Adolescence and a shocking revelation temporarily pull two Calgary teenagers from their moorings in this subtle novel. Joel Jacob, 14, has been growing increasingly sullen and withdrawn at home, only in part because he (wrongly) suspects his father of having an affair. The only person who can really get through to him is his younger sister (and narrator), Roxanne, who is also feeling adrift; subject to gusts of emotion, she is unable to get Joel’s classmate, Michael, out of her thoughts, and is growing apart from friends and parents. Even her close relationship with Joel is severed when it comes out that he is adopted. Without warning, he disappears, and in the anxious period before he gets back in touch, she savagely breaks off with her best friend, Laura, for seeing Michael in her absence. Though Foggo directs only small nods toward issues of race (the Jacobs are black, Laura’s parents biracial) and harassment, her evocation in Roxanne of the profound confusion that comes from not always being able to control one’s acts and feelings will strike a chord in many readers. At crucial moments, her main characters make sound choices (several unmistakable losers are inserted into the cast for contrast); in the end, Joel comes back, Roxanne and Michael become an item, and Roxanne mends her relationship with Laura. A modest but worthy effort. (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: March 1, 1998
ISBN: 1-55074-411-9
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Kids Can
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1998
BOOK REVIEW
Witty repartee between the central characters, as well as the occasional well-done set piece, isn’t enough to hold this hefty debut together. Teenagers Seth and Kendra are dropped off by traveling parents at their grandfather’s isolated Connecticut estate, and soon discover why he’s so reluctant to have them—the place is a secret haven for magical creatures, both benign and decidedly otherwise. Those others are held in check by a complicated, unwritten and conveniently malleable Compact that is broken on Midsummer Eve, leaving everyone except Kendra captive in a hidden underground chamber with a newly released demon. Mull’s repeated use of the same device to prod the plot along comes off as more labored than comic: Over and over an adult issues a stern but vague warning; Seth ignores it; does some mischief and is sorry afterward. Sometimes Kendra joins in trying to head off her uncommonly dense brother. She comes into her own at the rousing climax, but that takes a long time to arrive; stick with Michael Buckley’s “Sisters Grimm” tales, which carry a similar premise in more amazing and amusing directions. (Fantasy. 11-13)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2006
ISBN: 1-59038-581-0
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Shadow Mountain
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2006
A breezy middle-school romance from Frank (Will You Be My Brussels Sprout?, 1996, etc.). Not only does the level of domestic tension rise rapidly after her mother’s Uncle Max, recovering from a stroke, moves into the cramped Cooper apartment, but Joy suddenly finds herself on the outs with her best friend Maple, who has become joined at the hip to amateur musician Wade. Joy makes a new connection, too, due to some surreptitious matchmaking by Uncle Max: enter a friendly, eminently promising older schoolmate, also named Max. While this budding relationship is growing into full-scale delirium, Joy returns the favor by encouraging Uncle Max and his garrulous neighbor, Rose, to spend time together; by the end, Uncle Max follows Rose to her winter quarters in Florida, and offers to trade his roomy apartment for theirs. Cast with likable, well-meaning characters, driven more by cheers than tears, this tidily resolved New York City tale will please Frank’s fans, and send newcomers to her earlier books. (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-7894-2538-6
Page Count: 277
Publisher: DK Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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