A popular, award-winning author takes a new tack with a comical western adventure la Sid Fleischman. Artemis, 15, leaves his mother and native New York at the request of an aunt in Arizona, who hopes Artemis can find the treasure his uncle concealed before he was shot by the evil Catfish Grimes and also avenge Uncle Ugly's death. There's a treasure map, and both Catfish and Aunt Mary have copies; but since no one knows which of the places that Uncle Ugly frequented includes the site, Artemis (with Frolic, a sidekick who claims to be part Cherokee) and Catfish (with the deceptively attractive Lucy Featherdip) try one after another—in Mexico, California, Seattle, and Alaska—with fairly violent slapstick encounters in each, though neither ever quite follows through on chances to do the other in. Back in Tombstone, Artemis agrees to a shoot-out and apparently kills Catfish (he mils it "self-defense"); still, Catfish's (and Myers's) last trick leaves room for a sequel. Artemis narrates the picaresque shenanigans in a pious, well-schooled voice, a parody of 19th-century formality that's amusingly at odds with his freewheeling behavior. The lighthearted tale is also enriched by the growth of the boys' at first casual friendship ("We had become a team and True Friends to boot") and by offhand comments about being black in the mostly white world of the early We, at. An entertaining yarn that could well introduce new readers to historical fiction. (Fiction. 10- 14)
Pub Date: Oct. 30, 1992
ISBN: 0-06-020844-9
Page Count: 144
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1992
The inevitable go-to for Percy’s legions of fans who want the stories behind his stories.
Percy Jackson takes a break from adventuring to serve up the Greek gods like flapjacks at a church breakfast.
Percy is on form as he debriefs readers concerning Chaos, Gaea, Ouranos and Pontus, Dionysus, Ariadne and Persephone, all in his dude’s patter: “He’d forgotten how beautiful Gaea could be when she wasn’t all yelling up in his face.” Here they are, all 12 Olympians, plus many various offspring and associates: the gold standard of dysfunctional families, whom Percy plays like a lute, sometimes lyrically, sometimes with a more sardonic air. Percy’s gift, which is no great secret, is to breathe new life into the gods. Closest attention is paid to the Olympians, but Riordan has a sure touch when it comes to fitting much into a small space—as does Rocco’s artwork, which smokes and writhes on the page as if hit by lightning—so readers will also meet Makaria, “goddess of blessed peaceful deaths,” and the Theban Teiresias, who accidentally sees Athena bathing. She blinds him but also gives him the ability to understand the language of birds. The atmosphere crackles and then dissolves, again and again: “He could even send the Furies after living people if they committed a truly horrific crime—like killing a family member, desecrating a temple, or singing Journey songs on karaoke night.”
The inevitable go-to for Percy’s legions of fans who want the stories behind his stories. (Mythology. 10-14)Pub Date: Aug. 19, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4231-8364-8
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Salva Dut is 11 years old when war raging in the Sudan separates him from his family. To avoid the conflict, he walks for years with other refugees, seeking sanctuary and scarce food and water. Park simply yet convincingly depicts the chaos of war and an unforgiving landscape as they expose Salva to cruelties both natural and man-made. The lessons Salva remembers from his family keep him from despair during harsh times in refugee camps and enable him, as a young man, to begin a new life in America. As Salva’s story unfolds, readers also learn about another Sudanese youth, Nya, and how these two stories connect contributes to the satisfying conclusion. This story is told as fiction, but it is based on real-life experiences of one of the “Lost Boys” of the Sudan. Salva and Nya’s compelling voices lift their narrative out of the “issue” of the Sudanese War, and only occasionally does the explanation of necessary context intrude in the storytelling. Salva’s heroism and the truth that water is a source of both conflict and reconciliation receive equal, crystal-clear emphasis in this heartfelt account. (Fiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Nov. 15, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-547-25127-1
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2010
SEEN & HEARD
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