Sad, tender, and immensely touching.
Answers to long-held mysteries in Breda Moriarity’s family dramatically change her life.
Her mother has never revealed any information about her father, not even his name. Why does Mom remain undocumented after leaving Ireland when she was pregnant, and why has Breda never met Granda? Lonely and angry—her colorfully glamorous mother is absorbed with her new beauty salon—“awkward and mousy,” blue-eyed Breda acts out in unacceptable ways. Mom decides to send her to stay with Granda on his farm near the village of Ballyglass for the summer before eighth grade. Breda is immediately enamored by the beauty of the land, but she is resentful toward and confused by Granda, who can be cold and bitter but surprises her with acts of generosity. He tells stories of banshees from Irish lore and has screaming night terrors. Amid a defiant, forbidden friendship with local girl Nellie Fahey, unexpected confessions, discovered information about Granda’s horrifying childhood, and a terrible accident that threatens his life, Breda finds answers to some pressing mysteries but not without resulting regrets and pain on all sides that leave future relationships uncertain. Foley describes settings and events in beautiful, descriptive language and employs evocative Irish expressions. The third-person narrative is devoted to Breda’s point of view, with italicized asides indicating her own thoughts and opinions, which are wholly in keeping with her age and experiences. Readers will empathize with Breda and wish her well.
Sad, tender, and immensely touching. (map) (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: July 12, 2022
ISBN: 978-0-06-320772-1
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: April 26, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
An endearing protagonist runs the first, fast leg of Reynolds' promising relay.
Castle “Ghost” Cranshaw feels like he’s been running ever since his dad pulled that gun on him and his mom—and used it.
His dad’s been in jail three years now, but Ghost still feels the trauma, which is probably at the root of the many “altercations” he gets into at middle school. When he inserts himself into a practice for a local elite track team, the Defenders, he’s fast enough that the hard-as-nails coach decides to put him on the team. Ghost is surprised to find himself caring enough about being on the team that he curbs his behavior to avoid “altercations.” But Ma doesn’t have money to spare on things like fancy running shoes, so Ghost shoplifts a pair that make his feet feel impossibly light—and his conscience correspondingly heavy. Ghost’s narration is candid and colloquial, reminiscent of such original voices as Bud Caldwell and Joey Pigza; his level of self-understanding is both believably childlike and disarming in its perception. He is self-focused enough that secondary characters initially feel one-dimensional, Coach in particular, but as he gets to know them better, so do readers, in a way that unfolds naturally and pleasingly. His three fellow “newbies” on the Defenders await their turns to star in subsequent series outings. Characters are black by default; those few white people in Ghost’s world are described as such.
An endearing protagonist runs the first, fast leg of Reynolds' promising relay. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-5015-7
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PROFILES
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
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