertaking his world-changing expedition. (Fiction. YA)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-385-32705-6
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2001
An enticing, turbulent, and satisfying final voyage.
Adrian, the youngest of the Montague siblings, sails into tumultuous waters in search of answers about himself, the sudden death of his mother, and her mysterious, cracked spyglass.
On the summer solstice less than a year ago, Caroline Montague fell off a cliff in Aberdeen into the sea. When the Scottish hostel where she was staying sends a box of her left-behind belongings to London, Adrian—an anxious, White nobleman on the cusp of joining Parliament—discovers one of his mother’s most treasured possessions, an antique spyglass. She acquired it when she was the sole survivor of a shipwreck many years earlier. His mother always carried that spyglass with her, but on the day of her death, she had left it behind in her room. Although he never knew its full significance, Adrian is haunted by new questions and is certain the spyglass will lead him to the truth. Once again, Lee crafts an absorbing adventure with dangerous stakes, dynamic character growth, sharp social and political commentary, and a storm of emotion. Inseparable from his external search for answers about his mother, Adrian seeks a solution for himself, an end to his struggle with mental illness—a journey handled with hopeful, gentle honesty that validates the experiences of both good and bad days. Characters from the first two books play significant secondary roles, and the resolution ties up their loose ends. Humorous antics provide a well-measured balance with the heavier themes.
An enticing, turbulent, and satisfying final voyage. (Historical fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Nov. 16, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-06-291601-3
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2021
Not for the faint of heart due to both subject and length, but the intricate plot and magnificently imagined details of...
1920s New York thrums with giddy life in this gripping first in a new trilogy from Printz winner Bray.
Irrepressible 17-year-old Evie delights in her banishment to her Uncle Will’s care in Manhattan after she drunkenly embarrasses a peer in her Ohio hometown. She envisions glamour, fun and flappers, but she gets a great deal more in the bargain. Her uncle, the curator of a museum of the occult, is soon tapped to help solve a string of grisly murders, and Evie, who has long concealed an ability to read people’s pasts while holding an object of their possession, is eager to assist. An impressively wide net is cast here, sprawling to include philosophical Uncle Will and his odd assistant, a numbers runner and poet who dreams of establishing himself among the stars of the Harlem Renaissance, a beautiful and mysterious dancer on the run from her past and her kind musician roommate, a slick-talking pickpocket, and Evie’s seemingly demure sidekick, Mabel. Added into the rotation of third-person narrators are the voices of those encountering a vicious, otherworldly serial killer; these are utterly terrifying.
Not for the faint of heart due to both subject and length, but the intricate plot and magnificently imagined details of character, dialogue and setting take hold and don’t let go. Not to be missed. (Historical/paranormal thriller. 14 & up)Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-316-12611-3
Page Count: 608
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: July 17, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
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