Historical fiction for children is full of characters like Alexandra—a plucky young girl with 21st-century attitudes. The setting is Judea circa 165 B.C.E. and the land is ruled by the Syrian Greek Antiochus. Alexandra, who would be considered an overachiever in any era, is prodded by her mother, a classic (and classical) pushy parent, to follow the example of Queen Esther and write an account of the grave dangers faced by the Jews under the rule of a tyrant. Alexandra roams the streets of Jerusalem with her friend Rachel, whose hair is always neat while the literate Alexandra eschews the wooden comb and mirror her mother gave her as well as any other decorative enhancements to her appearance. It is through her eyes that readers see the gradual tightening of the noose around the necks of the Jews, culminating in the sacking of the Temple. Alexandra’s father leaves to join the group of fighters known as the Macabees, the Hammers for God, led by the courageous Judah. Three years pass before Alexandra can recount the miraculous victory of the heavily outnumbered Macabees over the Greeks. The passage of time sees changes in Alexandra: she sports a new hairdo and an age-appropriate interest in boys. Chaikin (Angels Sweep the Desert Floor, not reviewed, etc.) places more emphasis on the drama of the battle for religious freedom won by the Macabees than on the miracle of the oil that lasted eight days. She succeeds in fleshing out the familiar story with historical detail. Fieser’s (Invisible Kingdoms, p. 1480, etc.) colorful, soft-focus illustrations include a historical map of Judea. (author’s note, afterword) (Fiction. 10-13)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-8050-6384-6
Page Count: 128
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2002
A beautifully rendered setting enfolds a disappointing plot.
In sixth grade, Izzy Mancini’s cozy, loving world falls apart.
She and her family have moved out of the cottage she grew up in. Her mother has spent the summer on Block Island instead of at home with Izzy. Her father has recently returned from military service in Afghanistan partially paralyzed and traumatized. The only people she can count on are Zelda and Piper, her best friends since kindergarten—that is, until the Haidary family moves into the upstairs apartment. At first, Izzy resents the new guests from Afghanistan even though she knows she should be grateful that Dr. Haidary saved her father’s life. But despite her initial resistance (which manifests at times as racism), as Izzy gets to know Sitara, the Haidarys’ daughter, she starts to question whether Zelda and Piper really are her friends for forever—and whether she has the courage to stand up for Sitara against the people she loves. Ferruolo weaves a rich setting, fully immersing readers in the largely white, coastal town of Seabury, Rhode Island. Disappointingly, the story resolves when Izzy convinces her classmates to accept Sitara by revealing the Haidarys’ past as American allies, a position that put them in so much danger that they had to leave home. The idea that Sitara should be embraced only because her family supported America, rather than simply because she is a human being, significantly undermines the purported message of tolerance for all.
A beautifully rendered setting enfolds a disappointing plot. (Fiction. 10-12)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-374-30909-1
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: Nov. 23, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2019
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Years before he died, Jeremy Fink’s father prepared a box containing “the meaning of life” for his son to open on his 13th birthday. When Jeremy receives the box a few months before that momentous day, the keys are missing, and it’s up to him and his best friend Lizzy to find a way into the box. The search for the keys—or, failing the keys, the meaning of life itself—takes the two throughout New York City and into a spot of trouble, which lands them a very unusual community-service sentence: They must return treasures to the children, now grown, who pawned them long ago. This device brings Jeremy and Lizzy—both originals to the core—into contact with a calculated variety of characters, all of whom have their own unique angles on the meaning of life. Mass spins a leisurely tale that’s occasionally Konigsburg-esque, carefully constructed to give narrator Jeremy ample time to reflect on his encounters. It may be a subplot or two in need of a trim, and the resolution will surprise nobody but Jeremy, but agreeable on the whole. (Fiction. 10-13)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-316-05829-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2006
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