One of Hamilton's deeply felt family stories, this contains a ghost, a time trip, a retarded brother's death, a case of child abuse, and a largely absent mother who turns up with a boyfriend and a car her children never knew of—but this is all integrated into a fully imagined novel that conforms to none of the obvious YA patterns such components would suggest. Brother Rush, the ghost, appears in the first paragraph. Dressed in a suit "good enough for a funeral or a wedding," he's "the stone finest dude Tree had ever seen in her short life of going-on fifteen years." Soon the ghost is transporting Tree into scenes involving himself, a young woman, and the woman's two children—the baby girl she dotes on and the boy, a little older, whom she ties to the bedpost and whips when annoyed. And Tree comes to realize that the baby is herself, Brother is her uncle who died young, the "poor sad little boy" is her older teenage brother Dab, whom she lives with and loves, and Viola, the woman, is her mother (Tree calls her Muh Vy, or M'Vy), who works as a practical nurse and comes home only on Saturdays to stock the pantry and say hello. Now Dab is sick and in pain, and Tree is worried. When M'Vy does show up, followed by her kind, solicitous boyfriend Silversmith (this too is short for his real full name), they rush Dab to the hospital where Vy, now all concern, reveals that he has porphyria, the disease that took her three brothers. This indelible scene is lit as if by the hospital's harsh glare—with Vy calling for a doctor and explaining Dab's case to the nurse (who is "crisp, like a cold head of lettuce"), the nurse insisting that forms must be filled out before a doctor or stretcher can be called, and Silversmith left to stand through it all with the unconscious Dab in his arms. When Dab dies a few days later, Tree goes a little berserk, tearing around the apartment and lashing out at her mother—but appeased by the fine funeral Vy provides—before settling down to accept what will undoubtedly be an easier life. Like other Hamilton novels this has its rough edges, but they are outweighed here by the blazing scenes, the intensity of Tree's feelings, the glimpses of Dab through her eyes, and the rounded characterization of Vy.
Pub Date: Aug. 1, 1982
ISBN: 0380651939
Page Count: 228
Publisher: Philomel
Review Posted Online: Oct. 26, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 1982
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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
A prototypical survival story: after an airplane crash, a 13-year-old city boy spends two months alone in the Canadian wilderness. In transit between his divorcing parents, Brian is the plane's only passenger. After casually showing him how to steer, the pilot has a heart attack and dies. In a breathtaking sequence, Brian maneuvers the plane for hours while he tries to think what to do, at last crashing as gently and levelly as he can manage into a lake. The plane sinks; all he has left is a hatchet, attached to his belt. His injuries prove painful but not fundamental. In time, he builds a shelter, experiments with berries, finds turtle eggs, starts a fire, makes a bow and arrow to catch fish and birds, and makes peace with the larger wildlife. He also battles despair and emerges more patient, prepared to learn from his mistakes—when a rogue moose attacks him and a fierce storm reminds him of his mortality, he's prepared to make repairs with philosophical persistence. His mixed feelings surprise him when the plane finally surfaces so that he can retrieve the survival pack; and then he's rescued. Plausible, taut, this is a spellbinding account. Paulsen's staccato, repetitive style conveys Brian's stress; his combination of third-person narrative with Brian's interior monologue pulls the reader into the story. Brian's angst over a terrible secret—he's seen his mother with another man—is undeveloped and doesn't contribute much, except as one item from his previous life that he sees in better perspective, as a result of his experience. High interest, not hard to read. A winner.
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1987
ISBN: 1416925082
Page Count: -
Publisher: Bradbury
Review Posted Online: Oct. 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1987
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