Though the logistics of Jenni’s time travel are a bit convoluted and the characters often feel disappointingly flat, preteen...
Time travel to a disturbing near future forces a preteen to cope for the first time without the help of her best friend.
Twelve-year-old Jenni Green and her best friend Autumn are inseparable. Along with their families, they even spend their summer vacations together every year at Riverside Village. There’s so much to do there, from hot air balloon rides to adventure parks. Though Jenni naturally prefers museums to rock climbing, Autumn is always roping her into one crazy activity or another. This summer doesn’t seem any different, until a ride in an old elevator lands Jenni in the middle of a strange and unsettling time-travel adventure all on her own. For the first time in her friendship with Autumn, Jenni must take the reins and figure out how to change the past in order to protect the ones she loves in the future. Jenni's first-person narration gives readers a ringside seat to her disorientation. Will she be able to save her friendship with Autumn and spare both of their families the heartache of a looming tragedy? Only time will tell.
Though the logistics of Jenni’s time travel are a bit convoluted and the characters often feel disappointingly flat, preteen readers will likely be swept up in the suspense of Jenni’s journeys back and forth in time. (Fantasy. 9-12)Pub Date: Oct. 11, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-7636-5595-2
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: Aug. 23, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Ultimately, Burg’s lyrical prose will make readers think about the common ground among peoples, despite inevitable...
Melding the colors of heartache and loss with painterly strokes, Burg creates a vivid work of art about a girl grieving for her recently deceased mother against a Third World backdrop.
Clare is not speaking to her father. She has vowed never to speak to him again. Which could be tough, since the pair just touched down in Malawi. There, Clare finds herself struck by the contrast between American wealth and the relatively bare-bones existence of her new friends. Drowning in mourning and enraged at the emptiness of grief, Clare is a hurricane of early-adolescent emotions. Her anger toward her father crackles like lightning in the treetops. She finds purpose, though, in teaching English to the younger children, which leads her out of grief. Burg’s imagery shimmers. “The girl talks to her mother in a language that sounds like fireworks, full of bursts and pops. She holds her hand over her mouth giggling.... She probably has so many minutes with her mother, she can’t even count them.” Her realization of the setting and appreciation for the Malawian people are so successful that they compensate for Clare's wallowing, which sometimes feels contrived.
Ultimately, Burg’s lyrical prose will make readers think about the common ground among peoples, despite inevitable disparities. (Fiction. 9-12)Pub Date: June 12, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-385-73471-4
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: March 20, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2012
BOOK REVIEW
Horticulture pays off for an enterprising teen. If almost-14-year-old Jackson can bring his neighbor’s apple orchard back to life, he can keep any profits over $8,000 and become the owner of the orchard. Because Mrs. Nelson has reneged on promises in the past, this time he insists on a signed and witnessed contract. Of course, Jackson hasn’t the least idea how to grow apples. With a helpful library book, some timely advice, weeks of arduous work and the (mostly) willing assistance of his cousins and sisters, Jackson, with intense determination, attempts to produce a healthy crop, overcoming myriad obstacles along the way. With its 1980s-era rural New Mexico setting, complete with many references to contemporary popular culture, the ambience is that of an earlier time. Jackson tells his own story, at once trusting and skeptical, optimistic and despairing. Hawkins has created an enormously appealing character and an engaging plot. He includes detailed diagrams and perhaps more technical information than absolutely necessary, but readers will root for Jackson to win the day. Surprising and absorbing. (Historical fiction. 9-12)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-0-547-27977-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2010
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