A funny children's story dealing with wife abuse doesn't sound promising, but Byars pulls if off with her understanding light touch. She assigns the problem a manageable distance by making the abused wife not Jackson's mother, who's divorced, but his beloved former sitter Alma, a simple soul devoted to Jackson, her own baby Nicole (named for a soap-opera character), her extensive collection of Barbie dolls, and shopping. Jackson's growing concern over Alma's bruises and black eye is all the more poignant for his mother's dismissal of his fears, and for Alma's avoidance of Jackson for fear that her husband will carry out his threat to attack the boy as well. The humor, which never belittles Alma's troubles, is sometimes slipped in as anecdotes about Jackson's pal Goat or his incorrigible cutup father. Sometimes the funny scenes are more central, as when an anxious Jackson and an excited Goat, 11-year-olds sitting on pillows for height, manage to drive Jackson's mother's car to take Alma to a battered-wives' shelter in a nearby town. That time, Alma changes her mind en route; but later, when she and the baby are both hurt badly, Jackson's mother steps in and gets her to the shelter. A plot outline of Cracker Jackson might suggest a banal gloss on a trendy problem; but Byars gives Jackson's part in the drama an affecting cast of feeling—never deep or disturbing, but never goopy either, and always within an 11-year-old boy's emotional framework.
Pub Date: May 1, 1985
ISBN: 014031881X
Page Count: 158
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: April 18, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1985
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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