January 1, 2011: Vol. LXXX, No. 1

KIRKUS v o l.

l x x x,

n o.

1

|

1

j a n u a r y

2 0 1 2

REVIEWS

t h e w o r l d’s t o u g h e s t b o o k c r i t i c s f o r mo r e t h a n 7 5 y e a rs fiction

nonfiction

children & teens

Nathan Englander offers up a rich, emotionally complex collection of short stories p. 2373

Philip Taubman provides a timely portrait of an alliance of former Cold War mavens now committed to nuclear disarmament p. 2421

Shane W. Evans follows up last year’s stunning Underground with an equally powerful look at the 1963 March on Washington p. 2460

in this issue: 2011 african-american history month picture-book round-up kirkus q&a

NPR host Brooke Gladstone discusses the current state of the media and offers advice for news consumers in this chaotic time. p. 2412

featured indie

Mel Nicolai shows that vampire fiction doesn’t have to suck p. 2468

w w w. k i r k u s r e v i e w s . c o m

The Kirkus Star A star is awarded to books of remarkable merit, as determined by the impartial editors of Kirkus.

Kirkus Online: Trust the toughest critics in the book industry to recommend the next great read.

Visit KirkusReviews.com to discover exciting new books, authors, blogs and other dynamic content.

interactive e-books p. 2365 fiction p. 2371 mystery p. 2389

science fiction & fantasy p. 2395 nonfiction p. 2397

children & teens p. 2425 kirkus indie p. 2463

2012: Reading Out the Apocalypse B Y G RE G O RY MC NA M EE

Chairman H E R B E RT S I M O N # President & Publisher M A RC W I N K E L M A N Editor E L A I N E S Z E WC Z Y K eszewczyk@kirkusreviews.com Managing/Nonfiction Editor E R I C L I E B E T R AU eliebetrau@kirkusreviews.com Features Editor M O L LY B RO W N molly.brown@kirkusreviews.com Children’s & YA Books VICKY SMITH vicky.smith@kirkusreviews.com Kirkus Indie Editor P E R RY C RO W E perry.crowe@kirkusreviews.com Mysteries Editor THOMAS LEITCH Assistant Indie Editor REBECCA CRAMER rebecca.cramer@kirkusreviews.com Editorial Coordinator CHELSEA LANGFORD clangford@kirkusreviews.com

The new year, a reading of the Maya calendar that’s popular in New Age circles tells us, will be our last. Certainly those who care for books, bookstores and libraries may already have divined some sort of apocalypse, but that’s not the one that the Mayas had in mind. For that, see the noisy, dumb but fun Roland Emmerich film 2012—or see a pile of apocalyptic books, some of them awful, some worth reading anew in the endtime.

Readers of a certain bent have long entertained themselves with one vision of the apocalypse—the canonical one. For that, see the last book of the New Testament, a book that sages have been puzzling over for a couple of thousand years. Requiring less thought, Tim LaHaye’s Left Behind franchise has been giving readers the willies, even if it’s mostly a rehash of the old Hal Lindsey prophecies of the 1970s, notably The Late, Great Planet Earth, which flew out of the bookstores along with other books of a spiritual or sort-of-spiritual ilk: Carlos Castaneda, Erich von Däniken, the list goes on.

A diet of such books may well make one wish the world really were coming to an end, but over on the sci-fi shelves, better writers have long been playing the apocalypse card. One fun book to dust off this year is H.G. Wells’ War of the Worlds, a short number that can be read in a couple of hours—and time is, of course, the tightest commodity that we have. Longer, and less readable, are the end-of-the-world visions of L. Ron Hubbard, whose spiritual descendants have taken as seriously as LaHaye has a certain reading of the Bible. You will be forgiven for cheating by watching John Travolta and Forest Whitaker chew up the screen in the splendidly weird film Battlefield Earth, which begs the question: What did those dudes eat to get so big?

Or you can take the opposite tack and go for a big book: say, Stephen King’s The Dome, or Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers, which tells us that the cockroaches may just inherit the earth after all. (The 1997 film compresses Heinlein’s story a bit much, but it’s a hoot to see Neil Patrick Harris in the role of a fascist propagandist.)

I’m dusting off two sci-fi classics to read in this last of years: Walter Miller’s strange 1960 opus A Canticle for Leibowitz, a grand send-up of religious hierarchy, which posits the end of the world in that old trope of the era, namely nuclear war—which, Henry Kissinger and company are warning us (see Philip Taubman’s new book The Partnership for details), isn’t such an old trope after all. And then there’s Arthur C. Clarke’s novel Childhood’s End, as unsettling now as it was when first published in 1953.

Will 2012 be the end of the world as we know it? Your guess is as good as anyone’s. Of course, there’s always a chance that Newt Gingrich, politician and genre novelist, could come into a new office in 2012— in which case, all apocalyptic bets are off.

for more re vi e ws and f eatures, vi si t u s on li n e at k irkusreviews.com

Contributing Editor G REG ORY Mc NAME E #

for customer service or subscription questions, please call 877-441-3010 Kirkus Reviews Online www.kirkusreviews.com Print indexes: www.kirkusreviews.com/ book-reviews/print-indexes Kirkus Blog: www.kirkusreviews.com/blog Advertising Opportunities: www.kirkusreviews.com/about/ advertising-opportunities Submission Guidelines: www.kirkusreviews.com/about/ submission-guidlines Subscriptions: www.kirkusreviews.com/ subscription Newsletters: www.kirkusreviews.com/ subscription/newsletter/add

#

This Issue’s Contributors Maude Adjarian • Kent Armstrong • Mark Athitakis • Joseph Barbato • Amy Boaz • William Boggs • Will Boisvert • Valerie Brooks • Lee E. Cart • Kelli Daley • Gregory F. DeLaurier • David Delman • Kathleen Devereaux • Daniel Dyer • Lisa Elliott • Julie Foster • Peter Franck • Eric F. Frazier • Sean Gibson • Faith Giordano • Amy Goldschlager • Michael Griffith • Jeff Hoffman • Susan J.E. Illis • Robert M. Knight • Paul Lamey • Judith Leitch • Peter Lewis • Elsbeth Lindner • Carey London • Michelle Mach • Joe Maniscalco • Don McLeese • Gregory McNamee • Sara Miller • Carole Moore • Clayton Moore • Chris Morris • Liza Nelson • Mike Newirth • John Noffsinger • Sarah Norris • Mike Oppenheim • Jim Piechota • Christofer D. Pierson • Gary Presley • John T. Rather • Karen Rigby • Erika Rohrbach • Cedric Rose • Bob Sanchez • William P. Shumaker • Clea Simon • Wendy Smith • Margot E. Spangenberg • Andria Spencer • Claire Trazenfeld • Steve Weinberg • Carol White • Chris White

interactive e-books interactive e-books for children

bouncing critters, skittering rodents and other delights. The very easy-to-navigate pages give subtle, nearly transparent prompts to readers showing how to make the animations work. Swinging pigs may require a drawing a small circle with a finger, while prancing horses may only require a button tap. The text from the original book still packs a galloping rhythm, and the banjo and violin music makes it bounce even higher. “Stand with the donkey / Slide with the sheep. / Scramble with the little chicks— / CHEEP CHEEP CHEEP!” In addition to the motions of the animals, the violin the cow holds can be played by moving a finger across the strings. Perhaps best of all is narrator John Stey’s gruff but musical voice work; his soothing cadences may remind adults of Jeff Bridges.

What at first may seem like an over-the-top adaptation of a simple board book manages to retain the small-scale charms of the original while offering many new ways to enjoy one rollicking hootenanny. (iPad board-book app. 1-5)

RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE

Andreae, Giles Illus. by Wojtowycz, David Hachette UK $2.99 | Nov. 2, 2011 1.2; Nov. 2, 2011

Animal antics abound in this colorful zoological primer for the preschool set.

The story itself, adapted from the 2002 traditional book of the same name—a day-long safari into the jungle to meet the animals that live there—progresses without a hitch, combining bold, eye-catching illustration with rhythmic rhyme, narrated beautifully by Laurie. This is one groovy jungle, with chimpanzees who “munch on each other’s fleas,” a zebra whose stripes impress his lady friend and gorillas who pound their chests like congo drums. Simple, inviting and interactive, the app version of the book adds to the fun with lifelike animal sound effects on each page and delightfully appropriate music for each animal. Be sure to listen for the swanky ‘60s-lounge Muzak on the flirty zebra’s page and the salsa groove on the crocodile’s page. The birds in the trees chime in with a tap. A simple puzzle game completes the jungle fun.

With more animal magnetism than techno bells and whistles, this safari succeeds at every turn. (iPad storybook app. 2-5)

THE BLUE JACKAL An Interactive Tale from Panchatantra Carlson, Patrick Symplifyd $2.99 | Nov. 3, 2011 1.1; Nov. 11, 2011

Adapted from the Indian Panchatantra, a collection of animal fables, this app features crisp illustrations, but it is marred by a disjointed pace and an abrupt, unsatisfying ending.

In the story, a lazy, brown jackal, who bears more than a passing resemblance to Wile E. Coyote, is hunting for food when he accidentally falls into a pot of blue dye. His new hue makes him stand out in the jungle, and before long he’s used his unusual color to convince the other animals he’s God’s messenger. The cartoon characters are soon worshipping their new leader, until the Jackal loses his cool and howls, blowing his cover. Cut immediately to a page spelling out the story’s moral: “A coat of paint cannot hide one’s true colors,” and, “Do not lie to other people. People will discover your lies and would not trust you.” (It turns out there were two morals.)

Some of the writing in the story itself is just as clunky: “The Blue Jackal’s wicked plan has worked and he was rich.” (The voiced narration occasionally compensates for some of the grammatical blunders.) A small icon at the top right of each page tells readers how many interactions there are on each page. Pressing the icon also makes those objects shake, alerting young readers to their presence.

There’s also the option of having a male or female narrator.

In the end, this clumsy story offers too little entertainment to hold up to repeated readings. (iPad storybook app. 4-7)

BARNYARD DANCE

Boynton, Sandra Illus. by Boynton, Sandra Loud Crow Interactive $3.99 | Oct. 26, 2011 Series: Boynton Moo Media, 1.1; Nov. 10, 2011 Packed with silly, playful animation and perfectly fitting music and narration, this adaptation of Boynton’s board book gets the tone and whimsy just right.

In this story of animals gathering for a cow-directed barnyard dance, each action is illustrated with rotating animations, |

kirkusreviews.com

|

interactive e-books

|

1 january 2012

|

2365

“…a solid first-app effort by a veteran children’s author who obviously understands her audience.” from not without bear

KATE GLEESON’S BEST FRIENDS

add in a few missing pieces, such as more navigation options to help parents take their children back to their favorite pages and hints to help little ones find the animations.

All in all, it’s a solid first-app effort by a veteran children’s author who obviously understands her audience. (iPad storybook app. 1-4)

Gleeson, Kate Illus. by Gleeson, Kate Gleeson Group $2.99 | Nov. 1, 2011 Series: Kate Gleeson’s Little Beasties, 1.1; Nov. 3, 2011

HIDING HANNAH

Several promising ideas gone wrong or buggy mar this digital version of a 1998 board book.

Paired to a pithy text explaining that best friends “share umbrellas,” “stick together” and sometimes even “dress alike,” simply drawn scenes in twee pastels depict a plush elephant and a calico kitty in five cozy domestic settings. Occasionally, a hyped-up squirrel zooms by on a toy car to crash or to knock popcorn into an unattended popper. An opening menu provides access to either a three-level “Concentration” game or a “Read My Book” option. Tapping a pink or blue button on the next screen selects a male or female narrator. Touch-activated effects on subsequent slow-to-load pages include a belching teddy bear, a butterfly that inexplicably buzzes like a bee, a hopping crutch that tends to get stuck in a feedback loop and, for a picture of the Little Beasties talking on their (landline) phones, a misguided set of voicemail and “failed call” recordings. Furthermore, some sounds spill over past a page turn, each screen features a “pause” button that actually opens an otherwise inaccessible thumbnail index and in “Read Myself ” mode, the text on the first page vanishes after a moment. The background music channels Vince Guaraldi’s “Peanuts” soundtrack.

Next to Sandra Boynton’s board-book apps, this diaper needs changing. (iPad toddler app. 6 mos.-18 mos.)

Johnson, Mike Illus. by McCall, Melanie Squeaky Frog $1.99 | Nov. 11, 2011 1.0; Nov. 11, 2011

A child’s frustrating habit of hiding things (including herself) around the house is offset by the cuteness of the hider and the light, playful tone of this app.

Honey-haired Hannah, a pint-sized toddler in hairclips and a bunny T-shirt, enjoys hiding items like her mother’s hairbrush.

She also enjoys hiding herself, especially at nap time (“I not tired!” she chirps) or bath time (“I not dirty!”). The cozy rooms in Hannah’s house are full of potential hiding places, like cabinet drawers, closets and big couch cushions. Readers can touch these items to shake out whatever’s missing, from Dad’s remote control to Hannah herself. At the end of the story, Hannah’s parents hide, causing a moment of genuine panic for the girl, but it all ends well with a group hug and laughs. Illustrations throughout are effective, with lots of colorful, distinct objects and parents who are drawn as alternately wary, exhausted and cuddly. There are clever details, such as an easy-to-miss photo of Hannah as a wailing baby in the background and a very amusing sock puppet–themed TV show. The story is narrated by Tom Kenny, the voice of SpongeBob SquarePants, which seems like overkill for such a short, basic affair, but it speaks highly of the publisher’s commitment to production values.

Though it lacks anything in the way of extras or games, Hannah’s little story is one worth seeking out. She’s a charmer. (iPad storybook app. 2-6)

NOT WITHOUT BEAR

Hines, Anna Grossnickle Illus. by Hines, Anna Grossnickle appropo $3.99 | Nov. 11, 2011 1.1; Nov. 11, 2011 Audrey’s day is full of playful adventure with faithful companion, Bear. But bedtime arrives, and Bear is missing. Can

BARNYARD MYSTERY

MiBooks & Hamson Design Hamson Design $2.99 | Sep. 30, 2011 1.0; Sep. 30, 2011

you help find him?

Adapted by the author from her 2000 pop-up book, this charmingly simple story of a girl and her best friend unfolds into an interactive game of hide and seek. Toddlers and preschoolers alike will relate to Audrey’s spunk and imagination, as well as to her devotion to her favorite friend/toy. Well-paced and subtly illustrated, with interactive “hide-and-seek” elements throughout, the app gives little ones free rein to throw back the bed covers, overturn the toy basket, un-pile the sofa cushions and open cabinets and drawers in search of the precious furry toy.

And when he’s found, it’s off to bed, with sweet relief and sweet dreams for Audrey and Bear ending a story little ones will likely return to, time and time again. Here’s hoping an update can 2366

|

1 january 2012

|

interactive e-books

In this “choose your own adventure” rhyming storybook, a day trip to Farmer Bill’s barnyard presents a wee, feathered problem: a missing chick.

The story begins with promise: Help solve the mystery and choose which way to go. Children enter the story by typing their names on the page, but the personalization falls flat in read-to-me mode, with “child” substituting in the narration for the printed name. At each of the 12 different locations |

kirkusreviews.com

|

LULU IN AUSTRALIA

on the farm, there is a modicum of animation, visual interest and sound effects to keep young readers engaged. Mice scurry, apples fall from trees and foxes lurk nearby, as readers investigate what became of the missing chick. The small feathered one pops up at different places on the farm, and there is a challenging game of “Concentration” at the farmer’s house, giving the story a bit of a shelf life. But... there are a few mysteries beyond the missing chick: Where are the navigation options for moving the story along or visiting favorite locations easily? How can regular barnyard animals on a non-magical farm talk to humans?

The music is also a mystery: The soothing acoustic-guitar introduction is an awkward choice for what should be an exciting day trip to the farm. And the biggest mystery of all: Why force a rhyme? One of the first (and most often ignored) rules of writing stories for children is “If you can’t rhyme, don’t.”

This nonstarter shortchanges both readers and the story’s potential by attempting this most difficult approach and falling awkwardly short. (iPad storybook app. 3-5)

Pol, Vanessa & Herschel, David Illus. by Bertault, Stéphanie Zanzibook $2.99 | Oct. 15, 2011 1.0; Oct. 15, 2011 A young tourist and her cat go walkabout (well, in a minibus) Down Under.

Detailed on an opening map that also functions as an index for skipping around, the 10 stops that Lulu and her feline foil Zazou make range from Brisbane and Sydney to Uluru (Ayers Rock) and, for bit of surfing, Cactus Beach. Along the way, the pair encounter koalas, penguins, kangaroos and didgeridoo-playing Aborigines—and readers can pause for a wildlife matching game, outfit Lulu with a sunhat and have her “throw” a boomerang along a finger-traced route. Along with small automatic animations on every page, taps on the cartoon figures activate jerky additional movements (notably a funky dance), sound effects and several original short songs or pieces of instrumental music. An option for silent reading is available but not recommended. The English or French audio narrative not only has to be muted separately on each screen but extends the visible text considerably with conversations, factual input (“Why did you wake me up?

