The young hero of Durbin’s The Broken Blade (1997) returns in this engaging sequel. Now 14, Pierre La Page is a seasoned voyageur, accustomed to rising at four in the morning and spending the day paddling for the North West Company. While Durbin’s previous novel functioned as a coming-of-age tale, this outing tell of Pierre’s adventures the following year, when he learns that the pretty young Kennewah girl he befriended has died, along with her family, of smallpox. Although Pierre grieves for his friend, he is surrounded by the big-hearted La Petite, the scholarly Commander McHenry, and the braggart-bully Jean Beloåt. When the crew builds a new trading post at Windigo Point, Pierre befriends a young Ojibwe named Red Loon, and learns English from the commander. Durbin packs his narrative with plenty of facts about how the Native Americans lived, as well as the voyageurs’ preparations to survive the winter. Despite their best efforts, the crew is desperate for food, until Pierre and Red Loon shoot and kill a giant bull moose. In the novel’s most surprising twist, Beloåt, who is killed by a gunshot wound, leaves his money to Pierre, so that he can continue his education. Although this story lacks the impact of the first one, it’s well-written and atmospheric; with so many plot threads remaining, readers are almost assured of more adventures. (Fiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-385-32598-3
Page Count: 191
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 1998
The poem/novel ends with only a trace of hope; there are no pat endings, but a glimpse of beauty wrought from brutal reality.
Billie Jo tells of her life in Oklahoma during the Dust Bowl: Her mother dies after a gruesome accident caused by her father's leaving a bucket of kerosene near the stove; Billie Jo is partially responsible—fully responsible in the eyes of the community—and sustains injuries that seem to bring to a halt her dreams of playing the piano.
Finding a way through her grief is not made easier by her taciturn father, who went on a drinking binge while Billie Joe's mother, not yet dead, begged for water. Told in free-verse poetry of dated entries that span the winter of 1934 to the winter of 1935, this is an unremittingly bleak portrait of one corner of Depression-era life. In Billie Jo, the only character who comes to life, Hesse (The Music of Dolphins, 1996, etc.) presents a hale and determined heroine who confronts unrelenting misery and begins to transcend it.
The poem/novel ends with only a trace of hope; there are no pat endings, but a glimpse of beauty wrought from brutal reality. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1997
ISBN: 978-0-590-36080-7
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1997
A quick, agreeable caper, this may spark some discussion even as it entertains.
Myla and Peter step into the path of a gang when they unite forces to find Peter’s runaway brother, Randall.
As they follow the graffiti tags that Randall has been painting in honor of the boys’ deceased father, they uncover a sinister history involving stolen diamonds, disappearances, and deaths. It started long ago when the boys’ grandmother, a diamond-cutter, partnered with the head of the gang. She was rumored to have hidden his diamonds before her suspicious death, leaving clues to their whereabouts. Now everyone is searching, including Randall. The duo’s collaboration is initially an unwilling one fraught with misunderstandings. Even after Peter and Myla bond over being the only people of color in an otherwise white school (Myla is Indian-American; mixed-race Peter is Indian, African-American, and white), Peter can’t believe the gang is after Myla. But Myla possesses a necklace that holds a clue. Alternating first-person chapters allow peeks into how Myla, Peter, and Randall unravel the story and decipher clues. Savvy readers will put the pieces together, too, although false leads and red herrings are cleverly interwoven. The action stumbles at times, but it takes place against the rich backdrops of gritty New York City and history-laden Dobbs Ferry and is made all the more colorful by references to graffiti art and parkour.
A quick, agreeable caper, this may spark some discussion even as it entertains. (Mystery. 10-12)Pub Date: May 30, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4197-2296-7
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Amulet/Abrams
Review Posted Online: Feb. 19, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2017
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