Thirteen-year-old Jedediah Barstow has just been orphaned during a crossing of the Kaw River. Without a family, he is forced to depend on the generosity of the other pioneers and on his own substantial inner resources. Writing in journal format, Levine (Darkness over Denmark, 1999, etc.) has resolved some of the constraints of the form to tell a gripping, funny, and memorable story of one boy’s adventure to Oregon. Readers who are unfamiliar with the details of life on the road will be fascinated by Jedediah’s observations: how butter was made, the many uses of buffalo chips, how to divert stampeding buffalo, burial techniques, the myriad decisions the travelers had to make every day, and the various dangers posed by rivers, wildlife, and mountains. Levine, through Jed’s well-defined voice, tells a memorable story, filled with the humor, sorrow, and excitement. The journal feels real because Levine leaves in some mistakes in grammar and has Jed comment on his difficulty with language. Poignant “mistakes” remind the reader that Jed is a boy who is slowly recovering from a trauma. (When Jed meets a little girl who is the age of his deceased sister, he accidentally calls the girl “Sally,” then crosses out his sister’s name to write “Bekka.”) But this fictional journal is much more than a vehicle for Levine’s research. Underlying the details of daily life on the trail is the story of Jed, the grieving orphan. Thrust into adulthood by unspeakable loss, Jed learns what it means to be a grown-up as he observes the various men and women on the Trail. Cruel Mr. Henshaw, with his worsening temper and alcoholism, allows young Jed to join his family as a servant. Jacob Fenster, an intelligent and thoughtful Jewish man, comes to Jed’s rescue many times and forces the young man to reflect on his own religious prejudices. Fix-it man Mr. Littleton hires Jed and teaches him how to fix the many things that break each day, from wagon wheels to personal relationships to false teeth. Jedediah Barstow is an unforgettable character in this fine story of bravery, grief, friendship, and community. (historical note) (Fiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-439-06310-8
Page Count: 176
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2002
Year-round fun.
Set in 1937 during the so-called “Roosevelt recession,” tight times compel Mary Alice, a Chicago girl, to move in with her grandmother, who lives in a tiny Illinois town so behind the times that it doesn’t “even have a picture show.”
This winning sequel takes place several years after A Long Way From Chicago (1998) leaves off, once again introducing the reader to Mary Alice, now 15, and her Grandma Dowdel, an indomitable, idiosyncratic woman who despite her hard-as-nails exterior is able to see her granddaughter with “eyes in the back of her heart.” Peck’s slice-of-life novel doesn’t have much in the way of a sustained plot; it could almost be a series of short stories strung together, but the narrative never flags, and the book, populated with distinctive, soulful characters who run the gamut from crazy to conventional, holds the reader’s interest throughout. And the vignettes, some involving a persnickety Grandma acting nasty while accomplishing a kindness, others in which she deflates an overblown ego or deals with a petty rivalry, are original and wildly funny. The arena may be a small hick town, but the battle for domination over that tiny turf is fierce, and Grandma Dowdel is a canny player for whom losing isn’t an option. The first-person narration is infused with rich, colorful language—“She was skinnier than a toothpick with termites”—and Mary Alice’s shrewd, prickly observations: “Anybody who thinks small towns are friendlier than big cities lives in a big city.”
Year-round fun. (Fiction. 11-13)Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2000
ISBN: 978-0-8037-2518-8
Page Count: 144
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The inevitable go-to for Percy’s legions of fans who want the stories behind his stories.
Percy Jackson takes a break from adventuring to serve up the Greek gods like flapjacks at a church breakfast.
Percy is on form as he debriefs readers concerning Chaos, Gaea, Ouranos and Pontus, Dionysus, Ariadne and Persephone, all in his dude’s patter: “He’d forgotten how beautiful Gaea could be when she wasn’t all yelling up in his face.” Here they are, all 12 Olympians, plus many various offspring and associates: the gold standard of dysfunctional families, whom Percy plays like a lute, sometimes lyrically, sometimes with a more sardonic air. Percy’s gift, which is no great secret, is to breathe new life into the gods. Closest attention is paid to the Olympians, but Riordan has a sure touch when it comes to fitting much into a small space—as does Rocco’s artwork, which smokes and writhes on the page as if hit by lightning—so readers will also meet Makaria, “goddess of blessed peaceful deaths,” and the Theban Teiresias, who accidentally sees Athena bathing. She blinds him but also gives him the ability to understand the language of birds. The atmosphere crackles and then dissolves, again and again: “He could even send the Furies after living people if they committed a truly horrific crime—like killing a family member, desecrating a temple, or singing Journey songs on karaoke night.”
The inevitable go-to for Percy’s legions of fans who want the stories behind his stories. (Mythology. 10-14)Pub Date: Aug. 19, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-4231-8364-8
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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