With her parents in Europe, Iris (Maggie's irrepressible best friend in Getting Even, 1988) is so weary of her oblivious babysitter that she keeps news of their delayed return secret and sends Mrs. Fuller on her way. Walking to the mall (where she's forbidden to go alone), Iris goes to a favorite shop, confides too much of her situation, and is later picked up by the salesman—not a stranger but not as nice as he seems. Iris escapes from his car when he tries to kiss her, telephones Maggie to ask her dad to come get her, and eventually tells her what has happened. The book begins with an overlong, mostly humorous depiction of Iris masking her loneliness by checking out some innocently naughty symbols of her coming adulthood: she's planning to get even with the class bully with the help of a wolf puppet made from a satin wolf-head g-string (male) that will devour his boy crying wolf in a puppet show; she has bought and put on a padded bra just before she's picked up. Still, her 12-year-old vulnerability peeps through in telling details, and the pace comes to full speed with her narrow escape and Jukes's purposeful but skillfully orchestrated conclusion: Maggie hesitates but does the right thing—she tells her parents, who inform the police. Caught by Iris's entertainingly outrageous pranks, readers will stay to enjoy the warm interaction with Maggie's sensible parents and especially between the girls: Maggie, a true friend, concludes by tactfully helping the chagrined Iris to get back on track. (Fiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: April 1, 1992
ISBN: 0-679-81891-X
Page Count: 183
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1992
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel,...
Adventure drags our heroine all over the map of fantasyland while giving her the opportunity to use her smarts.
Elisa—Princess Lucero-Elisa de Riqueza of Orovalle—has been chosen for Service since the day she was born, when a beam of holy light put a Godstone in her navel. She's a devout reader of holy books and is well-versed in the military strategy text Belleza Guerra, but she has been kept in ignorance of world affairs. With no warning, this fat, self-loathing princess is married off to a distant king and is embroiled in political and spiritual intrigue. War is coming, and perhaps only Elisa's Godstone—and knowledge from the Belleza Guerra—can save them. Elisa uses her untried strategic knowledge to always-good effect. With a character so smart that she doesn't have much to learn, body size is stereotypically substituted for character development. Elisa’s "mountainous" body shrivels away when she spends a month on forced march eating rat, and thus she is a better person. Still, it's wonderfully refreshing to see a heroine using her brain to win a war rather than strapping on a sword and charging into battle.
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel, reminiscent of Naomi Kritzer's Fires of the Faithful (2002), keeps this entry fresh. (Fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-202648-4
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
When Clara Luna, 14, visits rural Mexico for the summer to visit the paternal grandparents she has never met, she cannot know her trip will involve an emotional and spiritual journey into her family’s past and a deep connection to a rich heritage of which she was barely aware. Long estranged from his parents, Clara’s father had entered the U.S. illegally years before, subsequently becoming a successful business owner who never spoke about what he left behind. Clara’s journey into her grandmother’s history (told in alternating chapters with Clara’s own first-person narrative) and her discovery that she, like her grandmother and ancestors, has a gift for healing, awakens her to the simple, mystical joys of a rural lifestyle she comes to love and wholly embrace. Painfully aware of not fitting into suburban teen life in her native Maryland, Clara awakens to feeling alive in Mexico and realizes a sweet first love with Pedro, a charming goat herder. Beautifully written, this is filled with evocative language that is rich in imagery and nuance and speaks to the connections that bind us all. Add a thrilling adventure and all the makings of an entrancing read are here. (glossaries) (Fiction. 12-14)
Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2006
ISBN: 0-385-73343-7
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2006
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