Two squires and their knights struggle to make their way back to England from the Holy Land after the bloody Siege of Acre. In this sequel to Cadnum’s The Book of the Lion (2000), Hubert, squire to Sir Nigel and best friend to fellow squire Edmund, takes up the narrative. His description of their fitful travels demonstrates that 12th-century Europe was a lawless place in the extreme, and the characters find that they are little safer in their journey than they were on the battlefield as they move from pursuit by a Saracen ship to a brief respite in Greece to a Rome beset by gangs. This makes for an episodic story with little cohesion beyond the characters’ desire to return home and their feud with a rival knight and his page, the resolution of which contains the heart of the text’s argument: how much is one willing to fight, and for what cause is a fight justified? Hubert himself makes for an appealing character; he enjoys both a sense of humor and a clear-eyed understanding of himself, flaws and all. As he describes the action, he observes it, weighing his faith in God and his desire to be a knight against the squalor of actual combat. There is the tendency to wonder how much Hubert’s attitude is informed by 21st-century values; certainly his mentor, who has seen much more combat than he has, appears to have no such qualms. Cadnum writes in an author’s note that he wanted to explore the “terrible paradox—that caring responsible individuals can engage in acts of brutality.” The narrative itself is caught on this paradox, moving from exciting skirmishes and jousts to Hubert’s moments of doubt, with imperfect success at finding an answer. The details of medieval Europe are vividly realized, the characters and their relationships are sympathetic, the action can be thrilling—but somehow it all adds up to less than the sum of its parts. (Fiction. 12+)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2002
ISBN: 0-670-89908-9
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2002
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away.
A Mexican American boy takes on heavy responsibilities when his family is torn apart.
Mateo’s life is turned upside down the day U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents show up unsuccessfully seeking his Pa at his New York City bodega. The Garcias live in fear until the day both parents are picked up; his Pa is taken to jail and his Ma to a detention center. The adults around Mateo offer support to him and his 7-year-old sister, Sophie, however, he knows he is now responsible for caring for her and the bodega as well as trying to survive junior year—that is, if he wants to fulfill his dream to enter the drama program at the Tisch School of the Arts and become an actor. Mateo’s relationships with his friends Kimmie and Adam (a potential love interest) also suffer repercussions as he keeps his situation a secret. Kimmie is half Korean (her other half is unspecified) and Adam is Italian American; Mateo feels disconnected from them, less American, and with worries they can’t understand. He talks himself out of choosing a safer course of action, a decision that deepens the story. Mateo’s self-awareness and inner monologue at times make him seem older than 16, and, with significant turmoil in the main plot, some side elements feel underdeveloped. Aleman’s narrative joins the ranks of heart-wrenching stories of migrant families who have been separated.
An ode to the children of migrants who have been taken away. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: May 4, 2021
ISBN: 978-0-7595-5605-8
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2021
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Beautiful and important.
When Death tells a story, you pay attention.
Liesel Meminger is a young girl growing up outside of Munich in Nazi Germany, and Death tells her story as “an attempt—a flying jump of an attempt—to prove to me that you, and your human existence, are worth it.” When her foster father helps her learn to read and she discovers the power of words, Liesel begins stealing books from Nazi book burnings and the mayor’s wife’s library. As she becomes a better reader, she becomes a writer, writing a book about her life in such a miserable time. Liesel’s experiences move Death to say, “I am haunted by humans.” How could the human race be “so ugly and so glorious” at the same time? This big, expansive novel is a leisurely working out of fate, of seemingly chance encounters and events that ultimately touch, like dominoes as they collide. The writing is elegant, philosophical and moving. Even at its length, it’s a work to read slowly and savor.
Beautiful and important. (Fiction. 12+)Pub Date: March 14, 2006
ISBN: 0-375-83100-2
Page Count: 512
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2006
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