In this sharply cast but overly managed story, three kids, two of them sisters, are thrown together when the girls' divorced father decides to share their two-week island vacation with his widowed "friend" Delores, John D.'s mother. All three kids are disgruntled with the arrangement, even before they meet, and their discontent is set when they do meet—with seventh-grader John D. and his mother walking in on Clara, his age, and Deanie, a little older, in the midst of one of the sisters' dumb fights. The scene itself has its satisfactions, though, for John D.—an outsider type who has cultivated an air of calm disdain, even toward his mother? and who delights in administering the perfect put-down (though he seems easily humiliated himself). Gloats John D., "Coming into the house and finding the girls screaming insults at each other, perfect insults—insults that told him everything he wanted to know about them—well. . . it was like one of those TV shows. . . ." This is just one example of Byars' use here of standard, stagey devices which she then identifies as such—as if to let us know that she knows better. In a more central flaunting of this practice, a native on the airplane going in warns John D.'s mother about the local currents. There have already been two drownings this year, the man tells her. "The way he said it made John D. think of a disaster movie made cheaply for TV"—and so all through the book whenever Clara goes swimming you expect her to be swept out to sea. . . until at last she is, snoozing on an inflated float. Byars stretches out the premonition of danger until John D. becomes alarmed and mobilizes Deanie. But they have no boat, and Clara is missing for hours before an alerted fishing boat picks her up. Meanwhile the raft is found, Clara is presumed lost, and Deanie—hitherto preoccupied with cheerleading tryouts, the perfect tan, and tormenting her sister—gives in to Delores' friendly overtures and blubbers about all the times she was mean to Clara. The crisis over, the group has been consolidated and Deanie is pretty much back to normal. Clara, who's been generally miserable all along, feels joy in surviving and conviction that she has, inexpressibly, changed. Having witnessed her terror and tenacity at sea, we can accept this. John D.'s breakthrough into caring and feeling, though, is a little too neat. "He felt as if he had been drawn into a strong unknown current himself, swept out of a safe harbor into dangerous waters," says Byars, neglecting this time to note that his thoughts sound like cheap melodrama. No doubt John D. needed to be shocked into such a recognition, even at the risk of seeming less than cool. And Byars makes him interesting from the start, with his wry observations and obvious emotional inadequacy. In fact she plays all three children off against each other with sympathy, understanding, and a sure sense of dramatic revelation. However, this falls short of the penetrating warmth and conviction of Byars at her best.
Pub Date: April 1, 1982
ISBN: 0370309146
Page Count: 123
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: April 18, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 1982
Broccoli: No way is James going to eat broccoli. “It’s disgusting,” says James. Well then, James, says his father, let’s consider the alternatives: some wormy dirt, perhaps, some stinky socks, some pre-chewed gum? James reconsiders the broccoli, but—milk? “Blech,” says James. Right, says his father, who needs strong bones? You’ll be great at hide-and-seek, though not so great at baseball and kickball and even tickling the dog’s belly. James takes a mouthful. So it goes through lumpy oatmeal, mushroom lasagna and slimy eggs, with James’ father parrying his son’s every picky thrust. And it is fun, because the father’s retorts are so outlandish: the lasagna-making troll in the basement who will be sent back to the rat circus, there to endure the rodent’s vicious bites; the uneaten oatmeal that will grow and grow and probably devour the dog that the boy won’t be able to tickle any longer since his bones are so rubbery. Schneider’s watercolors catch the mood of gentle ribbing, the looks of bewilderment and surrender and the deadpanned malarkey. It all makes James’ father’s last urging—“I was just going to say that you might like them if you tried them”—wholly fresh and unexpected advice. (Early reader. 5-9)
Pub Date: May 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-547-14956-1
Page Count: 48
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A nice but not requisite purchase.
A retelling of the classic fairy tale in board-book format and with a Mexican setting.
Though simplified for a younger audience, the text still relates the well-known tale: mean-spirited stepmother, spoiled stepsisters, overworked Cinderella, fairy godmother, glass slipper, charming prince, and, of course, happily-ever-after. What gives this book its flavor is the artwork. Within its Mexican setting, the characters are olive-skinned and dark-haired. Cultural references abound, as when a messenger comes carrying a banner announcing a “FIESTA” in beautiful papel picado. Cinderella is the picture of beauty, with her hair up in ribbons and flowers and her typically Mexican many-layered white dress. The companion volume, Snow White, set in Japan and illustrated by Misa Saburi, follows the same format. The simplified text tells the story of the beautiful princess sent to the forest by her wicked stepmother to be “done away with,” the dwarves that take her in, and, eventually, the happily-ever-after ending. Here too, what gives the book its flavor is the artwork. The characters wear traditional clothing, and the dwarves’ house has the requisite shoji screens, tatami mats and cherry blossoms in the garden. The puzzling question is, why the board-book presentation? Though the text is simplified, it’s still beyond the board-book audience, and the illustrations deserve full-size books.
A nice but not requisite purchase. (Board book/fairy tale. 3-5)Pub Date: Sept. 13, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-7915-8
Page Count: 24
Publisher: Little Simon/Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Oct. 11, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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