Don’t you know that koalas sleep for 18 hours a day?”) and additional descriptive commentary. An upcoming sequel gets no fewer than three plugs on the final page.

The animation and text/audio connections need work, but the colorful illustrations, appealing cast and a light load of basic information will draw armchair travelers. (iPad informational app. 6-8)

COUNT BROCCULA

Osborn, Neil Illus. by Osborn, Neil RipplBooks $3.99 | Mar. 1, 2011 1.2; Oct. 21, 2011

After being terrorized by fiendish vegetables, a young boy learns to eat his veggies before they eat him.

Young Albert hates vegetables and adamantly refuses to eat them. Doctor Gravenstein, a mad scientist who creates new beings out of vegetables and human brains, spots Albert and sends his pea henchmen to retrieve him so he can harvest his brain. Albert flees and is chased by various menacing vegetables, the most persistent of which is a vampire made of broccoli. The app is adapted from Osborn’s 2010 ink-and-paper release and appears to be identical in terms of text and graphics. Motion and interaction have been added to the colorful-but-crude illustrations, but these “enhancements” are about as primitive as they could be on a tablet screen. Audio, narration, music and sound effects all deserve above-average marks, but the rhyming text is predictable and bland. Navigation is more-or-less easy once the menu code is cracked, though if the tomato/book icon is tapped, it launches Safari to visit the developer’s website, which requires a re-launch of the app which then begins over again on page one.

The opening screen promises broccoli recipes and gardening tips, but they’re nowhere to be found within the app itself.

Apart from automated sound this version doesn’t add much to its paper predecessor; let the diner beware. (iPad storybook app. 4-7)

|

kirkusreviews.com

THE STORY OF MISS MOPPET

Potter, Beatrix Illus. by Potter, Beatrix Squeaky Oak Oct. 28, 2011 1.0.2; Oct. 28, 2011

There’s homage and then there’s pure imitation, and in this adaptation of Beatrix Potter’s cat-and-mouse tale, the developer has clearly studied the template created by Loud Crow Interactive and created a cheap, off-putting knockoff.

Loud Crow developed superb apps out of The Tale of Peter Rabbit and The Tale of Squirrel Nutkin. In this app, everything, from the title screen to its drop-down-bookmark menu to the way Potter’s illustrations wiggle and squeak when touched, is similar, but the execution falls short. With generic music, annoying sound effects (“Boing!” goes one, making it sound like it was recycled from a Saturday-morning TV show) and narration that feels out of rhythm, the original text and pictures survive intact, but just barely. The title screen, showing a copy of the original book, a fountain pen, ink and what appears to be a blank yellow Post-It Note (seriously!?) tells you all you need to |

interactive e-books

|

1 january 2012

|

2367

RUMPELSTILTSKIN HD

know. Worst, the narration must be activated by touching the first letter of the first word of each page, but there’s no hint or instruction that this is the case.

Potter’s story of an abusive relationship between Miss Moppet the cat and Mouse is given short shrift in this shoddy, derivative app. Readers will be left feeling teased and unsatisfied, even if they’re unaware far better Potter apps exist. (iPad storybook app. 3-8)

Silicon Beach Software Silicon Beach Software $1.99 | Nov. 14, 2011 1.0; Nov. 14, 2011

An adaptation of the fairy tale features panoramic 3-D interaction.

Though the bare-bones framework of the traditional tale is left intact, this version finds a baker trying to help his daughter, Arabella, marry her true love, the prince. He tells the king that his daughter can spin gold out of straw, but, of course, the monarch wants proof.

Arabella is locked in a dungeonlike room filled with straw; a mischievous elfin creature appears to produce the gold and then later returns to collect her firstborn. This retelling is dripping with the classic fairy-tale sentiments that make feminists want to burn their bras. Arabella is a ridiculously docile damsel in distress who is completely at the mercy of the men in her life (and seems fully on board with being a passive poker chip in their high-stakes card game). On the plus side, the panoramic, zoomable computer-animated pages are impressive, providing both sweeping and telephoto views of the 360-degree digital stage. Readers can do things like light and extinguish torches, whirl the spinning wheel and toss gold coins (though they may be chastised for doing so). Developers succeed in creating an authentic old-world feel, at least until Arabella asks the wee wizard if his name is SpongeBob or Patrick.

The graphics, animation and interaction are fine, but they fail to turn a hollow, unimaginative narrative into gold. (iPad storybook app. 3-7)

MOUSEY HOWSEE AND THE RESCUERS

Sakalauskaite, Jurga & Malinauskas, Donatas Illus. by Sliogeris, Andrius Realverus $5.99 | Oct. 9, 2011 1.0; Oct. 9, 2011

When Mousey Howsee ventures out for a day at the lake, she needs an entire rescue team—including readers—to bring her back home alive.

Based on Lithuanian author Sakalauskaite’s book Funny Stories by Mousey Howsee, this digital storybook incorporates a wealth of technology, interaction and animation. Using a location-based service, the software tracks readers’ coordinates, changing the time of day or weather in the story to reflect what’s happening where readers are. If you’re reading in the morning, the story begins with Mousey Howsee eating breakfast; if you’re reading at night, Mousey will go to sleep. Tiny, tappable stars indicate where the action is, giving the secondary characters lives of their own. At one point, young readers are given the opportunity to help Mousey call for rescue, teaching the concept of 911.

Dial the incorrect number, and you might get a dinner invitation, but not the help you need. Video loops occasionally animate the story—apart from the text—on a visual level that propels it forward. All of these features, as well as a three-level memory game for extra fun—extend the shelf life of the Mousey’s adventure.

Unfortunately, the story itself needs to be rescued, its verbosity made even less appealing by the narrator’s awkward cadence and clunky interpretive skills. Mousey’s reading voice doesn’t seem to match the character’s sound effects, and at times, the visual doesn’t match what’s on the page.

Overall, though whimsically illustrated and digitally deluxe, the tale would’ve benefited from a story overhaul before leaving the dock. (iPad storybook app. 4-7)

2368

|

1 january 2012

|

interactive e-books

MOROTOBI’S ADVENTURE

Tin Robot Tinrobot Jul. 20, 2011 1.4; Nov. 19, 2011

A dream come true for any reader amused by a cartoon character who turns purple and piddles at a touch.

At the behest of an enchanted frog, young trickster Moro leaps into a world of monsters in search of a magical ring and lantern. Transformed into a monster, he dubs himself Tobi (“That name makes me want to barf!” jeers a rival creature), retrieves the tokens—and then discovers that the frog is really an evil witch. The plot is cobbled together from set pieces and arbitrary shifts, and the English text (switchable to Korean) is burdened by misspellings and lines like, “Moro became very interested in this very interesting toad.” So diverse and is the array of special features and effects, however, that the actual story is practically incidental. Touch- or tilt-activated sound effects, animations and shape changes on nearly all of the 37 screens range from the aforementioned tinkle to a musical staircase, sprays of golden glitter, an inventive reflection-inwater scene and a wonderfully scary witch lunging at viewers. |

kirkusreviews.com

|

“Caldecott Honoree Willems makes a solid app debut with this Mad-Libs–style interactive story.” from don’t let the pigeon run this app

Options include an audio narration and a musical track, both equally effervescent, and a menu icon opens either a numbered index of thumbnails or a PowerPoint-like “Memo” feature that allows readers to make notes on slides of each page. With the talking lantern’s help, Moro-Tobi overcomes the witch in the end, and then sets off for further adventures. Children can tackle the ensuing study questions while they wait.

Not the most coherent series opener, but certainly fully featured. (iPad storybook app. 7-9)

SHOOSH

Weyh, Florian F. Illus. by Geissler, Marie Ridili $3.99 | Apr. 20, 2011 1.1; Jun. 9, 2011 Rough illustrations, a not-quite-there translation and characters who come across as remarkably troubled for a children’s app make this story seem like a good argument for keeping quiet.

One morning, bushy-haired Anton climbs into his parents’ bed holding a squeak-toy rubber duck (called a “bird” throughout the story). He’s quieted down immediately, and thus begins a day that seems miserable from the outside; everything that Anton does, from slurping hot soup to shuffling his feet at the museum, is discouraged by his persistently nagging father. Dad, who may be in over his head, is covering for Mom’s headache and entertaining young Anton for the day. In the end, Anton and Dad end up under a bridge, banging instruments as loudly as they can, a brief respite in an otherwise grim drama about stamping out a child’s every whim. Perhaps it’s not meant to be that bleak, but the app’s off-kilter hand-drawn look, the use of guillemets (»Don’t slurp!« scolds his father) instead of quotation marks and sour adult characters make it a chore, despite some nice illustrations and competent narration. “It’s weekend now and we can all rest nicely,” Dad says in one typically awkward exchange. The App Store description, which describes a series of “Ridi-Apps,” confirms the language issue with proclamations like, “So this Ridi allow your child to tune into a foreign language and learn it” and “Ridis can help a child to bridge waiting times.” Those sentences read the way the app feels; like being stuck in a place you can’t quite figure out.

Anton’s adventure in aural admonition isn’t too pleasurable; by the time he gets to make a real racket, the story’s already become a jumbled, uncomfortable slog. (iPad storybook app. 4-8)

|

kirkusreviews.com

DON’T LET THE PIGEON RUN THIS APP!

Willems, Mo Illus. by Willems, Mo Disney Publishing Worldwide Applications $6.99 | Oct. 27, 2011 1.0; Oct. 27, 2011

A puerile pigeon pesters and pleads to get what he wants.

Caldecott Honoree Willems makes a solid app debut with this Mad-Libs–style interactive story. Fans of his traditional Pigeon books will be delighted to see the pigeon and the bus driver come to life, as they are personable, quirky and highly entertaining. The story begins with the bus driver soliciting help to construct the narrative. In “egg” mode, interchangeable nouns are randomized and the story is fully automated. In “chick” mode, the bus driver offers multiple-choice options that rotate with every launch. In “pigeon” mode, readers can record their own responses, which in turn will be added to the narrative.

After appropriate selections have been made, the pigeon appears.

Once “shaken” he asks permission to do something—run this app, wear purple underwear, borrow your cell phone, etc.—and each time, a chorus of children shouts “NO!” Not to be deterred, the pigeon begs, offers bribes and finally throws a hissy fit—all to no avail. Navigation is breezy, interaction and audio are spot-on and Willems even offers a step-by-step drawing lesson. Up to six “favorite” recorded versions can be saved for repeat reading.

The $6.99 price tag may cause a little sticker shock, but endearing characters, creative interaction and Willems’ idiosyncratic storytelling make this app worth the splurge. (iPad storybook app. 2-5)

PUFF, THE MAGIC DRAGON

Yarrow, Peter & Lipton, Lenny Illus. by Puybaret, Eric Sterling $4.99 | Nov. 15, 2011 1.0.1; Nov. 15, 2011

An interactive take on the classic folk song sluggishly brings this familiar tune to life.

Leveraging both the striking illustrations from the 2007 book and the familiar music, this tale should translate naturally to the digital format, but the animation hamstrings a seamless presentation. Many scenes feature Jackie and Puff frolicking, but the two characters, especially Jackie, appear pixelated, and motions are distractingly jerky and frustratingly slow. Also, transitions between pages present long pauses during which the song continues, but the screen remains black. There are some pluses: Simple navigation enables readers to move back and forth by clicking arrows in the bottom corners of each page, while an additional feature allows them to jump directly to particular pages. Other interactive opportunities include clicking |

interactive e-books

|

1 january 2012

|

2369

on stars sprinkled throughout the text and thereby animating certain creatures, swiping pages to the left and right to expand the illustrations and, in one instance, tilting the iPad to steer a ship. Readers can enjoy the book by following along to the song, reading to themselves or listening to a narrator. In the narrated version the words are highlighted as they are read, but in a few cases the narrator outpaces the highlighting.

Stick with low-tech for now. (iPad storybook app. 4-8)

SCARECROW, WHERE DO YOU GO?

Z, Andy Illus. by Miller, Woody Think Active $1.99 | Oct. 11, 2011 Series: Ready to Sing with Andy Z, 1.0.0; Oct. 11, 2011 The entertaining song at the core of this picture-book app is poorly served by unsophisticated effects and uninspiring animation This app is based on a picture book that is in turn based on a song by Andy Z, a children’s musician with several recordings to his name.

Scarecrow ventures out each night to run in the cornfields, leaving the farmer puzzled as to why his clothes are tattered in the morning. The Scarecrow song is catchy, and the two-voice harmony accompanied by guitar is very enjoyable. However, the muddy colors of the Scarecrow are discordant with his playful expressions and jar with the pastel greens, blues and purples of the background. The animation is uninspired and simplistic, with Scarecrow moving awkwardly through the cornfields. The expressive crows are probably the best element of the graphics and animation. The challenge to creating an app based on a song is apparent here. Any interactive opportunities for the viewer in the “sing-to-me” mode would interfere with the flow of the song, so the creators wisely don’t put any in. Even in the “read-by myself ” mode, however, there is only one rudimentary interactive element per page, doing little to enhance the experience. Navigation works fine, with a forward, backward and home button on every page.

Meager enhancements and amateurish animation mar this effort. (iPad storybook/song app. 2-6)

2370

|

1 january 2012

|

interactive e-books

|

kirkusreviews.com

|

fiction BIRDS OF A LESSER PARADISE

RUNNING THE MAZE

Coughlin, Jack Davis, Donald A. St. Martin’s (320 pp.) $25.99 | Mar. 13, 2012 978-0-312-55495-8

Bergman, Megan Mayhew Scribner (240 pp.) $24.00 | Mar. 1, 2012 978-1-4516-4335-0

From a young Southern writer of note, a top-notch debut collection of stories, most of them revolving around motherhood, animals and conflicting loyalties.

Stories from Bergman’s collection have appeared in Best American Short Stories and New Stories from the South, as well as in major literary magazines, and it’s easy to see why. In the luminous opener, “Housewifely Arts,” a single mom drives her 7-year-old son nine hours south to a roadside zoo near Myrtle Beach in hopes of hearing one last time her mother’s voice... or rather the perfect mimicry of that voice by the 36-year-old African gray parrot who had to be given away in the mother’s dotage. In “The Cow That Milked Herself,” a young motherto-be gets an ultrasound in the office of her husband, a loving but distracted and harried veterinarian. “Yesterday’s Whales” dramatizes a woman’s ambivalence—or perhaps better to say that she grapples with her surprising lack of ambivalence— when she discovers that she is pregnant by her boyfriend, a fellow population-control activist and the leader of an antireproduction collective called Enough With Us that fulminates against unthinking, selfish “breeders.” In “Every Vein a Tooth,” a woman who shelters refugee animals (feral cats, a one-eyed chinchilla, three injured and ancient golden retrievers, a declawed raccoon) watches helplessly as her boyfriend, a hunter and outdoorsman, drifts away. His parting words come when she agrees to take into her home the ravenous, foul-smelling sheep of an urban shepherd: “You are looking for things to put between us.” The woman’s response is typical of the tender, smart, hard-nosed heroines of Bergman’s tales: “Maybe it was true.” But recognizing that doesn’t change either her conviction or her decision—pained, hard-won, but hers—to carry on as she always has, no matter the human consequences. The collection’s second half doesn’t quite measure up to the level of the first, but that’s a minor flaw in a book that deserves big praise.

The beginning, one suspects, of a fine career. (Agent: Julie Barer)

|

Mohammad al-Attas is a genius construction engineer in service of jihad.

He is also a Djinn, a blood-thirsty demon. Not to worry. Special-ops sniper USMC Gunnery Sergeant Kyle Swanson has al-Attas in his sights. But Swanson can’t complete the mission alone. Coast Guard Petty Officer Second Class Beth Ledford can put a round into the engine of a Somali pirate launch from a moving helicopter, and she has a personal motive for parachuting into the wild Pakistan-Afghanistan border with Swanson. Her brother was a humanitarian-aid doctor there when he was murdered, but not before sending Beth an intriguing digital photograph. Beth thinks her brother stumbled onto a terrorist enterprise secreted within a massive bridge-building project, but no one takes her seriously until she contacts a military mentor. Beth once had a casual military glass-ceiling conversation with a female Marine colonel, an officer now part of Task Force Trident, a special-ops group so secret it reports only to the president. Rapid reaction is Trident’s game, and soon a reluctant Swanson and the gung-ho Coastie are on the ground near the bridge. That displeases William Lloyd Curtis, head of the U.S. State Department’s Bureau of American-Islamic Affairs. Curtis is a former industrialist with ties to the Mideast and links to Pakistan’s infamous InterServices Intelligence. Swanson and Ledford soon discover the bridge hides a reinforced tunnel complex meant to serve as a sophisticated, computer-driven headquarters for Commander Khan of the New Muslim Order, presumed successor to bin Laden. Beth proves herself special-ops material in a running gun battle inside the fortress, and the pair bring out al-Attas with evidence the NMO is planning a bloody and dramatic strike at America’s prestige.

