Twining history, speculation, and atmospheric writing, the author delivers a good old-fashioned ghost story.
Poblocki returns with another eerie vision of lingering spirits (The Book of Bad Things, 2014, etc.).
Josie and Eli, both about to start seventh grade, meet each other for the first time on a dock in Maine, boarding the ferry that will take them and their families to far-off Stone’s Throw Island, where their siblings are to be married. As the only teenagers among the pre-wedding guests, it’s natural that they decide to explore the island, first separately, then together. Caught up in the wedding plans, the adults don’t notice anything amiss—they’re focused on the approaching weather; a storm is brewing that threatens the festivities. But Josie and Eli notice strange cries from a crypt that’s submerged at high tide, a girl who appears and then disappears from Josie’s room, and the strange way that the island’s caretakers are behaving. At first disturbing, then frightening, Poblocki’s tale plays on stories about the German U-boats that plied the coastal waters during World War II. 1942 diary entries written by a local girl flesh out the history and add to the suspense.
Twining history, speculation, and atmospheric writing, the author delivers a good old-fashioned ghost story. (Suspense. 10-14)Pub Date: Aug. 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-545-64556-0
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 11, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel,...
Adventure drags our heroine all over the map of fantasyland while giving her the opportunity to use her smarts.
Elisa—Princess Lucero-Elisa de Riqueza of Orovalle—has been chosen for Service since the day she was born, when a beam of holy light put a Godstone in her navel. She's a devout reader of holy books and is well-versed in the military strategy text Belleza Guerra, but she has been kept in ignorance of world affairs. With no warning, this fat, self-loathing princess is married off to a distant king and is embroiled in political and spiritual intrigue. War is coming, and perhaps only Elisa's Godstone—and knowledge from the Belleza Guerra—can save them. Elisa uses her untried strategic knowledge to always-good effect. With a character so smart that she doesn't have much to learn, body size is stereotypically substituted for character development. Elisa’s "mountainous" body shrivels away when she spends a month on forced march eating rat, and thus she is a better person. Still, it's wonderfully refreshing to see a heroine using her brain to win a war rather than strapping on a sword and charging into battle.
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel, reminiscent of Naomi Kritzer's Fires of the Faithful (2002), keeps this entry fresh. (Fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-202648-4
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
Well-educated American boys from privileged families have abundant options for college and career. For Chiko, their Burmese counterpart, there are no good choices. There is never enough to eat, and his family lives in constant fear of the military regime that has imprisoned Chiko’s physician father. Soon Chiko is commandeered by the army, trained to hunt down members of the Karenni ethnic minority. Tai, another “recruit,” uses his streetwise survival skills to help them both survive. Meanwhile, Tu Reh, a Karenni youth whose village was torched by the Burmese Army, has been chosen for his first military mission in his people’s resistance movement. How the boys meet and what comes of it is the crux of this multi-voiced novel. While Perkins doesn’t sugarcoat her subject—coming of age in a brutal, fascistic society—this is a gentle story with a lot of heart, suitable for younger readers than the subject matter might suggest. It answers the question, “What is it like to be a child soldier?” clearly, but with hope. (author’s note, historical note) (Fiction. 11-14)
Pub Date: July 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-58089-328-2
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2010
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