As in Fast Sam, Cool Clyde, and Stuff (1975), Myers has rounded up a bunch of spunky youngsters, and their snappy dialogue and urban brio tend to cover up the plot improbabilities. Set on New York's West 127th Street near the University, this concerns neighbor Willie's obscure dealings with some Russians in a limousine and the equally strange doings of Drusilla, Willie's woman, a Mojo lady from Louisiana. Dean, who tells the story when Drusilla's not talking to her cat, is especially wary of her Mojo powers—she threatens him when his bicycle hits her on page 2—but his witty pal Kwami and the others (including a white hanger-on from Riverside Drive) all contribute separate shares of mischief and misinformation. They rig up a borrowed intercom set to "subliminal" Willie, and genuinely spook him; then, following Drusilla's chicken-blood rituals, they draw chalk circles around the Russian Consulate—and get hauled off by the police. No tea leaves needed to figure out the resolution, but kids will respond to the vitality, stoop wisdom, and scattered magic.
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1977
ISBN: 0380418142
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1977
Raw, breathtaking, and brilliant.
In 1990s Bushwick, Brooklyn, 14-year-old Sarai tries to make sense of herself, her neighborhood, and the world she is growing up in.
Sarai is the youngest of three kids born to a single mother who survived domestic violence and who fights tooth and nail to keep her kids fed and alive. Velasquez’s debut novel is a collection of raw ruminations that together form Sarai’s heart-wrenching, honest, and critical narrative. With an in-your-face, call-everything-out flavor, the poetry begs to be read out loud to appreciate the full force of its rhythmic cadence and thought-provoking, sophisticated critiques. These include pointed commentary on teachers who work but don’t live in Bushwick and newspapers that only tell one side of the story. Velasquez, a Bushwick native herself, tells a real, on-the-block narrative of the neighborhood through Sarai, with biting pieces that masterfully weave themes of religion, street life, sexual assault, language, poverty, the complexities of Boricua/Puerto Rican/Nuyorican identity, and so much more. Nine of the pieces are “poems in conversation” with ones written by Jacqueline Woodson, Sandra Cisneros, Nikki Giovanni, Nuyorican poet Mariposa, and others. This element, coupled with the diversity of poetic forms, from blackout poetry to stream of consciousness, makes this a gem for pleasure reading as well as classroom use. All primary characters are Puerto Rican.
Raw, breathtaking, and brilliant. (author’s note, "poems in conversation" credits) (Verse novel. 14-adult)Pub Date: Sept. 21, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-593-32448-6
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: July 27, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
Despite the well-meaning warmth, a wearying plod.
Can a 17-year-old with her first girlfriend prevent real-life folks from discovering her online fandoms?
Cass is proudly queer, happily fat, and extremely secretive about being a fan who role-plays on Discord. Back in middle school, she had what she calls a gaming addiction, playing “The Sims” so much her parents had to take the game away. Now, turning to her role-play friends to cope with her fighting parents, she worries that people will judge her for her fannishness and online life. To be fair, her grades are suffering. And sure, maybe she’s missed a college application deadline. Also, her mom has suddenly left Minneapolis and moved to Maine to be with a man she met online. But on the other hand, Cass is finally dating her amazingly cute longtime crush, Taylor. Pansexual Taylor is a gamer, a little bit punk, White like Cass, and so, so great—but she still can’t help comparing her to Rowan, Cass’ online best friend and role-playing ship partner. But Rowan doesn’t want to be a dirty little secret and doesn’t see why Cass can’t be honest about this part of her life. The inevitable train wreck of her lies looms on the horizon for months in an overlong morality play building to the climax that includes tidy resolutions to all the character arcs that are quite heartwarming but, in the case of Cass’ estranged mother, narratively unearned.
Despite the well-meaning warmth, a wearying plod. (Fiction. 13-16)Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-06-324332-3
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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