Part melodrama, part family relationships, as another juvenile author addresses the problems of the children of the flower children. Summer McIntyre, a responsible tenth-grader, hates living on food stamps in a rundown trailer with her irresponsible hippy mother Oriole. She writes frequent unmailed letters to her father, a medical student who drifted through her mother's life the summer before Summer was born, and she is especially concerned about her little half-sister Sparrow, who seems to share their mother's easygoing nature. Now Sparrow's little friend Marina Fisher has been sent away for her asthma, though Sparrow insists that she is still around; the sisters have been barred from the farm of their neighbors, the Fishers; and Oriole has taken up with Angelo, a sinister stranger who's turned up at the Fisher farm—and who shoots the McIntyre dog later on. Gradually Summer learns that the Fishers are growing pot on their farm and that Angelo, a big-time crook and dealer, is holding little Marina hostage there to keep the family in line. By the time Oriole is arrested with the others in a raid on the farm, Summer has already arranged for her and Sparrow to move to Connecticut with a wealthy couple Summer has been doing housework for. But Summer has also been working for another couple, her sympathetic English teacher and his wife, and they help her to see that sending Sparrow may be beneficial but Summer's own loyalties and welfare are at home. There's also a budding romance between Summer and 16-year-old Nicky Fisher, which is pleasant but no more charged with life than the stock characterization of Oriole and Angelo. Still the shady doings on the farm provide the necessary suspense and Summer's troubled but sturdy presence invites empathy.
Pub Date: March 10, 1983
ISBN: 0440201543
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1983
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A nice but not requisite purchase.
A retelling of the classic fairy tale in board-book format and with a Mexican setting.
Though simplified for a younger audience, the text still relates the well-known tale: mean-spirited stepmother, spoiled stepsisters, overworked Cinderella, fairy godmother, glass slipper, charming prince, and, of course, happily-ever-after. What gives this book its flavor is the artwork. Within its Mexican setting, the characters are olive-skinned and dark-haired. Cultural references abound, as when a messenger comes carrying a banner announcing a “FIESTA” in beautiful papel picado. Cinderella is the picture of beauty, with her hair up in ribbons and flowers and her typically Mexican many-layered white dress. The companion volume, Snow White, set in Japan and illustrated by Misa Saburi, follows the same format. The simplified text tells the story of the beautiful princess sent to the forest by her wicked stepmother to be “done away with,” the dwarves that take her in, and, eventually, the happily-ever-after ending. Here too, what gives the book its flavor is the artwork. The characters wear traditional clothing, and the dwarves’ house has the requisite shoji screens, tatami mats and cherry blossoms in the garden. The puzzling question is, why the board-book presentation? Though the text is simplified, it’s still beyond the board-book audience, and the illustrations deserve full-size books.
A nice but not requisite purchase. (Board book/fairy tale. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-7915-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
More gift book than storybook, this is a meaningful addition to nursery bookshelves
A young child explores the unlimited potential inherent in all humans.
“Have you ever wondered why you are here?” asks the second-person narration. There is no one like you. Maybe you’re here to make a difference with your uniqueness; maybe you will speak for those who can’t or use your gifts to shine a light into the darkness. The no-frills, unrhymed narrative encourages readers to follow their hearts and tap into their limitless potential to be anything and do anything. The precisely inked and colored artwork plays with perspective from the first double-page spread, in which the child contemplates a mountain (or maybe an iceberg) in their hands. Later, they stand on a ladder to place white spots on tall, red mushrooms. The oversized flora and fauna seem to symbolize the presumptively insurmountable, reinforcing the book’s message that anything is possible. This quiet read, with its sophisticated central question, encourages children to reach for their untapped potential while reminding them it won’t be easy—they will make messes and mistakes—but the magic within can help overcome falls and failures. It’s unlikely that members of the intended audience have begun to wonder about their life’s purpose, but this life-affirming mood piece has honorable intentions. The child, accompanied by an adorable piglet and sporting overalls and a bird-beaked cap made of leaves, presents white.
More gift book than storybook, this is a meaningful addition to nursery bookshelves . (Picture book. 2-8)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-946873-75-0
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: May 21, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2019
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