In Taylor Springs, California in 1938, Amy is not about to question either her mother's and aunt's narrowly religious view of life nor the general belief that Stone Hollow, site of an abandoned shack and death place of an Italian father and daughter and later a pair of bootleggers, is haunted. But just as she is drawn to the forbidden storeroom full of family mementos Amy is fascinated by Stone Hollow, and when a strange new boy arrives in town and she covertly takes his part against the class bully, the two children make some secret Sunday afternoon visits to the spot. There Jason discovers a sacred Indian stone which brings him in contact with other loops in time and allows him to "see" events in the lives of the shack's now dead inhabitants, and later at home in the storeroom Amy, with a piece of the stone, "sees" a domestic moment in her aunt's and mother's childhood — and unexpected menace in the ghost eyes of their preacher father. The story ends conventionally with Amy musing on what she has learned from the experience — the past is a lot closer than most people think, and truth is something you have to find for yourself — and this has none of the pace, ambiguity or psychological dimensions of Snyder's recent works. But second rate Synder is still more rewarding than most ghost stories, Amy's dreary everyday world makes the supernatural elements all the more convincing, and Jason's almost offhand comments about time make them easier to accept than a number of more pretentiously elaborate systems.
Pub Date: March 20, 1974
ISBN: 0844665452
Page Count: -
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: May 9, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 1974
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift.
A paean to teachers and their surrogates everywhere.
This gentle ode to a teacher’s skill at inspiring, encouraging, and being a role model is spoken, presumably, from a child’s viewpoint. However, the voice could equally be that of an adult, because who can’t look back upon teachers or other early mentors who gave of themselves and offered their pupils so much? Indeed, some of the self-aware, self-assured expressions herein seem perhaps more realistic as uttered from one who’s already grown. Alternatively, readers won’t fail to note that this small book, illustrated with gentle soy-ink drawings and featuring an adult-child bear duo engaged in various sedentary and lively pursuits, could just as easily be about human parent- (or grandparent-) child pairs: some of the softly colored illustrations depict scenarios that are more likely to occur within a home and/or other family-oriented setting. Makes sense: aren’t parents and other close family members children’s first teachers? This duality suggests that the book might be best shared one-on-one between a nostalgic adult and a child who’s developed some self-confidence, having learned a thing or two from a parent, grandparent, older relative, or classroom instructor.
A sweet, soft conversation starter and a charming gift. (Picture book. 4-7)Pub Date: March 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943200-08-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Compendium
Review Posted Online: Dec. 13, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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