An eclectic collection for adventurous readers.
An opening note from Colfer identifies this anthology as his project as (former) Laureate na nÓg to bring Irish children’s literature to Ireland and abroad.
As such, children this side of the pond will find some unfamiliar authors among others better known in the U.S. Whether story or poem, 17 works in all, place is center stage. Judging by some of the themes that carry through the collection—preternatural occurrences, memory, ghosts, family, loss, and, most of all, transformation—readers may well assume that that place, Ireland, has also shaped the sensibilities of the talents. Some pieces are easily digested, such as Marie-Louise Fitzpatrick’s “Gren’s Ghost,” wherein two boys, unlikely partners, stage a prank in an ancient priory and one emerges with a new identity, or Colfer’s contribution, “The Ram King,” in which the daughter of a king fearlessly takes control of her own fate. Other image-rich pieces will be picked apart over a lifetime, such as a stranger’s heartfelt relief in “Bus Stop,” by Pat Boran, or a soul’s voyage in “Stream Time,” by Oisín McGann. Unsurprisingly, most of the characters are white, but Paula Leyden acknowledges Ireland’s growing multiculturalism with a story about a Japanese ghost. Under Colfer’s editorial hand, pieces flow flawlessly from one to the next. Illustrator (and the new Laureate na nÓg) Lynch’s charcoal illustrations not only capture settings, but gorgeously evoke emotion, whether tender, playful, searching, or searing.
An eclectic collection for adventurous readers. (foreword, contributor bios) (Anthology. 11-14)Pub Date: June 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-910411-37-7
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Little Island/Trafalgar
Review Posted Online: April 16, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
Ghostwritten for a fictional 13-year-old character on the ABC Family network show Secret Life of the American Teenager, this September-to-August journal recaps the first season and part of the second—from 15-year-old sister Amy’s revelation that she’s pregnant through her parents’ divorce and the news that her mother herself is expecting. In the snarky tone she generally takes onscreen, narrator Ashley relates events from her own point of view and elaborates on them in long, wordy entries replete with adolescent self-assurance. Of a run-in with the school principal, for instance: “I think the real reason I got into trouble was because I expressed my individuality. It tends to scare authority figures when someone my age does that.” This “enhanced” e-book includes 10 brief video clips embedded in the general vicinity of their relevant passages. There is also a closing page of links to expedite the posting of reader ratings and reviews. Aside from a pair of footnotes pushed to a screen at the end, far away from their original contexts, the translation to digital format works seamlessly for reading/viewing in either single-page/portrait or double-page/landscape orientation. There’s enough standard-issue teen and domestic drama here to keep fans of such fare reading, but devotees of the show may be disappointed at the lack of significant new content, either in the narrative itself or in the e-book’s media features. (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: June 22, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-4013-9596-4
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Disney-Hyperion
Review Posted Online: April 4, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2011
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