CHANGES IN LATITUDES

by Will Hobbs ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 1988

The author really puts it to an inoffensive family in this lachrymose, superficial story. Dad stays behind, but Travis and the rest of the family are off on a dream vacation to the Mexican resort of Punta Blanca. Teddy, nine, is thrilled to learn of a nearby nesting beach for a rare species of sea turtle, and regales his older brother and sister with turtle lore; but when he and Travis visit, they find the turtles being systematically harvested. Travis, a sarcastic, randy teen-ager, sets out to ogle sunbathers and happens on his mother discussing divorce with a man she obviously knows; later he meets a woman twice his age who invites him to her room. With a few nasty comments, Travis has his mother crying; sister Jennifer, who spends much of the book in tears, is nearly raped; and Teddy, trying to set a bunch of captured turtles free, dies of an aneurism. Dad flies down, the coroner delivers a lecture on aneurisms, and the grieving family departs, sadder and wiser. Occasional engrossing moments--e.g., a hilarious description of a wild taxicab ride or the discovery of a huge heap of rotting, eviscerated turtles--can't carry a story that tries to pack too much in. And Travis is a particularly insensitive observer.

Pub Date: March 1, 1988

ISBN: 0689870698

Page Count: 165

Publisher: Atheneum

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1988

Categories: CHILDREN'S