Add a corrupt astronaut, sniper rifles with a two-mile range and a former British SAS fighter who is now a rich industrialist willing to support Trident clandestine ops with weapons and transportation, and Coughlin and Davis (An Act of Treason, 2011, etc.) hit the action-adventure 10-ring again.

kirkusreviews.com

|

fiction

|

1 january 2012

|

2371

“An attempt to overcome grief with a trip to fascinating Machu Picchu leads to even more wild intrigue.” from the next one to fall

NO MARK UPON HER

Crombie, Deborah Morrow/HarperCollins (384 pp.) $24.99 | Feb. 7, 2012 978-0-06-199061-8 A Met officer loses her scull.

Becca Meredith could have been an Olympic contender in rowing before she snapped her wrist in an accident. Leaving the university, she eventually joined the Met and worked her way up the ranks to DCI, West London Major Crimes. Along the way she married, divorced, fell out with a uni friend who later joined the Met, began an affair with Kieran, an emotionally overwrought war veteran doing canine search-and-rescue work, and became known as rather solitary—and a bitch. When her body is found trapped in Thames weeds and her scull some distance away, it becomes apparent that she was rowing again, secretly training for another go at the Olympics, and that her death was no accident. The Yard’s Det. Supt. Duncan Kincaid is asked to investigate and concentrate on Becca’s ex, Freddie Atterton.

Unwilling to focus his queries on Freddie alone, Kincaid—aided by colleagues Cullen and Bell, and with input from his wife, Det. Insp. Gemma James, now on leave to settle 3-year-old Charlotte into their household—uncovers a series of rapes that lead to a now retired Met bigwig. A petrol bomb is lobbed into Kieran’s boatshed and his rescue dog Finn goes ballistic at the scent of a former uni rower. Is Becca’s assailant one of these two men?

More will die before matters are resolved and the beautiful scull hand-built for Becca can be taken out for a memorial row. To the customary pleasures of the Kincaid/ James ménage (Necessary as Blood, 2009, etc.), Crombie adds the interest generated by the history of the Henley Regatta pitting Oxford against Cambridge and the relationship between canine search-and-rescue handlers and their animals. (Author appearances in Dallas, Houston, Phoenix, St. Louis and Tulsa. Agent: Nancy Yost)

THE NEXT ONE TO FALL

Davidson, Hilary Forge (352 pp.) $24.99 | Feb. 14, 2012 978-0-7653-2698-0

An attempt to overcome grief with a trip to fascinating Machu Picchu leads to even more wild intrigue.

Three months after her sister Claudia’s heroin-fueled death (The Damage Done, 2010), travel writer Lily Moore accompanies her best friend, the peripatetic, wisecracking gay man Jesse Robb, to Machu Picchu. There, high up on the mountain viewing the ruins, they overhear an argument, then spot a girl plummeting downward while a man runs off. The woman’s last words convince Lily that she’s been murdered. Discovering 2372

|

1 january 2012

|

fiction

|

why and whodunit will thrust Lily into the orbit of Len Wolven, a billionaire’s nutty son, who caused his first wife’s death and may be responsible for his second wife’s disappearance. Now that Wolven’s paid for the fallen woman to join him in Peru and fed her a hallucinogenic, his henchmen are determined to silence Lily, either with bribes, knives or gunplay. In short order, Wolven’s second wife’s sister comes looking for her, and his own half sister appears, remorseful about the chaos he’s caused.

Since no one’s version of the events matches anyone else’s, Lily doesn’t know who to trust. Before she can decide, Jesse is shot and she’s kidnapped and assaulted. Then Wolven commits suicide. Or does he? More lies will be told and alliances upended when the sisters, the henchmen and Lily and Jesse wind up at the mercy of Wolven’s wheelchair-bound father.

The mystery is a bit over the top, but Lily’s feelings for her sister ring painfully true, and Davidson’s rendering of Machu Picchu and Cusco would merit a pisco sour toast even from the great Jan Morris. (Agent: Judith Weber)

A QUIET VENDETTA

Ellory, R.J. Overlook (464 pp.) $25.95 | Jan. 5, 2012 978-1-59020-508-2

The hits keep coming in multiplemurder-master Ellory’s (The Anniversary Man, 2010, etc.) latest—literally.

It’s not so easy in the Big Easy, not in summer, when “the storm drains backed up in the last week of July, and...spilled God-only-knew-what out into the gutters.” One of the things they cough up is bodies. As Ellory’s tale opens, medical examiner Jim Emerson and a cop with the poetic name of Verlaine are puzzling out one brutal specimen, an investigation instantly complicated by the kidnapping of the governor’s daughter. It being Louisiana, the governor is, of course, hopelessly corrupt.

Even so, justice is justice, and Ellory conjures up a worthy squad of cops to chase down the bad guy. This being an Ellory tale, though, it’s the bad guy who does the chasing—or at least the talking, for more than anything else the kidnapper seems to want only a forum to get a few things off his mind about a decidedly checkered past. He talks—”I was Ernesto Cabrera Perez, a man capable of killing other men, a gifted man, a dangerous man”—and he talks, though the occasionally dorm-room-philosophical gab is pleasingly punctuated by lots of carnage. One wonders whether Ellory has been keeping company with mob assassins himself, to judge by some of the details he presents; suffice it to say that an attentive student could carve out an independent-study curriculum in dealing death from Perez’s leisurely account of his adventures, so elegantly delivered that one might imagine the lines having been written for, say, Javier Bardem (“I am here of my own volition, and I assure you I am quite unarmed”). The tale-spinning goes on a little long, and the tale itself untightens in the telling, but Ellory delivers a neat conclusion that’s not exactly instant karma, but close enough.

kirkusreviews.com

|

UNTIL THE NEXT TIME

It even approaches happy, if you don’t mind your happiness—and a lesson in family values—soaked in blood and brains. A satisfying effort in a franchise devoted to doubledigit mayhem.

WHAT WE TALK ABOUT WHEN WE TALK ABOUT ANNE FRANK Stories

Englander, Nathan Knopf (224 pp.) $24.95 | Feb. 15, 2012 978-0-307-95870-9

Parables of emotional complexity and moral ambiguity, with lessons that are neither easy nor obvious, by a short-story master (For the Relief of Unbearable Urges, 1999, etc.).

The title story that opens the collection (evoking in its title both the Holocaust and Raymond Carver) is like so much of the best of the author’s narratives, with a voice that evokes a long legacy of Jewish storytelling and the sharp edge of contemporary fiction. It presents the reunion of two women who had been best friends as girls but who have married very different men and seen their lives take very different paths. One is now living an “ultra-Orthodox” family life in Israel, with a husband who insists that “intermarriage...is the Holocaust that is happening now.”

The other lives in South Florida and has married a more secular Jew, who narrates the story and whose voice initially invites the reader’s identification. Yet a change in perspective occurs over the course of the visit, both for the reader and the narrator: “It is the most glorious, and silliest, and freest I can remember feeling in years. Who would think that’s what I would be saying with these strict, suffocatingly austere people come to visit our house.”

Every one of these eight stories casts light on the others, but perhaps the most revelatory is “Everything I Know About My Family on My Mother’s Side,” in which a writer named Nathan, described as “completely secular” and called “an apostate” by his older brother, insists that this story is “true...Not true in the way fiction is truer than truth. True in both realms.” It’s the story of how a family stays together and a relationship falls apart, told in 63 numbered sections of a paragraph or two. Like so much of this volume, it seems to exist in a literary sphere beyond the one in which the ambitions of postmodern fiction have little to do with the depths of existence beyond the page.

The author at his best. (Author tour to Boston, Chicago, Madison, New York, Philadelphia, Portland, San Francisco and Seattle.)

|

Fox, Kevin Algonquin (400 pp.) $15.95 paperback | Feb. 14, 2012 978-1-56512-933-1 Given a journal belonging to an uncle he never knew existed, Sean Corrigan embarks on a quest across the Atlantic— and lifetimes—in search of the truth about Michael Corrigan, a cop accused of murder who fled to Ireland.

Sean falls in with his Irish family, who are privy to an ancient knowledge: that reincarnation is real and, while most of us don’t remember past lives, some, by taking belladonna and reaching a hallucinatory state close to death, can remember their former lives. Sean soon learns he is part of a karmic cycle in which bloodshed begets bloodshed and some mysterious debt needs to be repaid. The action shuttles between Sean’s narrative and that of his uncle Michael, whose flight from an almost certain murder conviction takes him to the Corrigan family’s ancestral land.

Both experience uncanny bursts of insight and familiarity—e.g., understanding and speaking Gaelic despite never having learned the language. Michael realizes that his father, whose idea it was that he visit Ireland, has used him as a mule to smuggle cash to persons sympathetic with the Provisional Irish Republican Army. Both Sean and Michael fall for beguiling Irish lasses: Sean for his cousin (not by blood) Anne, and Michael for Kate Ryan, who tends the counter at a grocery store he happens upon. Soon enough, both become embroiled in ancient animosities and conflicts, encountering enemies English and Irish. This intertwining, transgenerational epic of romance and revenge never overcomes its protagonists’ naiveté, especially Sean’s, whose every paragraph ends in a series of questions illustrating his confusion at what is immediately obvious to the reader. As he seeks pages missing from the journal, Sean spouts trite observations on Irish culture and quasi-philosophical digressions on the implications of reincarnation as Anne clues him in to how this secret knowledge has been encoded in the parables and mythologies of the major religions. Michael’s narrative of being caught in the bloody struggle between members of the Provisional IRA, the British and with one another is more compelling. Unfortunately, weak writing and crepe-thin characters, as well as unnecessary redundancy between the dual narratives and uninteresting denouements make for an unrewarding read.

A potentially good idea lacking adequate execution.

kirkusreviews.com

|

fiction

|

1 january 2012

|

2373

BLACK SITE

A GOOD AMERICAN

Fury, Dalton St. Martin’s (352 pp.) $25.99 | Jan. 31, 2012 978-0-312-66837-2

George, Alex Amy Einhorn/Putnam (400 pp.) $25.95 | Feb. 7, 2012 978-0-399-15759-2

Fury (Kill Bin Laden, 2011), one of the first soldiers sent in pursuit of bin Laden, pens frontline-action fiction.

Former Major Kolt Raynor, call-sign Racer, cashiered from Delta Force, is a drunk, fired from a last-resort job as security officer aboard pirate-targeted cargo vessels off Africa’s coast. Avoiding psychiatric counseling, Racer is drowning self-condemnation and PTSD in Old Grand-Dad. Always too impetuous for superiors, Racer’s gut-wrenching guilt arises from a mistake in judgment, a hard-charging decision that killed three members of his recon team deep in Pakistan’s anarchic Federally Administrated Tribal Areas. Worse, Raynor’s best friend, Lt. Col. Josh Timble, three more Delta ops and two CIA pilots were shot down attempting to rescue Racer’s group and are presumed dead. Three years since the snafu, word has come from not-always-reliable operatives that Timble and the others are alive and imprisoned in a forbidding Khyber region compound. The current Delta Force commander and a retired Ranger colonel, who is head of the private security company Radiance, have planned a recon mission to confirm proof-of-life. With that, Racer is yanked out of the bottle, put through merciless re-training by Delta ops who’d rather not be nursing a disgraced drunk, and then dropped into FATA to suss out the rumor’s validity. Fury is retired Delta Force, giving the action a rapid-fire, realistic air as it moves from Peshawar to Dara Adam Khel’s infamous weapon’s bazaar with chaotic intensity. Racer confirms Timble’s POW status. He also uncovers a conspiracy by al-Qaeda, the Taliban, rogue Pakistanis and Turks and a traitorous German to destroy a CIA black site. With sufficient back story and from-the-headlines references, Fury delivers a credible action adventure story. There’s minimal character development, and the bad guys are stereotypical, including Daoud alAmriki, an American jihadist.

More action hero than cerebral spy reluctantly wielding an HK416 carbine, Racer is locked and loaded for a series of adventures.

An attorney originally from England, first-time novelist George offers a love song to his adopted state of Missouri in this multigenerational saga of the Meisenheimers from their arrival as German immigrants in 1904 up to the present.

Frederick and already pregnant Jette marry on board the boat that brings them to New Orleans, where they immediately experience the kindness of strangers from a Polish Jew and an African-American cornet player. Large, easygoing Frederick immediately falls in love with America. Jette, who instigated their flight, finds herself homesick for the world she wanted to escape. They settle in Beatrice, a small Missouri farming town with many German immigrants, where their baby Joseph is born. A few years later comes his sister Rosa. Frederick opens a bar that thrives, but his marriage to Jette falters. When the United States enters World War I, Frederick enlists—George only glancingly touches the uncomfortable irony that Frederick is fighting against Germans when he is killed—so Jette takes over the bar. Prohibition arrives in 1920, and so does Lomax, the black cornet player from New Orleans. He helps Jette turn the bar into a restaurant offering a mix of German and Cajun specialties and becomes a surrogate father to Rosa and Joseph.

But Lomax, who is doing a little bootlegging on the side, ends up murdered, his cornet stolen. Joseph runs the restaurant, now a diner, with Cora. Rosa becomes a spinster teacher. Cora and Joseph have four sons whom Joseph, who inherited Frederick’s love of music, turns into a barbershop quartet. Second son James is the novel’s narrator, and once he starts describing what he actually remembers, the tone changes. The melodramas of James and his brothers’ lives—sexual escapades, religious crises, even the big secret ultimately revealed—are more complicated but less compelling than his parents’ and grandparents’.

At times the novel feels like a fictionalized historical catalogue, but there are lovely moments of humor and pathos that show real promise. (Agent: Emma Sweeney)

HARD TARGET

Gordon, Howard Touchstone/Simon & Schuster (320 pp.) $25.99 | Jan. 3, 2012 978-1-4391-7582-8 A sequel of sorts to Gordon’s debut (Gideon’s War, 2011), this anti-Washington conspiracy novel aims high but falls flat.

The Davis brothers are back. Gideon, the so-called Man of Peace, is fired up for action after taking out those bad guys in the debut. Tillman, scapegoated by the federal government, is 2374

|

1 january 2012

|

fiction

|

kirkusreviews.com

|

“Less bleak than the subject matter might warrant—Hannah’s default outlook is sunny—but still, a wrenching depiction of war’s aftermath.” from home front

holed up in a cabin in the West Virginia woods. Gideon gets wind of a serious conspiracy being hatched by a militia leader, Jim Verhoven, a neighbor of Tillman’s. His fiancée Kate gets it. “Honey,” she asks sweetly, “do you want the Glock or the SIG?” Tillman is busy tracking wild boar, but agrees to help Gideon out. Suddenly he’s in the middle of a firefight on Verhoven’s land between the Feds and the militia, which will leave 12 people dead. It’s too much too soon, poor pacing, but it allows Tillman to rescue Verhoven’s wicked wife Lorene, gain the conspirators’ trust and learn their secrets. Except he doesn’t quite, because Verhoven is not the mastermind. That would be Dale Wilmot, an Idaho landowner and businessman, boiling with rage since his son Evan returned from Iraq without his legs. The federal government, all of it, will pay, when its representatives are gathered at the Capitol for the State of the Union. Wilmot has the heating contract for the building and will siphon cyanide gas through the ducts. This would be more compelling if Wilmot was a remotely credible terrorist. It doesn’t help that the action is split between the Capitol basement, the Virginia home of a Secret Service agent whose family has been taken hostage, and Idaho, where it’s left to a minor character to alert Gideon to the imminent gas attack. The action is further slowed by lectures about security rings, refrigerants and pressurized tanks. No surprise, then, that the climax can’t compare for excitement with Tillman’s elemental encounter with that monster boar in the woods.

Beneath the trappings, hollow at its core.

THE LITIGATORS

Grisham, John Doubleday (384 pp.) $28.95 | Oct. 25, 2011 978-0-385-53513-7

A tight (in a couple of senses), unexpectedly comic courtroom saga from veteran legal eagle Grisham (The Confession, 2011, etc.).

After an unhappy showing with last year’s Theodore Boone, Kid Lawyer, Grisham is back in grown-up land. But grown-up is as grown-up does, and the characters who populate this latest are very, well, morally compromised—and on all sides of the law. One, David Zinc, cuts a formidable figure at the bar—and, once he’s decided that, even though he’s in his early 30s, he’s done with practicing law at a huge corporate firm in downtown Chicago, he cuts a still more formidable figure drinking himself stupid at the nearest watering hole (“Do you serve breakfast?” “Yep, it’s called a Bloody Mary”). A long bout of sucking down the sauce later, David has fallen far in the world, so far that he’s now in cahoots with a practice that likes to call itself a “boutique firm,” but that is in truth made up of a couple of dictionary-definition ambulance-chasers. Make that hearse-chasers: The brilliant legal minds at Finley & Figg like nothing better than to feed at the bottom, scouring the news and the obituaries for profit-inducing mayhem, for something, anything, to sue for. It’s a hit-ormiss business, but with David on board, the partners’ fortunes |

would seem to hold greater promise. Ah, but this is a Grisham novel, and the justice that’s served up, as always, cuts both ways.

