Trying his hand at writing for a younger audience, the bestselling novelist wraps a tale of bigotry and spousal abuse around a pick-up basketball team’s drive to the state tournament, and the hormone-driven confusion of its young coach. As 8th-grader Bobby struggles to understand changes in his feelings for long-time good buddy Joanie, he takes on two challenges. One is to find ways to make the closely knit team he and his friends have put together good enough to win, and the other is to help his stubbornly silent new teacher Miss Delaney, who is being regularly visited by a menacing stranger and comes to class with bruises on her face. Despite clumsy attempts to create a sense of period—the plot, set in 1945, periodically grinds to a halt while Bobby nostalgically details favorite comics, movies and radio shows—Parker crafts a suspenseful tale. The stranger, who turns out to be Miss Delaney’s ex and a deranged white supremacist, comes off as simultaneously dangerous and ridiculous, and Bobby gets through thanks to a justified conviction that he can always figure out what to do. A good bit of storytelling, though written from an older adult’s vantage point—compelling basketball action, too. (Fiction. 12-14)
Pub Date: April 19, 2007
ISBN: 978-0-399-24656-2
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Sleuth/Philomel
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2007
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
Certain to provoke controversy and difficult to see as a book for children, who could easily miss the painful point.
After Hitler appoints Bruno’s father commandant of Auschwitz, Bruno (nine) is unhappy with his new surroundings compared to the luxury of his home in Berlin.
The literal-minded Bruno, with amazingly little political and social awareness, never gains comprehension of the prisoners (all in “striped pajamas”) or the malignant nature of the death camp. He overcomes loneliness and isolation only when he discovers another boy, Shmuel, on the other side of the camp’s fence. For months, the two meet, becoming secret best friends even though they can never play together. Although Bruno’s family corrects him, he childishly calls the camp “Out-With” and the Fuhrer “Fury.” As a literary device, it could be said to be credibly rooted in Bruno’s consistent, guileless characterization, though it’s difficult to believe in reality. The tragic story’s point of view is unique: the corrosive effect of brutality on Nazi family life as seen through the eyes of a naïf. Some will believe that the fable form, in which the illogical may serve the objective of moral instruction, succeeds in Boyne’s narrative; others will believe it was the wrong choice.
Certain to provoke controversy and difficult to see as a book for children, who could easily miss the painful point. (Fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 12, 2006
ISBN: 0-385-75106-0
Page Count: 224
Publisher: David Fickling/Random
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2006
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