From the author of a number of beautifully written picture books (The Potato Man, 1991), a first novel about a seventh- grader trying to deal with her father's depression. Hallie's dad built bridges; the never-completed span across Pittsburgh's Allegheny that he was working on when he was laid off is a bitter reminder that his livelihood and his beloved vocation are both gone. He hangs out in his shop, making metal ``sculptures'' that even Mom disparages, and lashing out, especially at Hallie. Meanwhile, Hallie's becoming friends with a nice ninth grader, Crane; unfortunately, her impulse to confide her worry about Dad (she's just seen him walking the bridge's girders) coincides with Crane's first kiss, a dissonance Hallie can't handle; she flees Crane, then erupts at Dad. His response almost ends in tragedy, but extraordinary luck intervenes. The dramatic events at the end precipitate a believable reconciliation; but the fully realized characters are the book's greatest strength, especially Hallie- -thoughtful, thrown on her own by her sister's departure for college and Dad's personality change, striving (sometimes awkwardly) to build new bridges to her loved ones. The writing, too, is unusually well crafted: accessible, lyrical, with wonderfully natural dialogue (the impatience between parent and teenager, the tentative confidences of early friendship). An excellent debut. (Fiction. 11-15)
Pub Date: April 1, 1993
ISBN: 0-531-05478-0
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Orchard
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 1993
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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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