There are a couple of holes in the plot (if David wants out of the law so badly, why does he so quickly fall right back into it?), but Grisham has a blast with all the righteous mischief in a tale with no real heroes and plenty of villains, with Big Pharma at the heart of the story. He writes with good humor, mostly, but with some calculating nastiness as well (“Oscar’s perfect outcome would be breaking news of a pending settlement at about the same time his wife croaked on the drug”).

Grisham’s latest is a hoot—and, with its insider’s view of jury selection and other dirty tricks, a very good reason to hope to steer clear of a courtroom.

HOME FRONT

Hannah, Kristin St. Martin’s (400 pp.) $27.99 | $14.99 e-book | Jan. 31, 2012 978-0-312-57720-9 978-1-4299-4221-8 e-book The traumatic homecoming of a wounded warrior.

The daughter of alcoholics who left her orphaned at 17, Jolene “Jo” Zarkades found her first stable family in the military: She’s served over two decades, first in the army, later with the National Guard. A helicopter pilot stationed near Seattle, Jo copes as competently at home, raising two daughters, Betsy and Lulu, while trying to dismiss her husband Michael’s increasing emotional distance. Jo’s mettle is sorely tested when Michael informs her flatly that he no longer loves her. Four-year-old Lulu clamors for attention while preteen Betsy, mean-girl-in-training, dismisses as dweeby her former best friend, Seth, son of Jo’s confidante and fellow pilot, Tami. Amid these challenges comes the ultimate one: Jo and Tami are deployed to Iraq. Michael, with the help of his mother, has to take over the household duties, and he rapidly learns that parenting is much harder than his wife made it look. As Michael prepares to defend a PTSD-afflicted veteran charged with Murder I for killing his wife during a dissociative blackout, he begins to understand what Jolene is facing and to revisit his true feelings for her. When her helicopter is shot down under insurgent fire, Jo rescues Tami from the wreck, but a young crewman is killed. Tami remains in a coma and Jo, whose leg has been amputated, returns home to a difficult rehabilitation on several fronts. Her nightmares in which she relives the crash and other horrors she witnessed, and her pain, have turned Jo into a person her daughters now fear (which in the case of bratty Betsy may not be such a bad thing). Jo can’t forgive Michael for his rash words. Worse, she is beginning to remind Michael more and more of his homicide client. Characterization can be cursory: Michael’s earlier callousness, left largely unexplained, undercuts the pathos of his later change of heart.

Less bleak than the subject matter might warrant— Hannah’s default outlook is sunny—but still, a wrenching depiction of war’s aftermath. (First printing of 400,000)

kirkusreviews.com

|

fiction

|

1 january 2012

|

2375

GILLESPIE AND I

Harris, Jane Perennial/HarperCollins (528 pp.) $14.99 paperback | Feb. 1, 2012 978-0-06-210320-8 Elegant novel of love, loss and redemption among the Victorians and Caledonians.

Harriet Baxter is a hither-and-thither kind of person, capable of getting where she needs to go, even if the mores of the time suggest that a 35-year-old woman should not properly be wandering off alone for “a sojourn to the magnificent spectacle that was said to bestraddle both banks of the River Kelvin.” Yet, once they’ve fled the pea-soup fog of London and seen the bright lights of Glasgow, how are you going to keep the lasses from such wanderings? Introduce love into the mix, and you stand a chance—and so Harris, who staked out Victorian Scotland as her home turf in her debut novel The Observations (2006), does. Once on the auld sod, Harriet—who narrates these events from a distance of half a century—saves a woman from choking on her dentures. That act draws her into the orbit of the woman’s family, which just happens to include a brilliant artist named Ned, whom Harriet instantly groks as a soulmate, if not necessarily a physical one: “His name is Gillespie, sir, and he’s already married,” she tells her stepfather about her newly kindled friendship. (On that point, how the Victorians managed to reproduce is a subject of mystery.) All this happens in a short span of pages, at the end of which Harris gives us to understand that things are not going to end well. Harris writes sensitively and in rich detail, whether conjuring up a Glaswegian streetscape or the elements of one of Ned’s compositions. The imbroglio that she conjures up for the Gillespies is something of a potboiler, involving white slavery, unlawful carnal knowledge and Satanism.

Or perhaps not: as Harriet complains, “It is incredible what the newspapers are able to get away with printing.” The narrative holds up well to the very end, though the reader will have to have the ability to wend his or her way through the leisurely sentences appropriate to the time and place.

A fine evocation of a lost era, and without a false note.

GIRLCHILD

Hassman, Tupelo Farrar, Straus and Giroux (224 pp.) $23.00Jan. 31, 2012 978-0-374-16257-3 Bright young girl must endure family dysfunction and sexual abuse while coming of age in a Reno trailer park during the late 1980s.

Life in the Calle de Las Flores trailer park, as Rory Dawn Hendrix tells it, comes with its own unique rituals and social mores. People live paycheck-to-paycheck, cops and child-protective services are the natural enemies and getting away from the Calle is “an 2376

|

1 january 2012

|

fiction

|

act of will akin to suicide, in force and determination.” An excellent student whose off-the-charts test scores amaze and confound her teachers, Rory nonetheless feels she is of “feebleminded” stock. Her hard-drinking mother Johanna tends bar at the Truck Stop, relying on her lissome figure to eke out tips. Bearing four sons before she was 21 years old (and losing all her teeth by the time she was 25), Johanna has more than her fair share of demons. Her four grown sons chose to live with their father over her, and she seems ill equipped to take care of herself, let alone another person. Like Johanna, Rory’s grandma Shirley Rose has an ugly history with men, and an addiction of her own. She prefers the slots, and looks after Rory while her mom works. When she finally moves from the Calle, Johanna entrusts Rory to a sullen teenage neighbor, Carol. It turns out that Carol’s father, popularly known as the Hardware Man, has been molesting Carol, and preys upon Rory as well. And when he in turn moves away, taking that secret with him, it is left to Rory to rebuild her shattered self-esteem. Taking inspiration from a battered library copy of The Girl Scout Handbook, Rory does a remarkable job raising herself, while trying to let go of the people (and hurts) that no longer serve her. With a compelling (if harrowing) story and a wise-child narrator, Hassman’s debut gives voice—and soul— to a world so often reduced to cliché.

A darkly funny and frequently heartbreaking portrait of life as one of America’s have-nots.

THE BOILING SEASON

Hebert, Christopher Harper/HarperCollins (416 pp.) $25.99 | Feb. 28, 2012 978-0-06-208851-2 A determined entrepreneur gets the opportunity to build his own private asylum in the midst of a country in turmoil.

Drawing deep inspiration from Caribbean literature, particularly Haiti, debut novelist Hebert makes a fine first attempt at invention with a story that feels steeped in both colonialism and modern strife. The book is set in an unnamed Caribbean island populated by natives, mulattoes, third-world revolutionaries and corrupt politicians. The inescapable narrator is Alexandre, the son of a shopkeeper, who is determined not to descend into the poverty and violence that marks his homeland. Through loyalty and dignified service, the boy becomes a valued valet to Senator Marcus, one of the wealthiest and most powerful men on the island. One Sunday, the assistant manager of the country’s most exclusive hotels takes Alexandre to see a dilapidated country estate that will soon become both refuge and rationalization for the ambitious young man. Soon after, a wealthy white businesswoman out of her element buys the property and hires Alexandre to restore it to its richest state. Over the course of several years, Alexandre builds Habitation Louvois into an obscenely opulent resort that accents the bitter divide

kirkusreviews.com

|

between the country’s wealthy tourists and the shantytowns that mark its true nature. When the country’s president dies, the new leader finds himself defending the country’s infrastructure from hordes of armed gangs. Alexandre completely retreats into his new life, shunning his father and former friends and living in a state of denial that borders on madness. “What is this war you keep talking about?” he says in one outburst. “Wars have battles and campaigns. This is just shooting. This is nothing but mindless, brutal violence. This is a power struggle, nothing more.” With echoes of Marie Vieux Chauvet and Isak Dinesen, Hebert demonstrates an ambition and clarity of vision that is rare in a first novel.

A rich, synthesized imagining of the personal history of a country torn asunder. (Agent: Bill Clegg)

CONTENTS MAY HAVE SHIFTED

Houston, Pam Norton (320 pp.) $25.95 | Feb. 6, 2012 978-0-393-08265-4

Houston’s second novel (Sight Hound, 2005, etc.) combines thinly disguised travel essays with a new age romance as her heroine travels the world with one lover, then more or less settles down for another.

Narrator Pam is a California professor with a very flexible schedule, seemingly unlimited financial resources and an itch for roaming. Over 100 brief chapters follow her to various exotic locations, from Alaska to Bhutan to Patagonia to Tunisia, to name just a few—after a while the places begin to run together—where she gets to know the locals, enjoys the local food and usually has a lively adventure or inner awakening. Sometimes fearless, sometimes scared to death, the narrator (whose identity reads close to the author’s) doesn’t take herself too seriously during these quests, which often include near-death experiences, and she skillfully captures the essence of each place she visits. The descriptions of her plane rides, and aviation near-disasters, are often hilarious. But less humorous are the relationship issues Pam is working out as she approaches 50. She brags annoyingly about her many, many friends, including semi-famous literary ones, although none develop into actual characters—another case of names running together. But Pam’s romantic history is problematic.

Her past includes a dead lover she idealizes. Her present, as the book opens, includes Ethan, a womanizing jerk whom women find incredibly desirable despite his lack of a discernable personality. After their drawn out breakup, she goes on a series of snidely described bad dates before she meets Rick, a “highbrow hick” with a Masters in philosophy and religion who makes custom wood flooring for a living. To Pam, he is the perfect mix of redneck and new age cowboy. The hitch is his 8-year-old daughter and his complicated connection to his ex-wife. Can Pam balance her need to explore the world with her desire for intimacy with homebound Rick? |

Houston is a fine travel writer, but her characters are cardboard cutouts for every cliché of contemporary uplifting women’s fiction. (Author tour to Boulder/Denver, Salt Lake City, Seattle, Portland, San Francisco and New York)

DEATH COMES TO PEMBERLEY

James, P.D. Knopf (304 pp.) $25.95 | Dec. 6, 2011 978-0-307-95985-0 Yes, that’s right: Now that she’s made her farewells to Adam Dalgliesh (The Private Patient, 2008, etc.), Baroness James has turned to a Jane Austen sequel.

Six years after the marriage that ended Pride and Prejudice, Fitzwilliam Darcy and his wife, the former Elizabeth Bennet, are on the eve of giving their annual Lady Anne’s Ball when their preparations are complicated first by intimations that Darcy’s sister Georgiana is being courted by both her cousin Colonel Fitzwilliam and rising young lawyer Henry Alveston, then by the Colonel’s sudden decision to take his horse for a solitary late-night ride and finally and most disastrously by the unexpected, unwanted arrival of Lizzy’s sister Lydia. Bursting from her coach, Lydia shrieks her fears that her husband, Lt. George Wickham, has been murdered by his friend Capt. Martin Denny, whom he followed into the wood when Denny abruptly insisted on abandoning the coach carrying them to Pemberley. In fact it looks very much the other way around: Denny is the one who’s dead, and Wickham, bending over his body, blurts out that he killed him. Readers of Pride and Prejudice know that Wickham is a thorough scoundrel, but can he really have murdered his only friend? His averrals that he meant only that his quarrel with Denny sent him out into the wood, where he met his death at unknown hands, don’t impress the jurors at the coroner’s inquest or the trial that follows. Most of these developments, cloaked in a pitch-perfect likeness of Austen’s prose, are ceremonious but pedestrian. The final working-out, however, shows all James’ customary ingenuity.

The murder story allows only flashes of Austenian wit, and Lizzy is sadly eclipsed by Darcy. But the stylistic pastiche is remarkably accomplished, and it’s nice to get brief updates on certain cast members of Persuasion and Emma as a bonus.

kirkusreviews.com

|

fiction

|

1 january 2012

|

2377

“Ambitious and very well written, despite the occasional overreach.” from the orphan master’s son

THE ORPHAN MASTER’S SON

THE DARK ROSE

Johnson, Adam Random House (464 pp.) $26.00 | Jan. 1, 2012 978-0-8129-9279-3

Note to self: Do not schedule a vacation in North Korea, at least not without an escape plan.

The protagonist of Johnson’s (Parasites Like Us, 2003, etc.) darkly satisfying if somewhat self-indulgent novel is Pak Jun Do, the conflicted son of a singer. He knows no more, for “That was all Jun Do’s father, the Orphan Master, would say about her.” The Orphan Master runs an orphanage, but David Copperfield this ain’t: Jun Do may have been the only nonorphan in the place, but that doesn’t keep his father, a man of influence, from mistreating him as merrily as if he weren’t one of his own flesh and blood. For this is the land of Kim Jong Il, the unhappy Potemkin Village land of North Korea, where even Josef Stalin would have looked around and thought the whole business excessive. Johnson’s tale hits the ground running, and fast: Jun Do is recruited into a unit that specializes in kidnapping Koreans, and even non-Koreans, living outside the magic kingdom: doctors, film directors, even the Dear Leader’s personal sushi chef. “There was a Japanese man. He took his dog for a walk. And then he was nowhere. For the people who knew him, he’d forever be nowhere.” So ponders Jun Do, who, specializing in crossing the waters to Japan, sneaking out of tunnels and otherwise working his ghostlike wonders, rises up quickly in the state apparatus, only to fall after a bungled diplomatic trip to the United States. Johnson sets off in the land of John le Carré, but by the time Jun Do lands in Texas we’re in a Pynchonesque territory of impossibilities, and by the time he’s in the pokey we’re in a subplot worthy of Akutagawa. Suffice it to say that Jun Do switches identities, at which point thriller becomes picaresque satire and rifles through a few other genres, shifting narrators, losing and regaining focus and point of view. The reader will have to grant the author room to accommodate the show-offishness, which seems to say, with the rest of the book, that in a world run by a Munchkin overlord like Kim, nothing can be too surreal. Indeed, once Fearless Leader speaks, he’s a model of weird clarity: “But let’s speak of our shared status as nuclear nations another time. Now let’s have some blues.”

Ambitious and very well written, despite the occasional overreach. When it’s made into a film, bet that Kim Jong Il will want to score an early bootleg. (Agent: Warren Frazier)

2378

|

1 january 2012

|

fiction

|

Kelly, Erin Pamela Dorman/Viking (336 pp.) $26.95 | Feb. 6, 2012 978-0-670-02328-8 A second novel from British journalist Kelly (The Poison Tree, 2011).

Young Louisa Trevelyan was a Goth girl who frustrated her upper-class parents. With no thoughts of moving on to college, Louisa came and went as she pleased, working in a stall at Kensington Market selling aromatic oils, drinking and sneaking a different guy into her room (which is set off from the main house) each night. Then she meets Adam, the beautiful lead singer for a group known as Glasslake. Louisa is immediately captivated by the sexy bad boy who keeps his past hidden and is devastated by their arguments and his flirtatious nature. Kelly weaves in the tale of Paul Seaforth, a young man who loses his father at an early age to a terrible accident. The chapters, which span a 20-year range, tell the back stories simultaneously while chronicling the characters’ lives in 2009, when both are working to reconstruct a heritage garden. Paul, who has an uncanny resemblance to Adam, is preparing to go to court and testify against his former best friend, a man who has been both his protector and burden. The author is a careful chronicler, but the earlier chapters are somewhat confusing and not as engaging as they could be, particularly when she delves into horticultural minutiae. The pace picks up about a third of the way through, and that’s where the characters turn engaging, if not always sympathetic.

A solid psychological thriller that provides readers with a harrowing look into the violent pasts of a pair of characters who have everything to lose and know it.

RETRIBUTION

Kenyon, Sherrilyn St. Martin’s (432 pp.) $25.99 | Aug. 2, 2011 978-0-312-54659-5 Love redeems (again) in the latest installment of the Dark-Hunter series (No Mercy, 2010, etc.).

In 1873, outlaw William Jessup Brady vowed to go straight after he married Matilda Aponi, but his treacherous partner Bart shot Jess in the back at the very steps of the church— and raped Matilda to boot. The goddess Artemis gave Jess the chance to revenge himself on Bart; in exchange, he surrendered his soul and joined her army of undead Dark-Hunters, who protect humans from the soul-stealing Apollites. In the present day, Abigail Yager, descendant of Matilda and Bart, believes that Jess slaughtered her parents and that Dark-Hunters attack innocent Apollites and humans without provocation. She soon learns she’s wrong about both assumptions, but not before she

kirkusreviews.com

|

inadvertently initiates an apocalypse. The colorful, intriguing mythology is ill served by the author’s flat prose, which turns the world’s potential doom into a fairly dull experience. The central romance is of the tell-not-show variety: Abigail’s been brainwashed into hating Jess and his kind, but she rejects her upbringing and falls in love and lust with him with almost no transition. Although their incredibly contrived love is supposed to transcend time and space, there’s just not enough emotional investment in the relationship to have the strength it needs to carry the story. Even those looking for cheap thrills won’t be satisfied—there’s only one sex scene and it’s not nearly as steamy as the author and her characters seem to think it is.

