For a creepy thriller based on Native American lore, Joseph Bruchac's Skeleton Man (2001) is a much stronger choice.
This slim adventure tale is rooted in Cherokee culture.
Billy Buckhorn, 16, is surrounded by his Cherokee heritage—he's a "full-blood" Cherokee, and his grandfather Wesley is a respected medicine man. When Billy is struck by lightning, he gains psychic abilities, which warn him that the new gym teacher, Mr. Ravenwood, isn't who—or even what—he seems. Aided by Cherokee folklore and improbable events, he must stop “the Birdman’s” evil spirit from hurting kids. The snippets of Cherokee lore are interesting, but Robinson's didactic style makes Billy more prop than character. Billy's age is incongruous with his young-feeling dialogue and the book's simple prose, and his Cherokee heritage is mentioned so frequently that it feels forced rather than organic to his identity. Nearly everything happens through exposition. Present-tense explanations of Cherokee customs such as stomp dances and trances interrupt the past-tense narration, and potentially powerful scenes pass in a few declarative sentences. Even the mystery is explained by another character, and awkward dialogue spoils the Birdman's power. Readers will learn a little folklore, but it's unfortunate that the earnest information about Cherokee culture and values doesn't integrate naturally into the story.
For a creepy thriller based on Native American lore, Joseph Bruchac's Skeleton Man (2001) is a much stronger choice. (Paranormal adventure. 10-14)Pub Date: Oct. 25, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-939053-07-7
Page Count: 172
Publisher: 7th Generation
Review Posted Online: Aug. 26, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2014
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel,...
Adventure drags our heroine all over the map of fantasyland while giving her the opportunity to use her smarts.
Elisa—Princess Lucero-Elisa de Riqueza of Orovalle—has been chosen for Service since the day she was born, when a beam of holy light put a Godstone in her navel. She's a devout reader of holy books and is well-versed in the military strategy text Belleza Guerra, but she has been kept in ignorance of world affairs. With no warning, this fat, self-loathing princess is married off to a distant king and is embroiled in political and spiritual intrigue. War is coming, and perhaps only Elisa's Godstone—and knowledge from the Belleza Guerra—can save them. Elisa uses her untried strategic knowledge to always-good effect. With a character so smart that she doesn't have much to learn, body size is stereotypically substituted for character development. Elisa’s "mountainous" body shrivels away when she spends a month on forced march eating rat, and thus she is a better person. Still, it's wonderfully refreshing to see a heroine using her brain to win a war rather than strapping on a sword and charging into battle.
Despite the stale fat-to-curvy pattern, compelling world building with a Southern European, pseudo-Christian feel, reminiscent of Naomi Kritzer's Fires of the Faithful (2002), keeps this entry fresh. (Fantasy. 12-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-202648-4
Page Count: 432
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2011
Well-educated American boys from privileged families have abundant options for college and career. For Chiko, their Burmese counterpart, there are no good choices. There is never enough to eat, and his family lives in constant fear of the military regime that has imprisoned Chiko’s physician father. Soon Chiko is commandeered by the army, trained to hunt down members of the Karenni ethnic minority. Tai, another “recruit,” uses his streetwise survival skills to help them both survive. Meanwhile, Tu Reh, a Karenni youth whose village was torched by the Burmese Army, has been chosen for his first military mission in his people’s resistance movement. How the boys meet and what comes of it is the crux of this multi-voiced novel. While Perkins doesn’t sugarcoat her subject—coming of age in a brutal, fascistic society—this is a gentle story with a lot of heart, suitable for younger readers than the subject matter might suggest. It answers the question, “What is it like to be a child soldier?” clearly, but with hope. (author’s note, historical note) (Fiction. 11-14)
Pub Date: July 1, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-58089-328-2
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Charlesbridge
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2010
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