Teenage Kendra Kaye and her family fly to London for Christmas, where they'll see dreamboat Frank Lee, her family's summer house guest in New York in Remember Me to Harold Square (1987). As in the previous book, the kids are sent off on elaborate scavenger hunts, designed by their parents to help them explore the city. Presumably the hunt is also meant to keep the young lovers from getting involved, since Kendra's ten-year-old brother, O.K., is required to tag along (as well as two young English kids, Colin and Emma, the children of Kendra's aunt's fiance). This cumbersome plot device gets scuttled towards the end, when the kids rebel and refuse to collect any more trivia; Kendra's overprotective parents finally grant her some freedom, acknowledging her maturity. While veteran author Danziger zeroes in on certain abiding adolescent worries, this book doesn't address deeper issues, and her zippy, one-liners start to grate on the nerves. Kendra and Frank yearn to be together and steal a lot of kisses, but their relationship doesn't go anywhere; at one point, Kendra is put off by Frank's oafish behavior, but this promising conflict gets dropped. The YA equivalent of popcorn: After an hour, you'll forget you ever read it. (Fiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Oct. 19, 1994
ISBN: 0698117883
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1994
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
It’s 1949, and 13-year-old Francine Green lives in “the land of ‘Sit down, Francine’ and ‘Be quiet, Francine’ ” at All Saints School for Girls in Los Angeles. When she meets Sophie Bowman and her father, she’s encouraged to think about issues in the news: the atomic bomb, peace, communism and blacklisting. This is not a story about the McCarthy era so much as one about how one girl—who has been trained to be quiet and obedient by her school, family, church and culture—learns to speak up for herself. Cushman offers a fine sense of the times with such cultural references as President Truman, Hopalong Cassidy, Montgomery Clift, Lucky Strike, “duck and cover” and the Iron Curtain. The dialogue is sharp, carrying a good part of this story of friends and foes, guilt and courage—a story that ought to send readers off to find out more about McCarthy, his witch-hunt and the First Amendment. Though not a happily-ever-after tale, it dramatizes how one person can stand up to unfairness, be it in front of Senate hearings or in the classroom. (author’s note) (Fiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Aug. 14, 2006
ISBN: 0-618-50455-9
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2006
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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