An entertaining journey frustratingly underexposed.
Two teen survivors of dysfunctional parenting build a supportive friendship.
Robert, 13, who’s endured his widower father’s violent mood swings and erratic behavior for years, barely remembers his mother. Robert’s dog is his companion and protector. Robert likens his dad’s temperament to an elevator that rises high and drops low, with intermittent bouts of normalcy. He either ignores Robert or demands perfection. Robert’s meager lunches are jam sandwiches; his father’s hoard of nonperishable foods is off-limits. When new student Harmony, 14, in foster care while her alcoholic mother’s in rehab, lashes out at Robert, he wins her trust by covering for her. As their friendship progresses, Robert repeatedly rescues Harmony from sabotaging her chances for a stable, successful future. Robert himself, a top student who’s skipped a grade, is well liked and athletic. Recruited for the basketball team, Robert’s so valuable he’s allowed to miss practices and keep his part-time job. He feeds and cares for his father, whose severe mental illness (readers may identify bipolar disorder) goes unnamed and apparently untreated. While Harmony bears psychic scars from her upbringing, accomplished, self-reliant Robert’s already a winner; readers’ sympathies are wasted on him. Robert’s narration unfolds with wry, self-deprecating humor, showcasing his stoic patience (though little emotion) and masterful achievements. What readers don’t see is the struggle to achieve his goals. His hero’s journey ended before this story begins.
An entertaining journey frustratingly underexposed. (author's note) (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Sept. 15, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-4598-2556-7
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: May 16, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2020
Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious.
If you made a recording to be heard by the aliens who found the iPod, what would you record?
For 11-year-old Alex Petroski, it's easy. He records everything. He records the story of how he travels to New Mexico to a rocket festival with his dog, Carl Sagan, and his rocket. He records finding out that a man with the same name and birthday as his dead father has an address in Las Vegas. He records eating at Johnny Rockets for the first time with his new friends, who are giving him a ride to find his dead father (who might not be dead!), and losing Carl Sagan in the wilds of Las Vegas, and discovering he has a half sister. He even records his own awful accident. Cheng delivers a sweet, soulful debut novel with a brilliant, refreshing structure. His characters manage to come alive through the “transcript” of Alex’s iPod recording, an odd medium that sounds like it would be confusing but really works. Taking inspiration from the Voyager Golden Record released to space in 1977, Alex, who explains he has “light brown skin,” records all the important moments of a journey that takes him from a family of two to a family of plenty.
Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-18637-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic.
Chainani works an elaborate sea change akin to Gregory Maguire’s Wicked (1995), though he leaves the waters muddied.
Every four years, two children, one regarded as particularly nice and the other particularly nasty, are snatched from the village of Gavaldon by the shadowy School Master to attend the divided titular school. Those who survive to graduate become major or minor characters in fairy tales. When it happens to sweet, Disney princess–like Sophie and her friend Agatha, plain of features, sour of disposition and low of self-esteem, they are both horrified to discover that they’ve been dropped not where they expect but at Evil and at Good respectively. Gradually—too gradually, as the author strings out hundreds of pages of Hogwarts-style pranks, classroom mishaps and competitions both academic and romantic—it becomes clear that the placement wasn’t a mistake at all. Growing into their true natures amid revelations and marked physical changes, the two spark escalating rivalry between the wings of the school. This leads up to a vicious climactic fight that sees Good and Evil repeatedly switching sides. At this point, readers are likely to feel suddenly left behind, as, thanks to summary deus ex machina resolutions, everything turns out swell(ish).
Rich and strange (and kitted out with an eye-catching cover), but stronger in the set pieces than the internal logic. (Fantasy. 11-13)Pub Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-06-210489-2
Page Count: 496
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2013
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