Bodies galore. For ages 12–14.
An amateurish James Bond–style shoot-’em-up that would leave even Ian Fleming running for cover.
Reb Barnett is your basic stuntman/art-history guy. It’s a good thing he’s had lots of training in Sherlock Holmes, Leonardo da Vinci, karate, and firearms, because he’s going to need all of it for the mission that fate has in store for him. In 1491, when Leonardo wasn’t inventing everything we now take for granted, he stumbled upon an alloy so strong and lightweight it was obvious that it would be used for nefarious international military affairs even before the New World was discovered. Naturally, Leonardo made a dagger out of it, hid it, and created a puzzle so complicated that only some future traveler with good in his heart would be able to find it. The pieces of the puzzle floated about for half a millennium, and little Reb’s parents were murdered for the myth. Big mistake. Little Reb—that suggests “rebel,” don’t you know—grows into Big Reb, who is empty of soul and cries a lot, but who also has kickass written all over him. Reb needs a female counterpart to make him complete—ah, here she comes—and now he is fully prepared to battle the insidious arms dealers who will use the alloy to create smart stealth bombs that can be dropped from space. Don’t ask how. West first hit the New York Times bestseller list in 1999 with First Person Plural, an account of his DID condition—multiple personalities. We seem to be experiencing a less interesting one this time around. Or maybe not: our simplistic story nevertheless required collaboration with someone named Seamus Slattery. It’s enough to make you wonder whether West—not his real name; and don’t feel sorry for him: Tom Cruise has already bought the story—isn’t being exploited.
Bodies galore. For ages 12–14.Pub Date: Sept. 11, 2001
ISBN: 0-7434-2035-7
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Pocket
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
PLB 0-688-13166-2 King Midas And The Golden Touch ($16.00; PLB $15.63; Apr.; 32 pp.; 0-688-13165-4; PLB 0-688-13166-2): The familiar tale of King Midas gets the golden touch in the hands of Craft and Craft (Cupid and Psyche, 1996). The author takes her inspiration from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s retelling, capturing the essence of the tale with the use of pithy dialogue and colorful description. Enchanting in their own right, the illustrations summon the Middle Ages as a setting, and incorporate colors so lavish that when they are lost to the uniform gold spurred by King Midas’s touch, the point of the story is further burnished. (Picture book. 7-9)
Pub Date: April 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-688-13165-4
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Morrow/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1999
Lunge-Larsen and Preus debut with this story of a flower that blooms for the first time to commemorate the uncommon courage of a girl who saves her people from illness. The girl, an Ojibwe of the northern woodlands, knows she must journey to the next village to get the healing herb, mash-ki- ki, for her people, who have all fallen ill. After lining her moccasins with rabbit fur, she braves a raging snowstorm and crosses a dark frozen lake to reach the village. Then, rather than wait for morning, she sets out for home while the villagers sleep. When she loses her moccasins in the deep snow, her bare feet are cut by icy shards, and bleed with every step until she reaches her home. The next spring beautiful lady slippers bloom from the place where her moccasins were lost, and from every spot her injured feet touched. Drawing on Ojibwe sources, the authors of this fluid retelling have peppered the tale with native words and have used traditional elements, e.g., giving voice to the forces of nature. The accompanying watercolors, with flowing lines, jewel tones, and decorative motifs, give stately credence to the story’s iconic aspects. (Picture book/folklore. 4-8)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-395-90512-5
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1999
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