In this suspenseful survival story, a 12-year-old Guatemalan boy and his 4-year-old sister escape their burning home, where soldiers have killed their family, and try to make their way to the US. Santiago, who narrates, has grown up poor in a small village of indigenous people who descended from the Mayans. He speaks some Spanish, which helps as he and Angelina make their way by horse and then as stowaways in trucks to Lake Izabal. They find their uncle’s cayuco, a small kayak made from a tree, and with the help of a neighbor, set sail. The bulk of the novel takes place on water, fighting storms, evading pirates, and fishing with a homemade hook. Santiago learns as he goes, after only one day’s instruction in sailing, and he improvises cleverly, as described in satisfying detail. The boy recovers from setbacks at the same time as he tries to keep Angelina’s spirits up despite near starvation and constant danger. The interactions between the siblings show Santiago’s courage and love, while Angelina’s well-drawn, childlike personality provides moments of lightness as well as pathos. In the beginning, the narrative voice tends to be stilted, avoiding contractions and using inverted sentences such as “This I know she likes.” But as the action picks up, Santiago’s narration reflects the urgency of their situation as they sail, against all odds, across the Gulf of Mexico towards Florida. Mikaelsen’s (Touching Spirit Bear, 2001, etc.) fans, who expect him to produce a gripping tale of overcoming dangers, will not be disappointed. (author’s note) (Fiction. 11+)
Pub Date: May 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-380-97745-1
Page Count: 256
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2002
A sly, side-splitting hoot from start to finish.
The dreary prospect of spending a lifetime making caskets instead of wonderful inventions prompts a young orphan to snatch up his little sister and flee. Where? To the circus, of course.
Fortunately or otherwise, John and 6-year-old Page join up with Boz—sometime human cannonball for the seedy Wandering Wayfarers and a “vertically challenged” trickster with a fantastic gift for sowing chaos. Alas, the budding engineer barely has time to settle in to begin work on an experimental circus wagon powered by chicken poop and dubbed (with questionable forethought) the Autopsy. The hot pursuit of malign and indomitable Great-Aunt Beauregard, the Coggins’ only living relative, forces all three to leave the troupe for further flights and misadventures. Teele spins her adventure around a sturdy protagonist whose love for his little sister is matched only by his fierce desire for something better in life for them both and tucks in an outstanding supporting cast featuring several notably strong-minded, independent women (Page, whose glare “would kill spiders dead,” not least among them). Better yet, in Boz she has created a scene-stealing force of nature, a free spirit who’s never happier than when he’s stirring up mischief. A climactic clutch culminating in a magnificently destructive display of fireworks leaves the Coggin sibs well-positioned for bright futures. (Illustrations not seen.)
A sly, side-splitting hoot from start to finish. (Adventure. 11-13)Pub Date: April 12, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234510-3
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Walden Pond Press/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
A thrilling conclusion to a beautifully crafted, heart-stopping trilogy.
This is the moment teens Seth, Anaya, and Petra have both been anticipating and dreading ever since aliens called cryptogens began attempting to colonize the Earth: the chance to defend their planet.
In an earlier volume, Seth, Anaya, and Petra began growing physical characteristics that made them realize they were half alien. Seth has wings, Petra has a tail, and Anaya has fur. They also have the power of telepathy, which Anaya uses to converse with Terra, a cryptogen rebel looking for human allies who could help stop the invasion of Earth. Terra plans to use a virus stored in the three teens’ bodies to disarm the flyers, which are the winged aliens that are both masterminding the invasion and enslaving the other species of cryptogens known as swimmers and runners. But Terra and her allies can’t pull any of this off without the help of Anaya, Seth, and Petra. Although the trio is anxious about their abilities, they don’t have much of a choice—the entire human race is depending on them for salvation. Like its predecessors, this trilogy closer is fast-paced and well structured. Despite its post-apocalyptic setting, the story is fundamentally character driven, and it is incredibly satisfying to watch each protagonist overcome their inner battles within the context of the larger human-alien war. Main characters read as White.
A thrilling conclusion to a beautifully crafted, heart-stopping trilogy. (Science fiction. 11-14)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-984894-80-9
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: Feb. 8, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2021
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