It’s the summer of 1947 in small-town South Carolina, and 14-year-old Afton has a lot to worry about. Her beloved brother died in the war, and her father, a merchant marine, is rarely home, leaving her alone with her increasingly unhinged mother. The beautiful Jo Helen has come to town, turning the head of John Howard, Afton’s longtime intended beau. The waif-like Pearl Ann, a “sorry-looking child from the cheap, stale-beer side of town,” has attached herself to her, tugging Afton’s unwilling heartstrings. And a mysterious man—an uncle Afton has never heard of—has moved in, disturbing what little peace remains in her household. Matthews (John Riley’s Daughter, 2000) lets Afton tell her story in the present tense, vividly bringing to life the climatological and cultural closeness of a small Southern town, where just about anything becomes grist for the neighborhood gossip mill. Her voice is searingly honest in describing her relationships, particularly when speaking of her mother: “All I know is that the older I get, the wider the distance between us grows, and now, with Bailey here, it has a sharper edge to it.” While voice, setting, and relationships are skillfully presented, the story itself lacks momentum, plodding along until the end, where events rush to resolve themselves in a most melodramatic fashion after Pearl Ann’s mother is found murdered and Uncle Bailey’s terrible secret is found out. And despite the emotional honesty of the bulk of the narrative, the conclusion seeks an easy and unconvincing rapprochement between mother and daughter. Ultimately, superbly realized voice and atmosphere cannot here compensate for flawed plotting. (Fiction. 11-14)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-8126-2890-X
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Cricket
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2001
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
From England’s Children’s Laureate, a searing WWI-era tale of a close extended family repeatedly struck by adversity and injustice. On vigil in the trenches, 17-year-old Thomas Peaceful looks back at a childhood marked by guilt over his father’s death, anger at the shabby treatment his strong-minded mother receives from the local squire and others—and deep devotion to her, to his brain-damaged brother Big Joe, and especially to his other older brother Charlie, whom he has followed into the army by lying about his age. Weaving telling incidents together, Morpurgo surrounds the Peacefuls with mean-spirited people at home, and devastating wartime experiences on the front, ultimately setting readers up for a final travesty following Charlie’s refusal of an order to abandon his badly wounded brother. Themes and small-town class issues here may find some resonance on this side of the pond, but the particular cultural and historical context will distance the story from American readers—particularly as the pace is deliberate, and the author’s hints about where it’s all heading are too rare and subtle to create much suspense. (Fiction. 11-13, adult)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-439-63648-5
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2004
Certain to provoke controversy and difficult to see as a book for children, who could easily miss the painful point.
After Hitler appoints Bruno’s father commandant of Auschwitz, Bruno (nine) is unhappy with his new surroundings compared to the luxury of his home in Berlin.
The literal-minded Bruno, with amazingly little political and social awareness, never gains comprehension of the prisoners (all in “striped pajamas”) or the malignant nature of the death camp. He overcomes loneliness and isolation only when he discovers another boy, Shmuel, on the other side of the camp’s fence. For months, the two meet, becoming secret best friends even though they can never play together. Although Bruno’s family corrects him, he childishly calls the camp “Out-With” and the Fuhrer “Fury.” As a literary device, it could be said to be credibly rooted in Bruno’s consistent, guileless characterization, though it’s difficult to believe in reality. The tragic story’s point of view is unique: the corrosive effect of brutality on Nazi family life as seen through the eyes of a naïf. Some will believe that the fable form, in which the illogical may serve the objective of moral instruction, succeeds in Boyne’s narrative; others will believe it was the wrong choice.
Certain to provoke controversy and difficult to see as a book for children, who could easily miss the painful point. (Fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2006
ISBN: 0-385-75106-0
Page Count: 224
Publisher: David Fickling/Random
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2006
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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