A true whodunit, rich in ambiguities and suggestive hints.
The story of the 1892 murders of Andrew Jackson Borden and his wife, Abby, and the subsequent trial of daughter Lizzie, told from the perspective of their young neighbor.
Adding a light wash of invented detail to an account otherwise closely based on historical records, Kraatz presents a subtly nuanced view of the gruesome, controversial case. Despite his determination to get to the bottom of things, which leads him into some frightening situations, all 14-year-old Charlie knows about the Bordens next door is that they are a tense and unhappy family, and all he sees is a hatchet-wielding shadow in a covered window. But even though Lizzie is ultimately acquitted of the murders of her father and stepmother, in Charlie’s mind a residue of fear and suspicion remains—which Lizzie’s own remote, collected manner in chance encounters before and after the killings does nothing to dispel. Indeed, nearly everything she and her equally reserved younger sister, Emma, say seems freighted with double meanings that carry suggestions of secrets, buried emotional currents, and perhaps even complicity. The enigmatic expressions on their faces in Jayme’s somber, two-color scenes brilliantly underscore this ambiguity. Readers can’t help but come away less titillated by the case’s sensational aspects than disquieted by feelings that one or both of the surviving sisters knew things about that day that they silently carried to their graves.
A true whodunit, rich in ambiguities and suggestive hints. (Graphic historical fiction. 11-13)Pub Date: March 18, 2025
ISBN: 9780063247277
Page Count: 208
Publisher: HarperAlley
Review Posted Online: Nov. 9, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2024
The dream phantasms of a high-spirited narrator intersect, even crowd, reality, but the stream-of-consciousness text makes for a rambling, radically personal tale. Playful images of a stuffed lion, trampoline, purple shoes, and a cat named Pine-Cone take hold in a young girl’s imagination, despite her “old” mother who makes her go to bed when she’d rather “stay up early” and a big sister with a cranky disposition. At home, she likes counting flea bites and pretending to be a worm, but is afraid of the dark and going to Grade One. The second half of the book takes off in a separate first-day-of school direction. Wild dreams precede the big day, which includes bullies on the playground and instant friend Chelsea. The childlike articulations of the text are endearing, but not quite of universal interest, and don’t add up to a compelling story; children may more readily warm to Gay’s illustrations, which include a dreamlike flying cat, a menacing hot dog, and an uproarious stuffed toy looming over everyday domestic scenes. (Picture book. 4-7)
Pub Date: Feb. 15, 1999
ISBN: 1-55143-107-6
Page Count: 32
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1999
Opening episodes of a comic-book series created by an American teacher in Japan take a leap into chapter-book format, with only partial success. Resembling—in occasional illustrations—a button-eyed, juvenile Olive Oyl, Akiko, 10, is persuaded by a pair of aliens named Bip and Bop to climb out her high-rise bedroom’s window for a trip to M&M-shaped Planet Smoo, where Prince Fropstoppit has been kidnapped by widely feared villainness Alia Rellaport. Along with an assortment of contentious sidekicks, including brainy Mr. Beeba, Akiko battles Sky Pirates and video-game-style monsters in prolonged scenes of cartoony violence, displaying resilience, courage, and leadership ability, but not getting very far in her rescue attempt; in fact, the story cuts off so abruptly, with so little of the quest completed, and at a lull in the action to boot, that readers expecting a self-contained (forget complete) story are likely to feel cheated. (Fiction. 10-12)
Pub Date: Feb. 8, 2000
ISBN: 0-385-32724-2
Page Count: 162
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 1999
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