How does an insular community of Chosen Ones deal with outsiders, especially when one of them is a murderer? How do outsiders feel, when one of them is the son of Governor Bradford? Hurst and Otis examine such dynamics in 1630 Plymouth in a story based on a true incident about which little is known. Told through the eyes of John Bradford, the 11-year-old son of the governor, this reads like a plot summary, with little development of setting and character. The third-person point of view is distancing, and the dialogue, in spite of “aye” and “’tis” and “ye” sprinkled throughout, is wooden, sounding at times more like speeches or monologues than conversation. The thoughts and emotions attributed to John make him seem older than he’s supposed to be. Though the premise is solid, the story doesn’t do it justice. (preface, cast of characters, afterword, glossary) (Fiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2003
ISBN: 0-618-27597-5
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Walter Lorraine/Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2003
An outstanding new edition of this popular modern classic (Newbery Award, 1961), with an introduction by Zena Sutherland and...
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1990
ISBN: 0-395-53680-4
Page Count: -
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Eleven-year-old James Terik isn’t particularly appreciated in the Pompaday household. Marvin, a beetle who lives happily with his “smothering, overinvolved relatives” behind the Pompadays’ kitchen sink, has observed James closely and knows he’s something special even if the boy’s mother and stepfather don’t. Insect and human worlds collide when Marvin uses his front legs to draw a magnificent pen-and-ink miniature for James’s birthday. James is thrilled with his tiny new friend, but is horrified when his mother sees the beetle’s drawing and instantly wants to exploit her suddenly special son’s newfound talents. The web further tangles when the Metropolitan Museum of Art enlists James to help catch a thief by forging a miniature in the style of Renaissance artist Albrecht Dürer. Delightful intricacies of beetle life—a cottonball bed, playing horseshoes with staples and toothpicks—blend seamlessly with the suspenseful caper as well as the sentimental story of a complicated-but-rewarding friendship that requires a great deal of frantic leg-wiggling on Marvin’s part. Murphy’s charming pen-and-ink drawings populate the short chapters of this funny, winsome novel. (author’s note) (Fantasy. 10-14)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2008
ISBN: 978-0-8050-8270-8
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Christy Ottaviano/Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2008
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