Legions of fans make this paranormal romance’s myriad flaws nearly irrelevant.

I’VE GOT YOUR NUMBER

Kinsella, Sophie Dial Press (448 pp.) $26.00 | Feb. 14, 2012 978-0-385-34206-3

Plucky bride-to-be makes an unexpected connection after she appropriates a stranger’s cell phone.

For Poppy Wyatt, losing her priceless antique engagement ring during a boozy pre-wedding brunch at a fancy hotel is bad enough without the added indignity of having her phone nicked by a drive-by bike mugger. All is not lost, though, as she discovers a perfectly good phone in the trash in the hotel lobby. Anxious to get the ring back without alarming her fiancé Magnus, she gives out the new number to the concierge and her friends. But the phone, it turns out, belonged to the short-lived assistant to Sam Roxton, an acerbic (but handsome) young executive in a powerful consulting firm. Given to one-word correspondence, with little patience for small talk and social niceties, Sam understandably wants the company property back. But Poppy has other ideas and talks him into letting her keep it for a few more days, offering to forward him all pertinent messages.

In spite of Sam’s reticence, the two strike up an oddly intimate text correspondence, with Poppy taking a way too personal interest in Sam’s life—including his odd relationship with his seemingly crazy girlfriend, Willow. Sam, for his part, confronts Poppy over her fears that she is not good enough for Magnus’ highly-educated family. Misunderstandings ensue, with Poppy’s well-intentioned meddling causing multiple headaches. But when Sam gets embroiled in a corporate scandal, Poppy jumps in to help him in the only way she can. Meanwhile, a scheming wedding planner, and Poppy’s conflicted feelings for Sam, threaten to derail the planned nuptials. Cheerfully contrived with a male love interest straight out of the Mr. Darcy playbook, Kinsella’s (Twenties Girl, 2009, etc.) latest should be exactly what her fans are hankering for. And physical therapist Poppy is easily as charming and daffy as shopaholic Rebecca Bloomwood—minus the retail obsession.

Screwball romance with a likable and vulnerable heroine. |

THE SECRET CROWN

Kuzneski, Chris Putnam (432 pp.) $25.95 | Jan. 12, 2012 978-0-399-15745-5

2010, etc.), series heroes Payne and Jones chase Mad King Ludwig’s mad money.

It’s a legendary stash, hidden away somewhere in one of his many castles.

Ludwig II, a king who loved building castles, built them beautifully and, in fact, was planning a masterwork when person or persons unknown put an end to him and it.

But that was the treasure’s reason for being, to finance a dream, the tall and turreted Ludwig legacy. Mid-19th-century Bavarians, however, taxed to the max and in effect captive patrons, had by now grown out of sympathy with their monarch’s artistry.

Many among them were convinced he was crazy—evidence abounded—while others wondered if the treasure actually existed. Had Ludwig really spent the years amassing jeweled baubles and golden what-nots convertible into cash once his ducks were in a row? Or was it all a case of castle-building in the air? Enter Payne and Jones on cue. Jon Payne and David Jones are ex–Special Forces warriors who retired young and often wish they hadn’t. Classic adrenaline junkies, they miss the thrill of being shot at, and both readily cop to never having felt so alive as when, on one battlefield or another, death breathed down their necks. An old army buddy calls, informs them that another former colleague is in difficulties related to the Ludwig story. Can they rally round, drop everything, join in a quest?

He has them at Mad King. Off to Bavaria they go, eager for anything that might involve a fire-fight. But Payne, Jones and company are not by any means the only treasure seekers tramping the Bavarian mountains. There are trigger-happy bad guys galore and a nice girl named Heidi with whom the boys can flirt when not filling body bags. Formulaic, but clearly Kuzneski’s audience is content to have it so.

Still, some of that dialogue is gratingly corny.

THE PROFESSIONALS

Laukkanen, Owen Putnam (384 pp.) $25.95 | Mar. 29, 2012 978-0-399-15789-9

A fast-moving debut thriller with enough twists to fill a pretzel bag.

They aren’t bad people. It’s just that times are tough in Michigan, and none of these young friends can find a decent job. So Pender, Sawyer, Mouse and Marie decide that kidnapping a few rich people for quick, modest ransoms would solve their financial woes and let them live out their lives on a beach in the Maldives. No one gets hurt, no one gets greedy and they all stay professional. They just need to grab

kirkusreviews.com

|

fiction

|

1 january 2012

|

2379

some rich businessmen, make a few quiet deals and walk away with a $60,000 payoff each time. One victim even complains he’s worth way more, but $60K is enough for them. The plan works beautifully until they mess with the wrong guy and their great retirement plan goes insanely haywire. Meanwhile, state cop Kirk Stevens and FBI agent Carla Windermere team up to investigate the crimes. The characters are as much fun as the plot. Stevens is happily married and faithful, and Windermere has a beau, yet when they work together the sexual tension between them is obvious. They are the real pros in this case as they try to nail the criminals and stop the mayhem that spirals out of control. And for all the danger, Stevens and Windermere tell each other they’re having so much fun they wish the case would go on forever. The kidnappers, however, enjoy themselves somewhat less while they learn that some things may be more important than money—like staying alive, for example.

Let’s hope Laukkanen writes more thrillers like this one.

RAYLAN

Leonard, Elmore Morrow/HarperCollins (272 pp.) $26.99 | Jan. 31, 2012 978-0-06-211946-9 Raylan Givens, the U.S. Marshal who brought law and order to Pronto (1993), is back in a series of three interlinked stories disguised as a novel.

The first and most successful of the stories complicates Raylan’s apprehension of marijuana trader Angel Arenas with the discovery that the dealers with whom Angel was meeting left with his money, his grass and his kidneys, which they propose to sell back to him for $100,000 (the price they demand for either one or both).

Raylan’s questioning of Pervis Crowe, eastern Kentucky’s top marijuana grower, soon leads him to a transplant nurse known, for excellent reasons, as Layla the Dragon Lady. Their encounter ends with a sizable body count and Pervis’s oath of vengeance.

Raylan’s second adventure pits him against Carol Conlan, a lawschool–trained vice president of M-T Mining, whose skills in dealing with the problems that beset her employer extend far beyond the courtroom. After their conflict ends in a standoff, Leonard introduces still another strong woman, poker-playing Butler College student Jackie Nevada, who’s staked by aging horseman Harry Burgoyne, who’d appeared more briefly in the first tale. The villain of this third piece, Delroy Lewis, forces three of his female acquaintances to rob banks and then gets mighty annoyed when one of them ends up with an exploding dye packet. The fadeout finds Leonard acting as if he’s wrapped everything up, but you have to wonder.

A master’s valedictory canter around a familiar track— an unimpressive job of carpentry that’s still treasurable for Leonard’s patented dialogue and some truly loopy situations handled with deadpan brio.

2380

|

1 january 2012

|

fiction

|

A LITTLE NIGHT MAGIC

March, Lucy St. Martin’s Griffin (320 pp.) $14.99 paperback | Feb. 1, 2012 978-1-250-00820-6 Readers will find themselves charmed by the quirky inhabitants of Nodaway Falls and the little bit of magic that comes their way in March’s novel.

Long before Olivia became a waitress at Crazy Cousin Betty’s Waffle House, known around town as CCB’s, she was convinced that the small restaurant’s lone square of sparkly blue linoleum was magical. After all, Olivia reasons, she wished for and got the prom date of her dreams while standing on the square, didn’t she?

But the magic doesn’t seem to work when it comes to Tobias, CCB’s short order cook, who makes the world’s best waffles and ignores that Olivia’s in love with him. After suffering from years of lonely pining, Olivia finally blurts out the truth and is rebuffed. Her humiliation has led her to decide to leave Nodaway Falls and all of its memories and friends behind and head for Europe, but before Olivia can pack her bags and climb onto that plane for Scotland, she finds herself embroiled in an odd mystery: How is it that no one bothered to tell her that she is one of the Magicals and capable of daylight magic? True, her talent, which is turning objects into sweet woodland animals, does seem a bit useless, but once she discovers the secrets long hidden by her late mother, Olivia’s world goes topsy-turvy and she finds that almost everyone in her life is different from her perception of them. March weaves an uncommon romance around a likeable cast, while stalwarts like Betty, who says what she thinks, turn out to be better friends than Olivia ever imagined.

Although Olivia’s fierce refusal to succumb to common sense is at times exasperating, March’s story is original, funny and much more satisfying than the standard girlmeets-boy story. (First printing of 100,000. Agent: Stephanie Rostan)

RUST

Mars, Julie Permanent Press (294 pp.) $28.00 | Feb. 1, 2012 978-1-57962-226-8 When her New York options seem to run out, artist Margaret Shaw heads to New Mexico to remake her work and her life.

Margaret has given up on New York.

Although she acknowledges that her inability to break into the art world is partly due to her thin skin—the legacy of her parents’ abandonment more than 30 years before—this failure weighs on her. At 37 she packs up the most portable of her paintings and her dog Magpie and heads west. She seeks space, a new beginning and the chance to trade in her paints for sculpture. A rusty lock, found on the beach, is her totem, and once settled into a

kirkusreviews.com

|

“For readers of a philosophical bent, appreciative of slowly unfolding, elegant tales, this will be a pleasure.” from perlmann’s silence

rundown adobe house, she begins her search for someone who can teach her how to weld. Her appearance at Rico Garcia’s garage is a revelation for them both. As the unhappily married Rico teaches Margaret the secrets of metal, the wounds of both their past lives are revealed. It’s a complex relationship, complicated by their mutual desire, but as he comes to terms with his violent family she begins to open up. Meanwhile, half a world away, Margaret’s father reappears and begins to take small steps toward re-entering the world. As in her previous work (Anybody, Any Minute, 2008, etc.), Mars focuses on the new start—a woman’s rediscovery of herself after she moves, rather impulsively, to a new place. Along the way the author writes of the dusty landscape as well as the almost-barren emotional landscape of her two main characters. At times the tone is stilted, almost formal, but the overall effect is incantatory, transforming the hard-luck story of two ordinary people into something magical.

An inspiring, offbeat story of an artist who trusts her instincts and finds herself regaining her life.

SPIN

McKenzie, Catherine Harper/HarperCollins (432 pp.) $14.99 paperback | Feb. 7, 2012 978-0-06-211535-5 Sent to rehab incognito to get the scoop on a celebrity in distress, flaky Kate starts to clean up her own act, in a snappily phrased but mechanically composed entertainment.

Kate Sandford, 30, an unattached underachieving music journalist, is offered an interview for the job of a lifetime at music magazine The Line, but her weakness for partying leads to a spectacular act of self-sabotage. Then comes a second chance: The Line’s sister paper Gossip Central needs someone to go undercover for a month at the Cloudspin Oasis where self-destructive young actress Amber Sheppard is secretly undergoing rehab, and Kate gets the gig. McKenzie has a nice line in throwaway remarks and Jiminy Cricket inner voices, but her storytelling lacks crescendo and Kate has no back story until she starts to change under the effects of detox and therapy.

Guilty about deceiving Amber, increasingly aware of past mistakes, reunited with her family and attracted to a sexy nonaddict, Kate looks to be growing a conscience. Once out in the world again, will she manage to live up to her new standards?

Burdened by its length, downbeat scenario of deceit and addiction and feel of existing in a vacuum, this chicklit tale fails to achieve lift off.

|

PERLMANN’S SILENCE

Mercier, Pascal Translated by Whiteside, Shaun Grove (624 pp.) $25.00 | Jan. 1, 2012 978-0-8021-1957-5

A slow-moving portrait of grief and dislocation by the author of the fastmoving Night Train to Lisbon (2007).

The Perlmann of the present novel— Swiss author Mercier’s first book, published in German in 1995—is a German linguist, the master of several languages, who has recently lost his wife and, with her, his interest in much of anything that has to do with his former life. Once he had been passionately committed to the world of language and the mind, even disengaging from his parents over their insistence on speaking their native Plattdeutsch (“they were increasingly led simply by the phrases and metaphors of the dialect, and by the prejudices that were crystallized in it”).

Now Perlmann hangs around his apartment, avoiding the work he is supposed to be doing. All that changes when, at one of the conferences Perlmann still constantly attends, an Italian linguist, now employed by industry, recruits him to become part of a think tank of scholars devoted to questions of how language affects mind and vice versa. Perlmann finds himself out of his element in the political jockeying of the para-academic group, where battles of one-upmanship are played out with cigarette packs (this is Europe, after all, and everyone smokes); moreover, he’s frozen when he finds himself called on to deliver a keynote address, finally turning in desperation to the work of an unsung scholar that he thinks he can pass off as his own. Plagiarism thus hatched, Perlmann breathes a little easier—until, that is, he learns that the source of his stealing has scraped up the rubles necessary to travel to the conference. Writes Mercier, “There was only one thing he hadn’t thought about: that Leskov was a flesh-and-blood human being with his own will and pride.”

The setup is worthy of a David Lodge or Malcolm Bradbury, but Mercier lacks the humor of either of those English satirists; instead, the novel settles into a kind of slow funk, the literary equivalent of moping, as Perlmann wrestles with what to do next, surprised by his own torpor and reluctance.

But for readers of a philosophical bent, appreciative of slowly unfolding, elegant tales, this will be a pleasure.

(Agent: Gesche Wendebourg)

kirkusreviews.com

|

fiction

|

1 january 2012

|

2381

LIVING PROOF

Peikoff, Kira Tor (368 pp.) $24.99 | Feb. 28, 2012 978-0-7653-2930-1 Stem-cell research and big government’s intrusion into everyday lives take center stage in a debut novel by journalist Peikoff.

Arianna is a physician and fertility specialist who operates a New York clinic that specializes in implanting harvested embryos in women who have been unable to get pregnant by conventional means.

The year is 2027 and Arianna’s one of many medical-clinic operators terrified of a shadowy government agency known as the DEP, or the New York Department of Embryo Preservation, a super-right-wing effort to ascertain that embryos are legally protected from misuse, which includes research. Clinic operators like Arianna must endure monthly embryo counts from the agency’s armed representatives, who have the power to exact huge fines and worse consequences from those who violate their rules. Trent Rowe, an inspector with the DEP, suspects that something is off with Arianna’s clinic, and his boss, Dopp, wants the evidence. The DEP’s survival could depend on a welltimed investigation, and Dopp instructs Trent to go undercover and find the proof that will allow the agency to close Arianna down. Trent, the product of deeply religious parents, manages to insinuate himself into Arianna’s life, eventually finding out her deepest, darkest secret and meeting Sam, her old friend and champion, who works diligently to help her through a personal crisis. But as the man who originally set out to destroy Arianna finds himself increasingly attracted to her, Trent also fights his upbringing and indoctrination by the DEP to view people like her and Sam as the enemy and themselves as the arbiters of right. Peikoff shows a deep understanding of the issues she explores, but she paints the future with a shallow hand, never quite convincing the reader that her version of 2027 is possible.

Her characters, in particular Trent and arch villain Dopp, come off as over-the-top, thoroughly evil and unforgivable, but never interesting enough to justify the reader’s time.

Peikoff may have serious reporting chops, but this book roils with manufactured melodrama and presents a future that comes across as anything but plausible.

GIDEON’S CORPSE

Preston, DouglasChild, Lincoln Grand Central Publishing (368 pp.) $26.99 | Jan. 10, 2012 978-0-446-564373 When a scientist from Los Alamos’ nuclear weapon Stockpile Stewardship Team endures a nasty divorce, converts to a jihad religion and then takes hostages in the borough of Queens, it should 2382

|

1 january 2012

|

fiction

|

be no surprise that he’s radioactive.­­That nightmarish scenario opens the new Preston and Child (Gideon’s Sword, 2011, etc.) action-adventure. Dr. Gideon Crews, a Los Alamos physicist reluctantly in service to the mysterious Effective Engineering Solutions, is quickly co-opted into the multi-agency investigation attempting to locate the nuclear weapon supposedly built by the rogue scientist.

The ESS’s shadowy head, Eli Glinn, assigns Crews to work with Stone Fordyce, a cappuccino-swilling FBI agent liaising with NEST, the federal Nuclear Emergency Support Team. The mismatched pair examine the radiation-poisoned stand-off scene, eavesdrop on radio chatter, discover the site where a bomb was apparently assembled and then escape New York City ahead of the nuclear terrorism panic. They head to Santa Fe and Los Alamos, with a side trip to the mountain lair of a Branch Davidian-like cult, a compound from which the two escape after a bizarre fencing duel involving cattle prods and chain saws. They meet an Italian-American iman, face deadly sabotage as they follow another lead, and then things come a cropper for Crews when jihadist rantings and compromising emails are discovered on his computer. Fordyce and the federal alphabet agencies now suspect Crews too is a terrorist.

