This begins with Eleanor of Acquitaine in heaven waiting for the arrival of her second husband, and thus has two strikes against it from the start: it is yet another Plantagenet family chronicle and tries to wrest humor from human bitchiness transplanted into a wholly mundane celestial kingdom. Nevertheless, Eleanor, who characteristically hopes that Henry will be as bored by heaven as she is, redeems herself through the sheer force of her wit and enthusiasm for life. Each of the Queen's heavenly spokesmen — the Abbot Surer, Queen Matilda and William Marshall — draw forth Eleanor's pungent memories: there's the affair of Thomas Becket ("If he were a cow he would have spurted pure cream"), Eleanor's efforts to mold her favorite son Richard into a proper king ("He ought to learn [English] though. . . . It has a great assortment of four-letter words") and her unbending prejudice against Henry's protege John ("Snot and sinew! There is no bone there to hang a crown on"). Viewing Eleanor as a "modern" heroine doesn't make for a very subtle appreciation of the woman or her times, but it does create a sparkling framework for the old story in which John is the villain and Eleanor and Henry's love affair survives perversely through her fifteen years of imprisonment. Having chosen to retain 67 of her years through eternity Eleanor looks back on a full life without regrets; much of the credit for her salvation must go to Konigsberg's diffuse but energetic delight in words — a quality so rare in juvenile literature that even Henry's arrival on the arms of Winston Churchill and Abraham Lincoln can be forgiven.
Pub Date: Sept. 7, 1973
ISBN: 0689301111
Page Count: 212
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: April 30, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1973
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Raw, delicate, and deeply caring.
When Death-Cast doesn’t call, fate intertwines the lives of two boys, both haunted by their pasts and with futures they can’t escape.
In this third installment of the series that opened with 2017’s They Both Die at the End, Paz Dario waits every night for Death-Cast to call—as it should have for his father nearly 10 years ago, when Paz shot him to save his mother’s life. But the call never comes. Death-Cast killed Paz’s dreams of an acting career: No one will hire him now because the world sees him as a villain. When Paz tries (not for the first time) to put an end to his suffering, an unexpected encounter with Alano Rosa, the heir of Death-Cast, stops him. Both in a place of desperation, Alano and Paz sign a contract to live for Begin Days instead of waiting for their End Days. As suspenseful and emotionally wrenching as the previous titles in the series, this new installment explores heavy themes of abuse, mental health, self-harm, and suicide. Paz grapples with a recent diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. Silvera surrounds Alano and Paz with a web of complex relationships. Although the protagonists fall fast for one another and form a deep connection over Alano’s desire to support Paz, Silvera emphasizes the importance of professional help. Both Alano and Paz have Puerto Rican heritage. The cliffhanger ending promises more to come.
Raw, delicate, and deeply caring. (content warning, resources) (Speculative fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 6, 2025
ISBN: 9780063240858
Page Count: 720
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: March 22, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2025
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
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
