A tantalizing but disconnected sampler that hints at the range of contributions of 20th- century Hispanic authors and artists to this country's culture. On a foundation of reminiscences—Marco Rizo on his boyhood chum, Desi Arnaz, and Carnival in Santiago, Cuba; novelist Susan Lowell remembering her strong-minded grandmother; Oscar Hijuelos celebrating the ubiquitous street music in Spanish Harlem—cemented with brief introductions, Carlson (American Eyes, 1994, etc.) assembles anecdotes, photos, cartoons, poetry (some bilingual, with all Spanish translated), art, and essays from over two dozen contributors, on such diverse topics as music, racism, Operation Bootstrap's 1950s sterilization program in Puerto Rico, and the tin folk art called hojalateria. As the arrangement is broadly thematic and the editor stingy with dates, it's usually hard to tell an author's—or a piece's—age, and there is no sense of dialogue or historical development in the collection. Carlson declines to cite her sources or offer suggestions for further reading or viewing; her intent seems to be to pay tribute rather than to open a gateway for young readers. Parts of this are better than the disappointing whole. (b&w illustrations, not seen) (Anthology. 10-13)
Pub Date: June 1, 1996
ISBN: 0-8050-4120-6
Page Count: 124
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1996
Paulsen recalls personal experiences that he incorporated into Hatchet (1987) and its three sequels, from savage attacks by moose and mosquitoes to watching helplessly as a heart-attack victim dies. As usual, his real adventures are every bit as vivid and hair-raising as those in his fiction, and he relates them with relish—discoursing on “The Fine Art of Wilderness Nutrition,” for instance: “Something that you would never consider eating, something completely repulsive and ugly and disgusting, something so gross it would make you vomit just looking at it, becomes absolutely delicious if you’re starving.” Specific examples follow, to prove that he knows whereof he writes. The author adds incidents from his Iditarod races, describes how he made, then learned to hunt with, bow and arrow, then closes with methods of cooking outdoors sans pots or pans. It’s a patchwork, but an entertaining one, and as likely to win him new fans as to answer questions from his old ones. (Autobiography. 10-13)
Pub Date: Feb. 1, 2001
ISBN: 0-385-32650-5
Page Count: 150
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2000
Characteristically provocative gothic comedy, with sublime undertones.
An exhilarating summer marked by death, gore and fire sparks deep thoughts in a small-town lad not uncoincidentally named “Jack Gantos.”
The gore is all Jack’s, which to his continuing embarrassment “would spray out of my nose holes like dragon flames” whenever anything exciting or upsetting happens. And that would be on every other page, seemingly, as even though Jack’s feuding parents unite to ground him for the summer after several mishaps, he does get out. He mixes with the undertaker’s daughter, a band of Hell’s Angels out to exact fiery revenge for a member flattened in town by a truck and, especially, with arthritic neighbor Miss Volker, for whom he furnishes the “hired hands” that transcribe what becomes a series of impassioned obituaries for the local paper as elderly town residents suddenly begin passing on in rapid succession. Eventually the unusual body count draws the—justified, as it turns out—attention of the police. Ultimately, the obits and the many Landmark Books that Jack reads (this is 1962) in his hours of confinement all combine in his head to broaden his perspective about both history in general and the slow decline his own town is experiencing.
Characteristically provocative gothic comedy, with sublime undertones. (Autobiographical fiction. 11-13)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-374-37993-3
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2011
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