What follows is a cinematic chase around Los Alamos, with movie set pyrotechnics, hidden tunnels under the nuclear laboratory and outlandish mountaintop escapes from dogs and helicopters, with Crews one step ahead of his pursuers while dragging along Alida Blaine, daughter of a bestselling novelist, as hostage turned accomplice. Like the investigators “drowning in false leads, red herrings, and conspiracy theories,” the novel is slow to get underway but once Crews is accused, the action zigzags like an out-of-control rocket toward a double-deceptive conclusion.

With sufficient Crews back story to give new readers the low-down, the authors adhere to a winning formula.

THE POSSIBILITY OF YOU

Redmond, Pamela Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster (368 pp.) $15.00 paperback | Feb. 28, 2012 978-1-4516-1642-2 Separated by decades, three women face difficult choices about motherhood.

Redmond (Babes in Captivity, 2004, etc.) keeps her heroines’ stories separate for most of the novel, but readers will decipher the heavy-handed connections early on. Present-day Cait, now in her 30s, has been raised lovingly by her adoptive parents, middle-class, suburban Catholics. When she finds herself pregnant and in love with a fellow journalist she’s met while searching for a missing child—unbelievably sensitive Martin is married but his wife is a shrew and may be cheating on him too—she decides she must find her birth mother. In 1976 California, 19-year-old Billie is orphaned when her drugged-out father dies, but she finds letters that lead her to her wealthy grandmother Maude, a selfish but charming old woman dependent on her housekeeper Bridget. Billie moves into Maude’s

kirkusreviews.com

|

Manhattan mansion as Maude’s heir. She also begins to sleep with her African-American bisexual best friend Jupe. When she gets pregnant, medical student Jupe says he’s not ready to have a baby. Billie gives birth, suffers postpartum depression, is disowned by racist Maude and leaves the baby girl with Bridget. In 1916, Bridget is a newly arrived Irish nanny caring for Maude’s first son. A former Ziegfeld girl now married to a wealthy Jewish candy manufacturer, Maude runs in a suffragette circle and pays little attention to her baby, but when he dies suddenly she is distraught. Bridget is her main support, but Bridget is being wooed

by George, Maude’s former chauffeur. Maude fires Bridget when she becomes pregnant and marries George. After his death in World War I, Bridget and her son are penniless. Maude takes her back on the condition that she can raise Bridget’s son as her own.

By the time modern Cait has her baby, she is in the bosom of her family, genetic and adoptive.

The message is not subtle: Adoption is good, abortion should be a legal choice but is basically bad, men can be nice but are basically irrelevant.

|

150 POUNDS

Rockland, Kate Dunne/St. Martin’s (336 pp.) $24.99 | Jan. 17, 2012 978-0-312-57601-1 Two 20-something bloggers consider American women’s love/hate relationship with food in this amusing second novel from Rockland.

The story opens on the set of Oprah as Alexis (author of the Skinny Chick blog) and Shoshana (of Fat and Fabulous fame) are about to weigh in on weight. Shoshana’s blog advocates that a healthy self-esteem and healthy diet are all women need to feel good about themselves, no matter the dress size. She’s over 200 pounds, and her millions of followers, called Fatties, like her just the way she is. Alexis, barely 100 pounds, writes about America’s alarming obesity epidemic and dictates everyone should count their calories and burn their buns. After the

kirkusreviews.com

|

fiction

|

1 january 2012

|

2383

“A thriller unusual in its concept, combining politics with an alternate reality.” from the mirage

explosive TV appearance, the two part ways and don’t meet again until a year later at the end of the novel. In the meantime, both Shoshana and Alexis come to realize that their fanaticism stems from…issues. Alexis, proud of her tart bitchiness, lives with her best friend Billy. While Billy is flamboyant and fun, Alexis lives a life controlled by weight—she weighs her food, herself, the value of others. She exercises at the crack of dawn to keep her whippet-like figure, but all that flies out the window when she meets Noah, a gorgeous, funny chef.

Noah reminds her of her dead brother, and Alexis allows herself to be happy again. Less fragile than Alexis, Shoshana’s life changes when she inherits an old farmhouse and orchard. She befriends her eccentric Irish neighbor and begins restoring the property, with an eye to a new business venture. With all that manual labor, Shoshana begins to drop the pounds while pregnant Alexis begins to put them on, and the two meet in the middle. Occasionally the language lacks polish (“Shoshana had beautiful, stunning hair”) but Rockland’s study of the two women is fresh and enjoyable.

Skinny chicks, chubby gals and all in between will connect to this perennially favorite female subject: how much a body should weigh. (Agent: Ryan Fischer-Harbage)

THE MIRAGE

Ruff, Matt Harper/HarperCollins (432 pp.) $25.99 | Feb. 7, 2012 978-0-06-197622-3 A thriller unusual in its concept, combining politics with an alternate reality.

No attacks occur on Sept. 11. The real tragedy happens on Nov. 9, 2001, when terrorists from the Christian States of America (CSA) attack the twin towers in Baghdad. The world is turned upside down and inside out, with the United Arab States (UAS) being the world’s dominant power and America a fragmented collection of countries that include the Republic of Texas. The UAS invades and conquers the CSA, but captured prisoners bring rumors that everything the Arabs see is a mirage, that the true superpower is America.

Some even claim that “God loves America, not Arabia.” Reallife characters show up aplenty but are cast in unexpected lights. Timothy McVeigh and Osama bin Laden, for example, are warriors for the good guys, but at least Saddam Hussein is still a thug. Readers have someone to root for in conventional thrillers, but that is lacking here. Much detail mirrors the West we know, an approach that starts out looking clever but quickly becomes too cute—Gaddafi claiming to have invented the Internet; a Six Flags Hanging Gardens theme park; and a series of self-help books including Christianity for the Ignorant. Germany is a Jewish state, while Palestine belongs to the Arabs. The UAS is a largely tolerant place, where one character even says, “Hey, it’s a free country.” Another shrugs off the revelation that someone is gay, as if no one cares in the UAS. A few characters, including the heroine named Amal, risk their 2384

|

1 january 2012

|

fiction

|

lives to determine the truth—is their whole world an illusion?

The writing is good, but the characters are hard to care about and the plot doesn’t feel properly resolved.

Not bad, but it won’t give you the willies. (Author appearances in Portland, San Francisco and Seattle. Agent: Melanie Jackson)

THAT DEADMAN DANCE

Scott, Kim Bloomsbury (368 pp.) $25.00 | Mar. 1, 2012 978-1-60819-705-7

British settlers and native Aborigines tussle over whales, disease and each other’s rights in mid-19th-century Australia.

The hero of the third novel by the Australian Scott (True Country, 1993, etc.) is Bobby Wabalanginy, a young Aborigine. His intelligence and youthful pliability make him an attractive ally to the increasing numbers of British settlers in the 1830s who are looking to establish whaling ports on Australia’s southwest coast. But the alliance is uneasy: Each group suffers from a lack of immunity to the other’s illnesses, and racism is strong, particularly on the British side. Bobby bridges a few gaps by learning English, helping settlers out of scrapes and serving as a sort of right-hand-man to Dr. Cross, one of the colony’s first leaders. Inevitably, though, the detente doesn’t last: Once the kindly Dr. Cross dies, power struggles ensue among a new governor and the Aborigine tribal elders.

Grimly enough, Scott’s writing is at it best when there’s bloodshed: He crafts deft, exciting scenes about the visceral chaos of whaling, and a set piece in which Bobby witnesses the murder of black slaves shows how readily casual racism shifts into violence. But the book feels ungainly overall, suffering from a scruffy, episodic style that often sets particular plot changes in motion but gives them little dramatic weight. The point of view shifts often, and when the focus is Bobby, the chapters gain an even more distancing mythological sheen, making him more a symbol for the unsteadiness of British-Aborigine relations than a character in his own right. (Some scenes that place Bobby with the young daughter of the settlement’s governor set up a provocative flirtation, but little is done with it.) The novel’s closing anti-rhetoric is honorable but familiar.

A few powerful scenes, but despite its research a mostly uninspiring trip to what promised to be a more dramatic era.

kirkusreviews.com

|

IN-FLIGHT ENTERTAINMENT Stories

Simpson, Helen Knopf (176 pp.) $24.00 | Feb. 21, 2012 978-0-307-59558-4

Short and sharp, the latest stories from the award-winning British author are as pointed as ever, with many of them pointed toward imminent ecological disaster.

After establishing her reputation with domestic vignettes, Simpson (In the Driver’s Seat, 2007, etc.) has more of a global scope with this collection (first published in England in 2010).

She tips her hand with the opening title story, which concerns a politically complacent man who has been upgraded to first class, where the pampering temporarily soothes the disturbance he’s felt from the delays of his flight. Yet he finds himself engaged in a debate over global warming (and the role air travel plays in this) and confronting his own mortality, through another, older passenger’s revelation of “the other Mile High Club.” That sense of mortality permeates these stories, as if the “flight” in the title were the passage from birth to death, the “entertainment” the diversions that occupy our lives, distracting us from the fact that “the world is melting and you don’t care.” In “The Tipping Point,” an academic loses his lover to her environmental concerns, to what he dismisses as her “quasi-mystical accusatory ecospeak about the planet.” “Geography Boy” is a classic Eros vs. Thanatos update, as the ardent romanticism of a fellow student can’t shake a young woman’s sense of environmental, apocalyptic doom. “Diary of an Interesting Year” takes the reader past that apocalypse, to the year 2040, when the diarist turns 30 (and thus would have been born when the story was written), and a prophetic scold’s warning—”The earth has enough for everyone’s need, but not for everyone’s greed”—has presaged a future of rats, cholera and the collapse of the Internet. On the lighter side, there’s “Ahead of the Pack,” in which a self-proclaimed “zeitgeisty sort of person” makes a corporate pitch for investors to capitalize on global warming.

Not every story has an environmental undercurrent, but it’s hard to miss the warning in the collection as a whole.

DARK SIDE OF VALOR

Singleton, Alicia Strebor/Simon & Schuster (320 pp.) $15.00 paperback | Feb. 7, 2012 978-1-59309-385-3 A well-paced novel of suspense that veers into romance and ends like a thriller.

Lelia Freeman once lived the life of a child in the ghetto and knows firsthand the dangers of growing up in an urban jungle. Now as a strong-willed and confident adult, she works for ChildSafe, an organization dedicated |

to rescuing runaway and endangered children. Men in the hood want to draw her into drugs and prostitution, but she steers clear. Then the smooth-talking President Deng of Sudania visits America and is attracted to Lelia because of her local fame. The next thing she knows, his lackeys kidnap her and take her to his African nation to be one of his slaves. Meanwhile, Elijah Dune wants to kill her because he mistakenly holds her responsible for the death of his daughter. The plot is fun, even though the level of suspense doesn’t hold all the way through and the ending is reminiscent of the deus ex machina quality of the ancient Greek plays. Lelia will elicit the reader’s sympathy, while lesser characters are well-drawn and often burst with colorful dialect.

Yes, one character calls Lelia “sweet cheeks” far too many times, but the other dialogue works well. Many of Singleton’s similes are delicious, such as “The muggy, humid air squeezed around her like a size-too-small bra.” The pacing is right for this type of story, with plenty of short, snappy lines, although she overdoes the short, declarative sentences. The sentence fragments, too.

The story could easily have been much darker and hard-edged, but Singleton nicely leavens the tale with occasional touches of humor. Profanity is sparse and mild, the violence is not graphic, and the sex is PG at most.

By no means perfect the book is an enjoyable tale that is well worth a few hours of the reader’s time.

THE HAUNTING OF MADDY CLARE

St. James, Simone New American Library (336 pp.) $14.00 paperback | Mar. 6, 2012 978-0-4512-3568-8 Sarah Piper, a self-proclaimed modern woman living in London, finds herself living a ghost story in this post–World War I tale.

A temp agency offers Sarah a job with a mysterious, handsome writer, Alistair Gellis, who carries scars from the recent Great War. His postwar passion finds him writing travel books—as dry and academic as he can make them—about various haunted sites in England, but his interest is piqued by the case of a haunted barn in the small village of Waringstoke; a young maidservant hanged herself in her employer’s barn and has been making mischief and threats ever since, most recently terrorizing a local vicar when he is called to perform an exorcism. According to her former employer, Mrs. Clare, Maddy, the ghost, hates men, so if Alistair is to verify the haunting for his next book, Sarah will have to confront the angry spirit. Feeling adrift in her life and intrigued

by Alistair’s company, Sarah agrees to the job, embarking on a terrifying journey into the damaged psyche of Maddy Clare.

Capable of manipulating her environment and producing hallucinations, Maddy is not resting quietly. Not only must Sarah and Matthew Ryder, Alistair’s tough and war-scarred friend, race to discover the truth behind Maddy’s life and death, they are soon caught up in Maddy’s troubling obsession with Alistair.

Through fog, darkness, nightmares and fire, Sarah and Matthew

kirkusreviews.com

|

fiction

|

1 january 2012

|

2385

BY BLOOD

fight to save their friend while also succumbing to their own heated attraction. Along the way, they meet all the mysterious figures one would hope to find in a small English town: the brash new-money aristocrat and his unhappy, beautiful wife; the distrustful gravedigger; the man who watches outside Sarah’s window. And of course, Maddy, the one who connects them all and is either seeking peace—or revenge.

A chilling start gives way to a more predictable ending, but fans of the modern Gothic novel will enjoy filling up a few creepy hours.

OTHER PEOPLE WE MARRIED

Straub, Emma Riverhead (224 pp.) $15.00 paperback | Feb. 7, 2012 978-1-59448-606-7 Psychologically acute, often very funny and only occasionally glib, these stories show great promise, though a few of the dozen in this debut collection are almost as slight as the best are compelling.

Straub writes predominantly from the perspective of a youngish woman in New York (where she lives and works as a bookseller) and often in the first person, though these narratives seem to transcend the thinly disguised memoir of so much fledgling fiction. Certain motifs seem signature. Many of the stories have a coming-of-age quality to them, though the “girls” who are experiencing these rites of passage might be well into their 20s or 30s, and some are even mothers. Like Franny, the unhappily married (or at least unfulfilled, for happiness may be beyond the emotional range of so many of Straub’s characters) protagonist of three of these stories: “She still thought she was a cow with her leftover baby weight and yet insisted on wearing those stupid pigtails all young mothers seem to think it’s their right to wear, as if they were all waiting, gasping, praying for someone to say, Oh, you! You can’t be the mother of this child! You couldn’t possibly be old enough!” In addition to arrested development, or a post-adolescence that extends into what was once considered middle age, a surprising number of these stories find two (or more) characters on vacation, or in a state of dislocation, a place where either the relationship changes or they (or at least one of them) discovers what has been wrong all along. They must, as Franny discovers in the pre-marriage “Pearls,” where her friendship with her very different roommate briefly turns romantic. In the first-person opening story, “Some People Must Really Fall in Love,” a young teacher in the grip of what she considers an inappropriate infatuation with a student tells her freshman class that “stories didn’t have to have morals at the end.” And many of these stories are left comparatively openended, rich in interpretive possibility.

A fresh voice from a writer who deserves discovery.

2386

|

1 january 2012

|

fiction

|

Ullman, Ellen Farrar, Straus and Giroux (384 pp.) $27.00 | Mar. 6, 2012 978-0-374-11755-9 After two well-received books suggested that the author was a great writer for a computer programmer, she makes a big leap here, with a rich, taut, psychologically nuanced novel that has nothing

to do with computers.

Ullman first earned praise for her memoir Close to the Machine (2001), about her experiences as a female programmer in the formative years of Silicon Valley, and followed that with an ambitious, Kafkaesque debut novel, The Bug (2003), which also drew from her experiences in computer-human interface.

Nine years later, her second novel thematically interweaves fate, identity, obsession and genetics into a propulsive pageturner that shows a profound understanding of character. It’s a multilayered mystery (in the same way that Dostoyevsky was a mystery writer) and an inquiry into the subjective nature of narrative—how the story and the storyteller reflect each other.

Set in San Francisco during the 1970s of Patty Hearst and the Zodiac killer, the novel finds its obsessive, perhaps delusional narrator making a “hasty departure from the university,” taking leave during an investigation into murky charges (“Creep.

Letch. Pervert. That’s what the students...had called me.”). He rents an office in a very weird building (at least in his mind), where his unsuspecting neighbor is a therapist whose sessions with one patient the professor can hear clearly. The patient is a lesbian who seems mismatched with her partner, as well as with her adoptive family. The therapist (for mysterious reasons of her own) encourages the patient to explore the mysteries of her bloodline, for whatever resolution the discovery of her birth parents can reveal. The patient, the therapist and the professor each have stories to tell and secrets to reveal, extending back to the Holocaust, as the probing of “genetic fate” ensnares the eavesdropping professor “in the spider’s web of compulsion.”

