It isn’t easy being assistant to Dr. Asa B. Cornwall, phrenologist, flimflam artist, and genius. In the midst of a happy apprenticeship to some of Paris’s great illusionists, 14-year-old Matthew Morrissey is wrenched away to assist the good doctor in his quest to discover the lost skull of Alexander the Great. Across Egypt they go in a camel caravan led by the able Hussein—but nothing associated with Dr. A. B. C. ever goes smoothly. First, they nearly perish in a sandstorm, then, they are taken by slavers; when the slave caravan pauses to rest in a mysterious desert fortress, Matthew puts his newfound skills of showmanship and illusion to the test to free both himself and the doctor, as well as the Asanti taken captive by the slavers. There is an awful lot going on here, what with slavers and desert oases and a mystical jinn who appears to protect Matthew from harm and Nathalie, the beautiful daughter of an Egyptian tycoon. In this sequel to Skullduggery (2000), Karr’s nearly perfect comic timing keeps the plot dancing along, although the reader is asked to accept some credibility-stretchers, including Matthew’s extraordinary linguistic prowess—he learns Arabic in a matter of months—and the impossibly ancient guardian of the fortress. Fans of the first story may be sorry to see the genial old quack relegated to a thoroughly supporting role, while new readers may be puzzled at only half-explained references to the previous work. There is no historical note to contextualize the 1840s North African setting, and there is a definite tendency to depict the Arab and Tuareg characters as Oriental exotics. Still, readers with a willingness to surrender their disbelief will enjoy this offering for the swashbuckling, occasionally bloody, and frequently hilarious adventure it is. (Fiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-7868-0776-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Hyperion
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2002
It’s 1949, and 13-year-old Francine Green lives in “the land of ‘Sit down, Francine’ and ‘Be quiet, Francine’ ” at All Saints School for Girls in Los Angeles. When she meets Sophie Bowman and her father, she’s encouraged to think about issues in the news: the atomic bomb, peace, communism and blacklisting. This is not a story about the McCarthy era so much as one about how one girl—who has been trained to be quiet and obedient by her school, family, church and culture—learns to speak up for herself. Cushman offers a fine sense of the times with such cultural references as President Truman, Hopalong Cassidy, Montgomery Clift, Lucky Strike, “duck and cover” and the Iron Curtain. The dialogue is sharp, carrying a good part of this story of friends and foes, guilt and courage—a story that ought to send readers off to find out more about McCarthy, his witch-hunt and the First Amendment. Though not a happily-ever-after tale, it dramatizes how one person can stand up to unfairness, be it in front of Senate hearings or in the classroom. (author’s note) (Fiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: Aug. 14, 2006
ISBN: 0-618-50455-9
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 1, 2006
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
From England’s Children’s Laureate, a searing WWI-era tale of a close extended family repeatedly struck by adversity and injustice. On vigil in the trenches, 17-year-old Thomas Peaceful looks back at a childhood marked by guilt over his father’s death, anger at the shabby treatment his strong-minded mother receives from the local squire and others—and deep devotion to her, to his brain-damaged brother Big Joe, and especially to his other older brother Charlie, whom he has followed into the army by lying about his age. Weaving telling incidents together, Morpurgo surrounds the Peacefuls with mean-spirited people at home, and devastating wartime experiences on the front, ultimately setting readers up for a final travesty following Charlie’s refusal of an order to abandon his badly wounded brother. Themes and small-town class issues here may find some resonance on this side of the pond, but the particular cultural and historical context will distance the story from American readers—particularly as the pace is deliberate, and the author’s hints about where it’s all heading are too rare and subtle to create much suspense. (Fiction. 11-13, adult)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-439-63648-5
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2004
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