Terrifically entertaining.
Uninvited guests demand new survival skills from the McCready sisters in this follow-up to Pine Island Home (2020).
The school year is about to start when Mrs. Weatherspoon, who cared for the girls in Borneo after their parents’ death, comes to visit, upsetting the equilibrium. She arrives with another church lady, Jo Menzies, and everyone soon finds themselves towed along in Jo’s manipulative, overbearing wake. At 15, Fiona can’t relinquish the burden of being in charge of her family, shying away from their guardian Al’s willingness to pay for things. Thirteen-year-old Marlin has yet to realize her ambition to publish her cookbook. Ten-year-old Natasha’s contemplative approach to understanding the world manifests itself in a surprising way. And 8-year-old Charlie has an optimistic naïveté in the face of all this fierce independence. Jo is self-absorbed and almost comically evil in her disregard for everyone but herself. Horvath skewers those who try to wield power over others, using diet or religion or opinions as cudgels. As frustrated Fiona and Marlin find themselves feeling impotent rage, they also gain an understanding of what it means to be—and stand up for—oneself. Everyone presents as white. Horvath keeps the pace captivating in this domestic drama as she demonstrates that life’s ups and downs are inevitable. Neither certainty nor confirmation of beliefs is forthcoming—there are few comeuppances for bad behavior—but what emerges is a compelling case for self-reliance, creativity, and kindness.
Terrifically entertaining. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Oct. 10, 2023
ISBN: 9780823452958
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Margaret Ferguson/Holiday House
Review Posted Online: Aug. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2023
An endearing protagonist runs the first, fast leg of Reynolds' promising relay.
Castle “Ghost” Cranshaw feels like he’s been running ever since his dad pulled that gun on him and his mom—and used it.
His dad’s been in jail three years now, but Ghost still feels the trauma, which is probably at the root of the many “altercations” he gets into at middle school. When he inserts himself into a practice for a local elite track team, the Defenders, he’s fast enough that the hard-as-nails coach decides to put him on the team. Ghost is surprised to find himself caring enough about being on the team that he curbs his behavior to avoid “altercations.” But Ma doesn’t have money to spare on things like fancy running shoes, so Ghost shoplifts a pair that make his feet feel impossibly light—and his conscience correspondingly heavy. Ghost’s narration is candid and colloquial, reminiscent of such original voices as Bud Caldwell and Joey Pigza; his level of self-understanding is both believably childlike and disarming in its perception. He is self-focused enough that secondary characters initially feel one-dimensional, Coach in particular, but as he gets to know them better, so do readers, in a way that unfolds naturally and pleasingly. His three fellow “newbies” on the Defenders await their turns to star in subsequent series outings. Characters are black by default; those few white people in Ghost’s world are described as such.
An endearing protagonist runs the first, fast leg of Reynolds' promising relay. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-4814-5015-7
Page Count: 192
Publisher: Caitlyn Dlouhy/Atheneum
Review Posted Online: July 19, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PROFILES
SEEN & HEARD
Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious.
If you made a recording to be heard by the aliens who found the iPod, what would you record?
For 11-year-old Alex Petroski, it's easy. He records everything. He records the story of how he travels to New Mexico to a rocket festival with his dog, Carl Sagan, and his rocket. He records finding out that a man with the same name and birthday as his dead father has an address in Las Vegas. He records eating at Johnny Rockets for the first time with his new friends, who are giving him a ride to find his dead father (who might not be dead!), and losing Carl Sagan in the wilds of Las Vegas, and discovering he has a half sister. He even records his own awful accident. Cheng delivers a sweet, soulful debut novel with a brilliant, refreshing structure. His characters manage to come alive through the “transcript” of Alex’s iPod recording, an odd medium that sounds like it would be confusing but really works. Taking inspiration from the Voyager Golden Record released to space in 1977, Alex, who explains he has “light brown skin,” records all the important moments of a journey that takes him from a family of two to a family of plenty.
Riveting, inspiring, and sometimes hilarious. (Fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-399-18637-0
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Dial Books
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2025 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
