Savaging young love, male adolescence, and—with tender attention to detail and wildly funny results—the fast food business, Anderson (Thirsty, 1997) pits a teenage doormat against a larger, smarter, nastier rival. Anthony, after seeing his girlfriend, Diana, making out with local stud, Turner, concocts an elaborate revenge: He gets hired at the O’Dermott’s where Turner works, then puts into play Turner’s beloved ’85 Olds and a fiberglass, condiment-dispensing troll from the town’s Burger Queen. Meanwhile, as he listens to his manager’s mindless boosterism on one side and a cook’s lurid accusations of corporate greed and hideous livestock abuse on the other, Anthony becomes Turner’s designated victim, a target for put-downs, pranks, and periodic assaults. His revenge works perfectly, and Anthony knows true success when Turner’s girlfriend asks him to confirm her suspicions of her boy’s infidelities. Still, Anthony is a hero, and so his victory is a hollow one: “I feel like I became what I hate most. But a clumsy, stupid version.” Ultimately, Turner beats Anthony to a pulp in front of costumed company mascot, Kermit O’Dermott, and a battalion of corporate big shots; Diana walks away in disgust; and Anthony, having lost at love, war, and employment, picks himself back up feeling more liberated than humiliated. Anderson plots this with the precision of a fast-food marketing campaign, but his hero is more human than high concept. Did somebody say McSatire? (Fiction. 13-15)
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-7636-0680-4
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Candlewick
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1999
After years of normal living, a teenager learns he has epilepsy and has to cope not just with the disease, but with the side effects, including the hostility of his peers. High schooler Lefty has an epileptic seizure while hanging out with his best friend, Reuben, and must subsequently learn to live with the disease, deal with medication, make lifestyle changes, overcome his own fear, as well as that of family and friends, and face his peers. What little action there is in this marathon talkfest concerns Lefty and his friends (including his 12-year-old brother) smoking and drinking. In his tough, working-class neighborhood this is considered perfectly normal, and the author never counters that. Most of readers’ efforts may be spent trying to keep track of the many characters: Lefty’s friends and brothers, his mother’s tough-as-nails girlfriends, neighbors, classmates, medical personnel, etc. When Lefty, a budding writer, pens an imaginary dialogue between two elderly neighbors and a would-be mugger, the story picks up; otherwise this is a flat and emotionally distant bull session that, though extended, leads nowhere. (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: Jan. 15, 2000
ISBN: 1-55143-166-1
Page Count: 215
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
paper 0-8160-4096-6 Even those readers not necessarily seeking a career guide will find this an enlightening introduction to math-oriented, math- dependent jobs of many kinds. Reeves leads off with a lengthy self-test to help readers determine whether a career in mathematics is appropriate. She subsequently covers 15 careers, ranging from actuary work to urban planning, giving a general description of each occupation, a list of fascinating websites, and a profile of someone who actually does each particular job. The chapters are followed by a list of careers in science, health, aviation, and more, all requiring a degree of proficiency in math. Finally, a working plan is laid out, to help readers organize the steps necessary to break into and thrive in their chosen fields. Plenty of useful information has been packed into this book, written in a lively and interesting manner that will engage browsers as well as those gazing into the future. (b&w drawings and photographs, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 12-14)
Pub Date: March 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-8160-4095-8
Page Count: 180
Publisher: Facts On File
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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