A first-rate literary thriller of compelling psychological and philosophical depth.

THE QUALITY OF MERCY

Unsworth, Barry Talese/Doubleday (336 pp.) $26.95 | Jan. 10, 2012 978-0-385-53477-2

Unsworth returns to themes of greed and human rights in this potent sequel to his 1992 Booker Prize–winning novel Sacred Hunger.

Set in 1767, two years after that epic novel on the British slave trade, this is a slimmer, somewhat less ambitious book. But it still has plenty of

kirkusreviews.com

|

“The latest installment in the Pink Carnation historical romantic suspense series is as fresh and charming as its floral theme.” from the garden intrigue

intellectual heft; Unsworth remains obsessed with exploring the rationalizations and conditional ethics that permit elites to abuse laborers. Erasmus Kemp, one of the lead characters of Sacred Hunger, returns here with two ambitions: to receive financial compensation from the slaves lost on his father’s ship, and to acquire a coal mine that survives in part on the backs of child labor. Kemp is on the wrong side of history in both cases, but Unsworth doesn’t apply the modern reader’s moral certainties to his characters. For instance, Kemp’s legal adversary is Frederick Ashton, an avowed abolitionist, but Ashton bristles at the notion of equality among races; he simply wants black slaves to be free to return to their homelands. A series of lighter subplots run under that main dispute. Sullivan, a crew member from the Kemp family’s slave ship, escapes from prison and goes on a picaresque Grand Tour of England’s underclass; Michael Bordon, born into a mining family, considers a way to acquire his family’s freedom; and Kemp attempts to woo Ashton’s sister, even though their politics diverge. Unsworth’s knowledge of British history, from abolitionism to mining to courts and commerce, is assured and convincing, as is his ear for dialect; his characters’ places on the class ladder become explicit whenever they speak. The novel’s closing pages feel thinner as Unsworth ties together various plot threads, but the message about how much effort is required to effect social justice never feels didactic or unearned.

A sturdy historical novel with fewer pages than Sacred Hunger but no less nuance.

THE FOURTH WALL

Williams, Walter Jon Orbit/Little, Brown (416 pp.) $13.99 paperback | Feb. 13, 2012 978-0-316-13339-5 Another tale about AR (augmented reality) games designer Dagmar Shaw (Deep State, 2011, etc).

Present-tense narrator Sean Makin, a highly successful child actor whose parents stole all his money, is now reduced to near-penury, alcoholism and appearances on Celebrity Pitfighter, a reality-TV show wherein washed-up actors like Sean duke it out.

Until he meets Dagmar Shaw. Dagmar, six months pregnant, has a project in the works, Escape to Earth, part movie, part serial, part game, in which Roheen, an anthropologist from another dimension, is stranded on Earth by evil beings and, in a globe-spanning series of adventures, enlists smart, youthful allies to help him try and get home. Sean is perfect for the part because his condition, pedomorphosis, has given him a huge baby-like head and freakishly long arms and legs. Sean grabs the opportunity, promises not to drink and even welcomes Joey da Nova, Dagmar’s has-been director, with whom Sean once worked well (and about whom he holds a guilty secret). Everything’s perfect for Sean—until somebody tries to kill him. Worse, members of the production team are being murdered. Sean begins to wonder about Dagmar, whose secretiveness seems extreme even for Hollywood, and her backer, a shadowy Indian businessman who made billions from |

information technology, and if he can stay alive long enough to figure out what else is going on. Despite his guilty secrets, Sean’s an enormously appealing protagonist, while the tightly woven, expertly pitched narrative brims with Southern California ambience and in-depth knowledge of movies, games, surveillance and information. So it comes as only a small disappointment that the resolution of the murder mystery is a bust.

Williams and Dagmar fans will rejoice, and it should attract the near-futurists and techno-thriller crowd as well.

THE GARDEN INTRIGUE

Willig, Lauren Dutton (400 pp.) $25.95 | Feb. 16, 2012 978-0-525-95254-1

The latest installment in the Pink Carnation historical romantic suspense series is as fresh and charming as its floral theme.

Emma Delagardie has a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. A young American who ran away with a scientifically minded older Frenchman, the petite blonde now plays the merry widow in Paris, hosting visiting countrymen and affecting a fashionable giddiness she does not feel. A friend of Napoleon’s stepdaughter, she’s recruited to create a masque for the soon-to-be Emperor at his country chateau of Malmaison. What she doesn’t know is that her collaborator, and crush, the foppish poet Augustus Whittlesby, is actually an agent for the notorious British spy, Jane Wooliston (aka, the Pink Carnation), for whom he also feels an unrequited passion.

Or that her American buddy, Robert Fulton, is not only working on a steamboat but also a tactical weapon that could allow Napoleon to invade England. Between Whittlesby’s interest in Wooliston and Napoleon’s in Fulton, Emma doesn’t seem to stand much of a chance. But true hearts always win out in this delightful series, and this ninth installment holds true to Willig’s (The Orchid Affair, 2011, etc.) principles that the female characters should be as involved in the swashbuckling espionage as their love interests. Meanwhile, the modern framing device has a film crew invading historic Selwick Hall, and a job offer back in the U.S. threatening grad student Eloise Kelly’s fledgling romance with the smoldering Colin. It may be hard to worry overmuch, but the adventure is worth the ride—and this smart and funny installment concludes with the promise of more suspense (and a treasure hunt) in books to come.

A reliable romp through Napoleon’s court, filled with romance and yet another adorable and very active heroine.

kirkusreviews.com

|

fiction

|

1 january 2012

|

2387

FLATSCREEN

Wilson, Adam Perennial/HarperCollins (352 pp.) $14.99 paperback | Feb. 21, 2012 978-0-06-209033-1 A frequently funny subversion of the coming-of-age story, though there’s a pervasive sadness underlying the comic.

This promising debut novel sustains itself through the strength of its voice—the first-person narration of Eli Schwartz and the distinctive voice of author Wilson. A pudgy, jobless, stay-at-home 20-year-old with a passion for cooking and an ambivalence toward sex, Eli describes himself as “a glorified townie without the glory. No rugged good looks or blue-collar gas-station-employee pride. No fading memory of a football career. No greaser girlfriend, legs thick and strong like the twin pistons on my (nonexistent) restored Camaro.” Eli might easily be described as a loser and a stoner, but the novel seduces the reader into identifying with him, caring about him, rather than treating him (as some others do) as an object of ridicule. “I’m a good soul who’s gone a bit off the deep end,” he explains. His well-to-do father left his mother for a second marriage and family and took his standard of living with him. His older brother left for college, keeping Eli in a claustrophobic relationship with the mother who encourages it (at least until she also discovers life beyond Eli and threatens to leave as well). The plot’s pivotal encounter involves Seymour Kahn, a veteran actor whose roles have diminished because he’s in a wheelchair but whose sexual appetite remains omnivorous. Kahn enters Eli’s life as a surrogate father, potential lover, sexual procurer and/or drug buddy, after he becomes interested in buying the family home that Eli’s mother needs to sell. The repressed, apathetic Eli and the profane, uninhibited Kahn make for an odd couple, though Eli acknowledges, “I’m afraid of becoming Kahn, but part of me knows I’m already Kahn, that he’s the part of me I want to keep away from the world. I think Kahn might be in love with me.” Though the voice is strong and the characters indelible, the author rejects the resolution of a typical rite of passage. Instead, it doesn’t offer much resolution at all (except for Kahn), as Eli conjures 20 possible endings, committing to none.

A book with lots of laughs that’s also very bleak.

ANNE OF HOLLYWOOD

Wolper, Carol Gallery Books/Simon & Schuster (352 pp.) $25.00 | Jan. 24, 2012 978-1-4516-5721-0

Tudors in Tinseltown.

In Wolper’s ambitious mash-up, Anne Boleyn time-travels to Hollywood 2012, where she loses everything but her head to Henry Tudor, entertainment magnate 2388

|

1 january 2012

|

fiction

|

and Internet kingpin. The usual suspects among the original King Henry’s entourage are here: chief henchwoman Theresa (Thomas) Cromwell; crooked financial advisor Carl (Cardinal) Wolsey, discarded older wife Catherine Aragon and her daughter Maren (Princess Mary). When Henry becomes entangled with Anne, a wannabe writer, the liaison is just what her ambitious father Thomas Boleyn is angling for, especially after Anne’s older sister Mary (re-imagined as a pot-smoking hippie) had failed to snare Henry. Captivating the “King” of Hollywood, Anne hopes, will also mean better roles for her actor brother George. Anne and George are close—perhaps a little too close? Theresa’s Webmaster and lackey Cliff acts as both catalyst and cynical observer as the drama unfolds. Catherine’s death (of an overdose caused by sheer absent-mindedness) enables Henry’s second marriage, no Reformation required. The euphoria surrounding Anne’s conquest of Henry and the birth of daughter Elizabeth quickly dissipates when Theresa sees the quirky new “queen” as a liability to Henry’s bid for the governorship of California. True to her alter ego, Theresa spins a web of lies about Anne’s youthful amatory escapades and current relationships with George and with a young singer-songwriter, (Sir Thomas) Wyatt. After Anne miscarries a son, Theresa invites her to lunch, plies her with pinot and engineers her arrest for DUI. Thanks to Cliff and his new hire, gossip-tweeting sociopath Lionel, Anne’s cyber-persona is quickly trashed. When Theresa introduces her friend, San Francisco debutante and dilettante jewelry designer Jane Seymour, whose political connections can revitalize Henry’s campaign, it’s all over for Anne. Although the conceit is fun, the excitement palls as quickly as the royal romance.

Henry’s Hollywood hegemony is never believable: Tudor travails simply do not translate well to a time and place where power, however heady, is less than absolute.

Still, a worthy and at times witty effort.

THE GOLDEN HOUR

Wurtele, Margaret New American Library (320 pp.) $15.00 paperback | Feb. 7, 2012 978-0-451-23708-8 In Wurtele’s first novel a foolish young Italian girl matures into a caring woman and develops political awareness during World War II. The daughter of wealthy Tuscan estate owners whose home has largely been requisitioned by German officers, Giovanna Bellini is a pampered 17-year-old during the German occupation in 1943. Having graduated from the local Catholic academy, she grudgingly helps the nuns tutor refugee children. Although her older brother Giorgio has run away to join the resistance, she also begins a flirtation with Klaus, a married German officer who she notes is an engineer and not a member of the SS. Wurtele meticulously delineates Giovanna’s giddy crush on Klaus, as well as her conflicting self-justification and guilt while purposely keeping Klaus’ motives ambiguous so that as events unfold the reader never knows his role—despite the sense of responsibility Giovanna assumes. After a nun catches

kirkusreviews.com

|

the two having a rendezvous and tells Giovanna’s parents, she arranges one last assignation during which Klaus gets angry when she breaks things off. Meanwhile Giorgio enlists her help in smuggling food and supplies to the partisans. Her work is supposed to be secret, yet she involves an ever-widening circle of friends in the effort. Incredibly, none leaks a word to the enemy. Through Giorgio she meets Mario, an injured partisan who shares a similar upper-class Italian background except that he happens to be Jewish. Giovanna, already doubting that she wants the conventional, safe life her loving but narrow-minded parents expect for her, becomes aware of her own ignorance about the plight of Italian Jews and of her own father’s self-serving if genteel anti-Semitism.

Mario’s injury becomes infected. With help from an unexpected source, she finds him a safe hiding place to recover, then steals him life-saving penicillin from the secret clinic run by a neighboring marchesa, Giovanna’s moral mentor. Love also blossoms, the American forces approach, but risks remain high.

Giovanna is a wonderful character full of human contradictions, but the novel bogs down once she becomes a conventional noble heroine.

OBEDIENCE

Yallop, Jacqueline Penguin (288 pp.) $15.00 paperback | Jan. 31, 2012 978-0-14-312067-4 A nun falls from grace in Occupied France, and the ripples extend across generations and decades, in the measured U.S. debut of a perceptive British writer.

Pieced together like a mosaic, Yallop’s deceptively low-key, sometimesoblique story of confused passion proceeds at its own thoughtful pace. Its world is a convent in an unnamed French village, its timescale more than half a century, starting during World War II when 30-year-old Sister Bernard is ruined by her affair with a German soldier. In her blind rapture, she gives him the name of a Resistance figure, thereby bringing torture and death to the small community. Later she gives birth to a boy. Many years afterward, now in her 90s, Sister Bernard is one of a handful of nuns leaving the convent as it closes. Although her shameful past still lives on in the collective memory, her life is about hoping to hear again the voice of God, once a constant accompaniment, and waiting for the visit of a newly discovered relative.

Blessed or cursed, Sister Bernard spends her final days reaching for her God while still inextricably devoted to her distant lover.

Intense, sometimes to the point of delirium, Yallop’s exploration of the space between innocence and guilt, of complicity and delusion has a lingering power for readers prepared to be patient.

|

m ys t e r y QUEEN WITHOUT A CROWN

Buckley, Fiona Creme de la Crime (240 pp.) $28.95 | Feb. 1, 2012 978-1-78029-014-0

A Lady of the Bedchamber for Queen Elizabeth I wishes to give up her role as a spy, but circumstances force her back into action.

Ursula Blanchard has married for the third time. But her newfound happiness is threatened by the financial dealings of Hugh Stannard, her latest husband. Then Mark Easton comes to her begging for help. His beloved’s family refuses her permission to marry him because of his father Gervase, who’s been widely considered a murderer ever since he committed suicide. Bolstered by generous funding from Mark, Ursula starts to investigate the longago poisoning of a rival for the affections of Mark’s mother. In the meantime, the Queen is not about to let Ursula, who is her bastard half sister, forget her obligations at a time when Elizabeth’s enemies in Scotland and the north country are looking for ways to replace her with Mary Queen of Scots. Their interests happily coincide when Ursula’s search for a portrait that may help to prove Gervase innocent takes her to the very area where Elizabeth wants her to investigate traitors. Ursula and her loyal escort travel through a bitter-cold winter landscape to homes that may house both traitors and the elusive portrait.

Fans of Buckley’s long string of clever historical suspensers featuring the resourceful Ursula (The Siren Queen, 2004, etc.) won’t be disappointed.

MOTHER LOVE

Carter, Maureen Creme de la Crime (224 pp.) $28.95 | Feb. 1, 2012 978-1-78029-008-9 A missing woman reignites the fires of animosity between an icy detective and a scheming reporter.

Elizabeth Kent senses something isn’t right when her usually doting daughter Olivia is out of touch. Following up with the school where Olivia teaches, she’s told that Olivia has taken an unanticipated break—something Olivia never mentioned to her. Once DI Sarah Quinn shows up at Elizabeth’s door and starts asking questions, Elizabeth knows for certain that something must be wrong. The DI’s department has received a letter implying that Olivia’s been involved in some sort of kidnapping, and the tough detective is determined to find her before she comes to a bad end, assuming that she’s even still alive.

kirkusreviews.com

|

mystery

|

1 january 2012

|

2389

k i r ku s q & a w i t h m au r e e n m ch u g h

AFTER THE APOCALYPSE

Maureen McHugh Small Beer Press (264 pp.) $16.00 paperback Nov. 8, 2011 9781931520294

Q: Right, because when you “wipe the slate clean,” you don’t really get to choose what goes and what stays. You have a story where, OK, the worst happened and your teenage daughter is still a pain in the ass, now it’s just harder to find clean water.

S o t h e a p o c a l y p s e h a p p e n e d . An avian disease crossed over to humans due to unsanitary conditions in our factory farms. Or a computer was built so sophisticated and powerful it accidentally became sentient. Or the zombies showed up. Whatever it was, civilization as we know it has ceased to exist. And yet here we are, some of us, and life is less like The Hunger Games and more like any other regular day, with rent to pay and a family to take care of, except with less access to clean water. And now there are zombies.

In Maureen McHugh’s After the Apocalypse, she ends the world again and again, only to find that our humanity stays intact throughout. And by humanity, I mean the more banal parts of human existence, not that inherent heroic nature that comes out in times of crisis, at least in the movies. McHugh imagines a world where corporations take their employees as slaves, prisoners are sent to live in the zombie colonies, and a brain-eating virus kills us through our fast food.

Then there are the inexplicable apocalypses, where things just slowly decay until her characters start packing the car. Her stories are equal parts funny and unsettling, recognizable and extraordinary. She’s been one of my favorite short story writers since her collection Mothers and Other Monsters, which also has a lot of bad things happening to her characters.

I talked to McHugh about why life after the world ends seems so familiar, and whether killing everyone off in her books is an act of catharsis or just plain fun.

A: That is a story that goes to one of my deepest worries. What if I failed a child? It has taken me almost 20 years to get to the point where I could even allow myself to imagine how someone makes the kinds of choices the protagonist of “After the Apocalypse” makes.

