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THE FLOWN SKY

Name: THE FLOWN SKY
Author: Matthew Olshan
ISBN: 0-9789391-0-7

by Matthew Olshan ‧ RELEASE DATE: March 1, 2007

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Clever in parts but never quite adding up to a coherent whole, this satirical fantasy pits kind-hearted, monkey-like beachcomber Eena Beena and her haughty royal double Queena Beena against Prospero, a gorilla with a mad compulsion to break through the magical barrier that separates his world from ours. Ranged against him are not only the two Beenas, but also numerous allies—notably jocular sage Professor Tertius Legume (another ape); a colony of hardworking, fun-loving earwigs; and Tog, a wood- and paper-devouring silverfish with a secret identity. Despite repeated face-offs with Prospero during a dangerous journey that takes the Beenas from their native Allele Island to the Circle of Fates in the remote north, readers will be far more diverted by the quirky cast. Occasional challenges include, for Eena Beena, a bout of Scramble Pox that transforms her every utterance into an anagram (the title is an anagram too, for “Know Thyself”), and for Queena Beena, being changed into a flea by an application of Flea Powder. In the end, Prospero suffers a dismal fate, whereupon everyone goes home. Olshan’s Huck Finn pastiche, Finn: A Novel (2001), made a big splash, but this outing just coasts on the ripples. (Fantasy. 11-13)

Pub Date: March 1, 2007

ISBN: 0-9789391-0-7

Page Count: 340

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2007

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
A VOYAGE IN THE CLOUDS
by Matthew Olshan ; illustrated by Sophie Blackall

- BOOK REVIEW
THE MIGHTY LALOUCHE
by Matthew Olshan ; illustrated by Sophie Blackall

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A YEAR DOWN YONDER

From the Grandma Dowdel series , Vol. 2

by Richard Peck ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2000

Year-round fun.

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Set in 1937 during the so-called “Roosevelt recession,” tight times compel Mary Alice, a Chicago girl, to move in with her grandmother, who lives in a tiny Illinois town so behind the times that it doesn’t “even have a picture show.”

This winning sequel takes place several years after A Long Way From Chicago (1998) leaves off, once again introducing the reader to Mary Alice, now 15, and her Grandma Dowdel, an indomitable, idiosyncratic woman who despite her hard-as-nails exterior is able to see her granddaughter with “eyes in the back of her heart.” Peck’s slice-of-life novel doesn’t have much in the way of a sustained plot; it could almost be a series of short stories strung together, but the narrative never flags, and the book, populated with distinctive, soulful characters who run the gamut from crazy to conventional, holds the reader’s interest throughout. And the vignettes, some involving a persnickety Grandma acting nasty while accomplishing a kindness, others in which she deflates an overblown ego or deals with a petty rivalry, are original and wildly funny. The arena may be a small hick town, but the battle for domination over that tiny turf is fierce, and Grandma Dowdel is a canny player for whom losing isn’t an option. The first-person narration is infused with rich, colorful language—“She was skinnier than a toothpick with termites”—and Mary Alice’s shrewd, prickly observations: “Anybody who thinks small towns are friendlier than big cities lives in a big city.”

Year-round fun. (Fiction. 11-13)

Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2000

ISBN: 978-0-8037-2518-8

Page Count: 144

Publisher: Dial Books

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2000

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
THE BEST MAN
by Richard Peck

- BOOK REVIEW
THE MOUSE WITH THE QUESTION MARK TAIL
by Richard Peck ; illustrated by Kelly Murphy

- BOOK REVIEW
SECRETS AT SEA
by Richard Peck illustrated by Kelly Murphy

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JOEY PIGZA SWALLOWED THE KEY

From the Joey Pigza series , Vol. 1

by Jack Gantos ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 1998

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If Rotten Ralph were a boy instead of a cat, he might be Joey, the hyperactive hero of Gantos's new book, except that Joey is never bad on purpose. In the first-person narration, it quickly becomes clear that he can't help himself; he's so wound up that he not only practically bounces off walls, he literally swallows his house key (which he wears on a string around his neck and which he pull back up, complete with souvenirs of the food he just ate). Gantos's straightforward view of what it's like to be Joey is so honest it hurts. Joey has been abandoned by his alcoholic father and, for a time, by his mother (who also drinks); his grandmother, just as hyperactive as he is, abuses Joey while he's in her care. One mishap after another leads Joey first from his regular classroom to special education classes and then to a special education school. With medication, counseling, and positive reinforcement, Joey calms down. Despite a lighthearted title and jacket painting, the story is simultaneously comic and horrific; Gantos takes readers right inside a human whirlwind where the ride is bumpy and often frightening, especially for Joey. But a river of compassion for the characters runs through the pages, not only for Joey but for his overextended mom and his usually patient, always worried (if only for their safety) teachers. Mature readers will find this harsh tale softened by unusual empathy and leavened by genuinely funny events. (Fiction. 11-13)