Serious at heart, but as droll as it is demanding.
When a dedicated animal rights activist gets between a hunky boy and his captive elephant, is heartbreak inevitable?
Fresh from the terrifying and terrific travails detailed in Atty at Law (2020), 13-year-old bisexual girl Atticus T. Peale is currently focused on persuading the authorities of her Alabama county to turn the local dog pound into a no-kill shelter. Her horizons are broadened by near-simultaneous meetings at the county fair with inscrutable, alluring Emory Mumbford and Elizabeth III, the sad-eyed old elephant he gently and lovingly tends on his family’s ranch. For Atty, it’s double love at first sight—but how will Emory respond to her sincere and principled need to see Elizabeth freed? And for that matter, what would “freedom” for an elephant raised in captivity even look like? Into this poignant and funny tale of teen angst, Lockette weaves sensitive, reasoned considerations of both ethical and commonsense animal rights issues on the way to a court date, an imperfect but nontragic resolution, and a decisive split. As a parting gift for concerned readers, the author appends a tantalizingly brief interview with Katherine Meyer, director of Harvard Law School’s Animal Law and Policy Clinic. Atty, her dad, and Emory are white; Atty’s stepmother and little stepbrother are Black.
Serious at heart, but as droll as it is demanding. (Fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 17, 2024
ISBN: 9781644213988
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Triangle Square Books for Young Readers
Review Posted Online: June 15, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2024
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
This is no didactic near-future warning of present evils, but a cinematic adventure featuring endearing, compelling heroes
A gripping thriller in dystopic future Los Angeles.
Fifteen-year-olds June and Day live completely different lives in the glorious Republic. June is rich and brilliant, the only candidate ever to get a perfect score in the Trials, and is destined for a glowing career in the military. She looks forward to the day when she can join up and fight the Republic’s treacherous enemies east of the Dakotas. Day, on the other hand, is an anonymous street rat, a slum child who failed his own Trial. He's also the Republic's most wanted criminal, prone to stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. When tragedies strike both their families, the two brilliant teens are thrown into direct opposition. In alternating first-person narratives, Day and June experience coming-of-age adventures in the midst of spying, theft and daredevil combat. Their voices are distinct and richly drawn, from Day’s self-deprecating affection for others to June's Holmesian attention to detail. All the flavor of a post-apocalyptic setting—plagues, class warfare, maniacal soldiers—escalates to greater complexity while leaving space for further worldbuilding in the sequel.
This is no didactic near-future warning of present evils, but a cinematic adventure featuring endearing, compelling heroes . (Science fiction. 12-14)Pub Date: Nov. 29, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25675-2
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: April 8, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2011
BOOK TO SCREEN
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