WRITTEN IN THE STARS

Name: WRITTEN IN THE STARS
Author: Lois Duncan
ISBN: 978-1-939601-20-9

by Lois Duncan ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 15, 2014

Of interest mainly to fans, this collection stands as a tribute to the body of work that has poured out of Duncan’s pen...

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Readers of a certain age will recall reading Duncan’s stories in Seventeen and Calling All Girls.

Fourteen stories are collected here with a prologue and commentary on each by the award-winning author best known for her young-adult novels. At the age of 13, she sold the story “P.S. We Are Fine,” which was the genesis of Hotel for Dogs. “Return,” about a soldier home from war, was written when she was 18. She still wonders why it won Seventeen’s creative-writing contest in 1953. But it’s clear that she had a talent for natural-sounding dialogue and an insight into human relationships. Aside from their origins as the author’s early work, there’s no real unifying theme; it’s a pity there is no editorial introduction to lay them out. The most autobiographical of the stories, “The Last Night,” is told from the perspective of a room that has seen a girl become a young woman. It provides an answer to that often-asked question—why she writes: “Anne comes again to her desk and reaches for the words. They are still there, shining and golden at her mind’s edge. They tremble on her pen and dance onto the paper” until her pen runs out of ink.

Of interest mainly to fans, this collection stands as a tribute to the body of work that has poured out of Duncan’s pen since she herself was a girl. (Short stories. 12 & up)

Pub Date: April 15, 2014

ISBN: 978-1-939601-20-9

Page Count: 223

Publisher: Lizzie Skurnick/Ig

Review Posted Online: March 10, 2014

Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2014

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
NEWS FOR DOGS
by Lois Duncan

- BOOK REVIEW
SONG OF THE CIRCUS
by Lois Duncan & illustrated by Meg Cundiff

- BOOK REVIEW
ON THE EDGE
edited by Lois Duncan

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BETWEEN SISTERS

by Adwoa Badoe ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2010

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Ghanaian teenager Gloria Bampo has hit a rough patch. She failed most of her school exams, her long-unemployed father has lost himself to religion and her mother is ravaged by a mysterious sickness. Her one consolation, her older sister Effie, has discovered boys and all but disappeared. Gloria is offered a job in a distant city with Christine, a doctor who needs househelp. Her father is quick to assent, with one condition: In lieu of payment, Christine must take responsibility for Gloria's future and adopt her as a sister. Gloria adjusts easily, studies hard and explores her newfound freedom. But when the temptations of her new life—brand-name clothes and handsome doctors—prove hard to resist, a misunderstanding cuts a rift between Gloria and Christine. Each must confront class stereotypes and re-examine the meaning of family. Badoe's sharp and engaging prose unfolds the story with spryness, deftly navigating readers through heady social issues. But she wastes readers' goodwill at the end with a conclusion both haphazard and overly moralistic, jarringly out of place in this otherwise thoughtful and well-excuted novel. (Ghanaian glossary) (Fiction. YA)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2010

ISBN: 978-88899-996-2

Page Count: 208

Publisher: Groundwood

Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2010

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
ALUTA
by Adwoa Badoe

- BOOK REVIEW
THE POT OF WISDOM
by Adwoa Badoe & illustrated by Baba Wagué Diakité

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WHEN I WAS JOE

by Keren David ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2010

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When 14-year-old Ty witnesses a brutal murder involving neighborhood thugs, he and his mom are put into a witness-protection program in a small town far away from their East London home. Now named Joe, Ty enters a new school a year behind and finds himself haunted by his past and torn between two girls: Ellie, a physically disabled teen who trains able-bodied runners, and her sister, Ashley. Despite lots of Briticisms and the occasional longwinded spells of narration, David pens a mostly fast-moving page-turner. Her characterizations feel mostly fully fleshed, and their dialogue rings true. The staunchly un-Americanized text results in some odd, culturally specific references that could confuse some readers unfamiliar with the milieu: Kissing Ashley makes Ty's body sizzle like sausages in a pan, for instance. The contemplative pages within the blood-spattered cover may disappoint readers more drawn to gore than to the self-reflection the experience renders in Ty. However, if teens can move past these speed bumps, they’ll find a complex, engaging read about a boy starting a new life by escaping his past. (Thriller. 12 & up)