Kenchendai, a young Iban of Borneo, has turned his back on his people's traditional teachings. When the boy's father refuses to take his grandfather to a clinic after he has been gored by a wild boar, the old man dies and Kenchandai's rejection of the death rituals provokes the wrath of his father, who—as a result of a dream—travels to the ``doors of death'' deep in the rain forest. Despite his contempt for the old ways, Kenchendai is compelled to follow. He chooses his teacher as traveling companion, but quickly grows disillusioned with the man's flagrant disrespect for the life of the forest. Confronting his fear of both the spirits and starvation, the boy learns to survive in the wild alone. In striking prose, the authors evoke the lush atmosphere of the rain forest while exploring the boy's growing recognition of his true identity; by embracing his birthright, Kenchendai safeguards his people through another generation, both symbolically and literally. Though some readers may be confused by the way the real and spirit worlds shift and shift again in this primeval tale of passage, it offers fascinating insights into a little-known culture. (Fiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: April 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-395-67408-5
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 1994
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A heartfelt but awkwardly paced novel of an orphan finding her way in 1910 Vermont. Harriet, 13, loses her mother when their horse shies from an automobile. Still barely comprehending her loss, she must also leave the house she and her mother shared to go live with her dead father Walter’s gruff sister. Sarah has had a hard life, and it shows, as she teaches Harry how to churn, gather hay, and find eggs, with little patience for her niece’s longing for school, or for the colt she loves, foal of the mare who died when her mother did. Sarah hated Harry’s mother, too, implying that pregnancy forced her beloved Walter into marriage. Harry doesn’t know the family story, but visits to the cemetery and the stories of another uncle help her piece together her past and offer her insight into Sarah’s brittleness. The emotional transitions are abrupt; the story predictably comes out all right when Harry’s school tuition gets paid, and when she and Sarah recognize their ties in blood and feeling. Readers will be comforted by the cozy denouement, and by Haas’s evocative descriptions of Vermont in the early years of this century. (Fiction. 9-14)
Pub Date: March 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-688-16260-6
Page Count: 185
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1999
Marguerite Henry died barely two years ago, after living the life of which most writers dream: She wrote from the time she was young, her parents encouraged her, she published early and often, and her books were honored and loved in her lifetime. Her hobby, she said, was words, but it was also her life and livelihood. Her research skills were honed by working in her local library, doing book repair. Her husband Sidney supported and encouraged her work, and they traveled widely as she carefully researched the horses on Chincoteague and the burros in the Grand Canyon. She worked in great harmony with her usual illustrator, Wesley Dennis, and was writing up until she died. Collins is a bit overwrought in his prose, but Henry comes across as strong and engaging as she must have been in person. Researchers will be delighted to find her Newbery acceptance speech included in its entirety. (b&w photos, bibliography, index) (Biography. 9-12)
Pub Date: March 10, 1999
ISBN: 1-883846-39-0
Page Count: 112
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 1999
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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