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BROTHERS LIKE FRIENDS

Name: BROTHERS LIKE FRIENDS
Author: Klaus Kordon
ISBN: 0-399-22137-9

by Klaus Kordon & translated by Elizabeth D. Crawford ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 3, 1992

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Set in 1950, an autobiographical novel first published in 1978, by an award-winning Berlin author making his US debut. Frank, 7, and his half-brother Burkhard (``Burkie''), 17, may bicker, but they're also allies: Frank attends Burkie's soccer games and goes along when Burkie takes out his first girlfriend; they also sustain each other after Mother's disastrous third marriage. ``Uncle Willi'' drinks, is dictatorial, and married Mother only for her restaurant—where he's too lazy to help. Worse, he beats the boys but provides no legal grounds for divorce. Enduring his presence unites the rest of the family even more closely when tragedy strikes: injured playing soccer, Burkie is so afraid of his mother's reaction that he forbids Frank to tell. It's a fatal mistake: by the time Burkie realizes that he must explain, the sepsis from his internal injuries is beyond control. In Crawford's able translation, postwar Berlin is vividly portrayed, while Kordon's depiction of the family dynamics and the boys' relationship with each other and their friends rings wonderfully true. The straightforward writing distances the reader somewhat; Frank's grief is more observed than felt, while his guilt seems too easily assuaged by his mother. Still, a moving story and a particularly authentic account of the period. (Fiction. 10-14)

Pub Date: June 3, 1992

ISBN: 0-399-22137-9

Page Count: 208

Publisher: Philomel

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 1992

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
THE BIG FISH
by Klaus Kordon & illustrated by Tjong Khing

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A YEAR DOWN YONDER

From the Grandma Dowdel series , Vol. 2

by Richard Peck ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 1, 2000

Year-round fun.

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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

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
THE BEST MAN
by Richard Peck

- BOOK REVIEW
THE MOUSE WITH THE QUESTION MARK TAIL
by Richard Peck ; illustrated by Kelly Murphy

- BOOK REVIEW
SECRETS AT SEA
by Richard Peck illustrated by Kelly Murphy

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A WEEK IN THE WOODS

by Andrew Clements ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2002

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Playing on his customary theme that children have more on the ball than adults give them credit for, Clements (Big Al and Shrimpy, p. 951, etc.) pairs a smart, unhappy, rich kid and a small-town teacher too quick to judge on appearances. Knowing that he’ll only be finishing up the term at the local public school near his new country home before hieing off to an exclusive academy, Mark makes no special effort to fit in, just sitting in class and staring moodily out the window. This rubs veteran science teacher Bill Maxwell the wrong way, big time, so that even after Mark realizes that he’s being a snot and tries to make amends, all he gets from Mr. Maxwell is the cold shoulder. Matters come to a head during a long-anticipated class camping trip; after Maxwell catches Mark with a forbidden knife (a camp mate’s, as it turns out) and lowers the boom, Mark storms off into the woods. Unaware that Mark is a well-prepared, enthusiastic (if inexperienced) hiker, Maxwell follows carelessly, sure that the “slacker” will be waiting for rescue around the next bend—and breaks his ankle running down a slope. Reconciliation ensues once he hobbles painfully into Mark’s neatly organized camp, and the two make their way back together. This might have some appeal to fans of Gary Paulsen’s or Will Hobbs’s more catastrophic survival tales, but because Clements pauses to explain—at length—everyone’s history, motives, feelings, and mindset, it reads more like a scenario (albeit an empowering one, at least for children) than a story. Worthy—but just as Maxwell underestimates his new student, so too does Clement underestimate his readers’ ability to figure out for themselves what’s going on in each character’s life and head. (Fiction. 10-12)