I was raised Catholic, and one of the things I was taught was that there are no sins that we are not capable of. I don’t know if that’s true, but I can imagine circumstances where I am capable of most sins. When bad things happen to people, it doesn’t make them better people, it makes them the victim of bad events. Maybe some of them make choices that make them better people. But I am often irritable if I get in my car and I’m supposed to be somewhere in 20 minutes, but I realize I have to stop for gas which will make me late. I can see where my behavior might actually get worse.

On the other hand, I have noticed that life keeps happening even when I would like it to take a few minutes off. Humans have a tendency to keep dealing, no matter how ineptly, for as long as we can.

Q: Was it fun to imagine what will be the end of us, or are these fears you have about where we are heading?

A: Oh, this is all just working out my own fears. In some very vague sense almost every one of these stories is autobiographical. Perhaps “Useless Things” is the one that feels as if I am writing about myself even though I am happily married, financially comfortable, don’t make things and hate to garden. OK, “The Naturalist” is not autobiographical. It might also be the only story I have ever written without a female character in it.

People tell writers to write what they know. But it has always been more valuable for me to write to try to explore the things I don’t know the answers to but that matter to me a lot.

Q: It’s not difficult to figure out why we might be apocalyptically minded these days—one just has to watch the news.

But many of your stories that deal with the aftermath have less to do with usual tales of surviving and battling, and more to do with work, figuring out a way to pay taxes...

Why take a, let’s say, quieter approach to the apocalypse?

A: Apocalypses are fun thought experiments because we envision them wiping the slate clean. Then we get to start over with just the pieces we want. But disasters happen all the time, like the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant disaster. People died. The area was scrubbed to a debris field by the tsunami.

But people didn’t stop being people. They didn’t descend into looting and battling each other. Workers at the Daiichi plant did their jobs as best they could. Executives worried about profits. We have a lot of social inertia, I think. We keep worrying about who we are and how we should act and what people will think of us and what is the right thing to do, even standing in hip boots in radioactive water.

That’s heroic, I think, that stubbornness.

|

1 january 2012

|

fiction

|

kirkusreviews.com

A: I vacillate between optimism and terror. Historically the world has always been just about to end for one damn reason or another and so far it hasn’t. But acidification of the oceans really does keep me up at night.

–By Jessa Crispin

9

Jessa Crispin is the creator and editor-in-chief of Bookslut.com. |

P H OTO BY C AT RI ON A S PA R KS

2390

Q: Have any money on how we’ll all go down? Or do you think we’re too resilient in real life?

“Clare’s latest addition to the magical Aelf Fen series is a wonderful combination of mystery, mysticism and romance with a historical twist.” from the way between worlds

Unfortunately for Sarah, Olivia’s disappearance has also drawn the attention of reporter Caroline King. While the muckraker, who was once close to Sarah, has been at odds with her for a long time, now Caroline is involved at a personal level because Olivia is one of her oldest friends. If the two antagonists can only put aside their differences, they may well solve the mystery before it’s too late, but with these two powerful women, it’s unclear that either will give in.

Carter (A Question of Despair, 2011, etc.) delivers another well-turned procedural, with the Quinn/King relationship better developed than in her last installment.

THE WAY BETWEEN THE WORLDS

Clare, Alys (240 pp.) $28.95 | Feb. 1, 2012 978-0-7278-8097-0

A young girl with strange powers fights the forces of evil.

The time is 1092, and Lassair is studying in Cambridge with the wizard Gurdyman. Suddenly her sleep is disturbed by powerful dreams, an unknown person is calling to her for help and she feels she must return to her village of Aelf Fen to check on her relatives. Nothing is amiss there, but while she is visiting, the family hears that a nun has been murdered. So Lassair sets off to check on her sister, a novice at Chatteris Abbey. Upon her arrival she meets Hrype, a powerful wizard and her aunt’s lover, who warns her of the fanatical priest recently sent to the abbey.

The victim of the ritual killing, it turns out, was her sister’s best friend. Another body has been found, killed in the same way, and her sister looks to be the next victim. In the meantime, Rollo, the handsome spy for the King Lassair met while rescuing her cousin (Mist Over the Water, 2011, etc.), is having a wild adventure in the border country. When the king sends him on another mission, he calls for Lassair’s help in another of her wrenching dreams, and her powers prove to be barely enough to save him from death. Now Lassair, Rollo, Hrypre and Gurdyman must put their talents together to discover a murderer who is far different from what he may appear.

Clare’s latest addition to the magical Aelf Fen series is a wonderful combination of mystery, mysticism and romance with a historical twist.

|

THE EVIL THAT MEN DO

Dams, Jeanne M. Severn House (224 pp.) $28.95 | Feb. 1, 2012 978-0-7278-8090-1

A retired Chief Constable and his American spouse are enjoying the beauties of a holiday in the Cotswolds when they stumble upon a body.

Despite Alan’s Nesbitt’s unofficial status, he and Dorothy Martin are no strangers to sleuthing (A Dark and Stormy Night, 2011, etc.). So it’s no surprise that while they’re staying in a B&B in the picture-perfect English village of Broadway and enjoying hiking the countryside, they find a body in a quarry.

The couple becomes concerned about Paul Jones, a young fellow guest who seems to be in fear of something. Hoping that he has nothing to do with the death of the seemingly blameless farmer, Dorothy decides that they must investigate when Paul vanishes.

The sleuths meet Jo Carter, who claims to be an old family friend of Paul, and eventually learn that the young man, under a different name, is a budding pop star whose family once had to go into hiding to escape from a particularly nasty and abusive ex-husband and stepfather. Paul recognized him but has no idea what name he may be using or whether he even lives in the Cotswolds. Although Paul is eventually found, Jo disappears. Has she too become a victim? Renting a cottage as a base for exploration, the couple takes in a lost and starving dog, who provides a handy excuse to visit outlying farms looking for Jo. Although the police are searching, Dorothy is the one who faces the greatest danger.

Anglophiles and series fans will forgive the fact that Alan and Dorothy spend a lot more time extolling the beauties of the English countryside than solving the crimes.

SHEDDING LIGHT ON MURDER

Driscoll, Patricia Five Star (276 pp.) $25.95 | Jan. 18, 2012 978-1-4328-2553-9

A village busybody investigates a murder.

Grace Tolliver, who thinks her stint as a former California probation officer has taught her to recognize the difference between good guys and bad, relocates to quaint Barnstable on Cape Cod and hires a parolee, Duane Kerbey, when she needs added help for her new venture as owner of Pearl’s Antique Lamps and Shades shop. Unfortunately, when she sends Duane to pick up an item from the home of posh ex-model Danielle Whitney, he finds the glamourpuss dead. Given his past record, it’s no surprise that he’s promptly arrested and charged with murder. Did he do it?

Grace and her other employees, geriatric Bella and ever-so-dapper Michael, think not and begin scurrying for clues. They finger a gigolo, a retired priest, a litigious real estate agent and a jealous best

kirkusreviews.com

|

mystery

|

1 january 2012

|

2391

friend as possible suspects before they run afoul of a drug dealer with orange hair. Grace’s place is burglarized. A trip wire is set on her porch. A threatening letter is left in her shop. Dishy state police detective Andre Cruz stares deeply into Grace’s eyes and begs her to be careful. Nonetheless, she finds herself trussed up in a barn at the mercy of a knife-wielding killer.

Yes, the plot is wispy and the romance tepid, but Driscoll’s debut offers lots of tips on how to decorate lampshades for those who care.

THOSE WHO LOVE NIGHT

Ebersohn, Wessel Minotaur (304 pp.) $24.99 | Jan. 31, 2012 978-0-312-65596-9

Furloughed from her job with South Africa’s Department of Justice, attorney Abigail Bukula is free to go to Zimbabwe for some pro bono work that pays only in adventure, danger and unwelcome romance.

Even though attorney Krisj Patel insists that Tony Makumbe, the headline dissident of the Harare Seven, is actually the cousin Abigail never knew she had, she turns down Patel’s request that she come to Zimbabwe to help him win the release of Tony and the other six.

But when she pushes back against the decision to dissolve the Directorate of Special Operations, where she’s worked very effectively under advocate Gert Pienaar, Abigail’s offered a promotion to the newly formed Directorate of Priority Crimes on the condition that she take a six-month sabbatical leave starting instantly. Since she’s just been tipped off that her wealthy husband, Robert Mokoapi, is cheating on her with his nubile temp, it suddenly seems like a perfect time to leave him behind and go to Zimbabwe, where she’s soon joined by her old friend, Yudel Gordon, who’s also enjoying some time off from his job at C-Max prison. The road to freeing the Seven, Patel informs her, runs through the good offices of Director Jonas Chunga, of the Central Intelligence Organization. Abigail’s not optimistic about dealing with such a powerful man, but Chunga isn’t what she expected. Obviously swept off his feet by her, he presses her for all sorts of intimacies that leave her wondering where her loyalties lie. When Patel is assassinated, however, Chunga, whose motives are anything but straightforward, becomes her only hope.

Looser and more engaging than Abigail’s debut (The October Killings, 2011, etc.), but just as committed in its anatomy of the unending legacy of apartheid.

2392

|

1 january 2012

|

fiction

|

A VINE IN THE BLOOD

Gage, Leighton Soho Crime (304 pp.) $24.00 | Dec. 27, 2011 978-1-61695-004-0

A high-profile kidnapping captures national attention and puts a spotlight on the detectives trying to rescue the victim.

Juraci Santos, the mother of Brazilian soccer superstar Tico Santos, known as “The Artist,” is snatched from her home and dumped into the back seat of a getaway car. Knowing that failure could derail his career, Nelson Sampaio, Director of the Brazilian Federal Police, sends the case to hardboiled Mario Silva (Every Bitter Thing, 2010, etc.). Given the looming FIFA World Cup, which has raised Brazil’s rivalry with Argentina to fever pitch, he recognizes the importance of the case and promises to get Juraci back. The crime scene is far more violent than Silva or his team of detectives, which includes his put-upon nephew Costa, expect. Not only did the intruders shoot Juraci’s two maids to death and break the back of her toy poodle, but one of them poisoned her prize bouganvilleas. A nosy neighbor named Rodolfo saw the kidnappers’ car but, he claims, none of their faces. Flamboyant stylist Jacques Jardin—who has a hot temper, a grudge against Tico and a rap sheet—is quick to implicate Tico’s volatile girlfriend Cintia Tadesco, whose ruinous relationship with French actor Marco Franco should have been a cautionary tale for Tico. There seems to be no dearth of suspects, but there’s also the little matter of rescuing the victim.

A brisk, colorful police thriller with much interesting information about contemporary Brazil.

As usual, the strong and disparate personalities of Silva’s detectives add spice to their fifth case.

FOUR BELOW

Helton, Peter Soho Constable (320 pp.) $25.00 | Jan. 24, 2012 978-1-61695-082-8 A dodgy batch of heroin leads to many murders.

That longtime drug users will die relatively young is to be expected. That their last hit will be laced with anthrax is not. And it gets worse. A sadist is littering Leigh Woods and bicycle paths with severed body parts and thoroughly mashed faces. Bristol CID is overwhelmed not only by the escalating body count but by arctic weather and a cantankerous heating system that leaves the precinct frigid. Assisted by DS Austin, DI Liam McLusky, still fairly new to the area (Falling More Slowly, 2011, etc.), is saddled with sorting through matters, which become yet more complicated when DI Kat Fairfield beds a woman he’s seeing and Denkhaus, his superior, reams him out for irritating a local nabob. Meanwhile, someone is sending the

kirkusreviews.com

|

newspaper snippets of pictures that may well reveal what started the murder spree. Unbeknownst to McLusky, similar snippets are being used to blackmail the brains behind the killings. Adding to the treachery, of course, is all that snow and ice and an interrupted burglary that lands McLusky on crutches.

Helton, who seems to have learned how to hatch plots and evoke threats from studying the adroit Bill James, delivers a gritty procedural with an idiosyncratic hero well worth rooting for.

A PLACE OF SECRETS

Hore, Rachel Henry Holt (400 pp.) $15.00 paperback | Feb. 14, 2012 978-0-8050-9449-7 A research job in Norfolk reveals the cause of the strange dreams that have long plagued an auction-house appraiser.

Although widowed Jude Gower hasn’t been able to put her past behind her, her job at Beecham’s Auctioneers keeps her life interesting. Her latest clients are the Wickham family of Starbrough Hall. Forced to sell an ancestor’s collection to maintain the house, they ask Jude to come do an appraisal. Because her grandmother grew up in a cottage on the Starbrough estate and her sister Claire and niece Summer live nearby, she’s especially pleased to accept, and she’s soon made a series of surprising discoveries.

She finds the collection of 18th-century astronomer Anthony Wickham both fascinating and valuable. She’s attracted to Euan, a naturalist who’s living in a gypsy wagon while he restores her grandmother’s cottage. Most disturbingly, she realizes that her niece Summer has been having the same dream as Jude—a dream that involves the Folly, a brick building Wickham had built as an observatory. Old diaries introduce Esther, the adopted daughter who helped Wickham with his stargazing and mysteriously vanished after his death. A diamond necklace her grandmother has kept hidden for years, gypsy friends and recently unearthed papers all help Jude come to a startling conclusion.

Hore’s first U.S. publication is a slickly packaged combination of present-day angst and romance cleverly interwoven with historical detail.

DUTCH ME DEADLY

Hunter, Maddy Midnight Ink/Llewellyn (312 pp.) $14.95 paperback | Feb. 8, 2012 978-0-7387-2704-2 A tour guide leaves a trail of violent death in her wake as she escorts seniors on journeys abroad.

You’d think Emily Andrew-Miceli’s group of Iowa golden-agers, including her grandma, would be put off by the |

fact that all the trips she escorts (Norway to Hide, 2007, etc.) lead to murder. But they actually seem to relish the chance to play amateur sleuths. This time out they’re visiting Holland, sharing a bus and tour guide with a group from Maine who are celebrating a class reunion. The tour guide is a martinet whose death by bicycle isn’t entirely unwelcome. The fatality seems like an accident, but Emily is suspicious. The group from Maine are bickering and seem to be hiding a secret from their shared past. Not to be outdone, Emily’s crew face disaster when they accidentally imbibe drug-laced desserts and spend a wild night in Amsterdam’s red-light district. The arrival of Emily’s ex-husband, a flamboyant transsexual currently teaching life skills to an aspiring writer, adds to her anguish. As more deaths follow, Emily and her texting-obsessed geriatric helpers realize that they’ll have to take prompt and decisive action before their whole trip is ruined.

A bit of humor, a bit of travel information and a bit of mystery add up to some pleasant light reading.

THE DISPATCHER

Jahn, Ryan David Penguin (304 pp.) $15.00 paperback | Dec. 27, 2011 978-0-14-312070-4 Seven years after his daughter vanishes from her bedroom, and two months after he’s finally agreed to a funeral for her, a Texas police dispatcher gets a phone call that turns his world upside down.

Unlike his ex-wife Debbie, Ian Hunt never gave up hope that their daughter, who was only seven when someone sliced the screen in her bedroom window and carried her off, might still be alive. So when a frantic young woman calling herself “Sarah…No, my name is Maggie, Maggie Hunt” phones 911 and says that she’s just escaped from the man who’s been holding her prisoner, Ian is ready to leap into action.

Unfortunately, Henry Dean spots her and snatches her again before she can identify him to her father. But a trick of fate is about to lead Chief Todd Davis, of the Bulls Mouth Police Department, and Tonkawa County Sheriff ’s Deputy Bill Finch, who just happens to be Debbie’s second husband, straight to Dean’s door. Not even the bloody showdown that follows can slow down Ian once he’s scented his quarry and confirmed that the precious daughter he left in her brother’s care while he and Debbie went on a married-folks’ date is alive and looking for him. A scene as harrowing as anything in Good Neighbors (2011) offers graphic proof that he’ll stop at absolutely nothing to track her down. Bullets and pages fly furiously as Ian pursues Dean, his fragile wife Beatrice and Maggie across the Southwest to Kaiser, Calif., where a final confrontation with Dean and his equally well-armed brother Ron awaits.

“This isn’t how it was supposed to happen,” think Jahn’s luckless characters over and over again. Wrong. For fans of actionpacked suspense, this is exactly how it’s supposed to happen.

kirkusreviews.com

|

mystery

|

1 january 2012

|

2393

“Myers presents all the ingredients for an enjoyable read: historical interest, multiple suspects and a pair of likable sleuths.” from murder in abbot’s folly

BACK IN THE HABIT

Loweecey, Alice Midnight Ink/Llewellyn (312 pp.) $14.95 paperback | Feb. 1, 2012 978-0-7387-2668-7 A former nun reenters the convent to investigate a suicide.

Sister Fabian, the Superior General of the Sisters of St. Francis, reluctantly appeals to former nun Giulia Falcone, now employed as a private eye by Frank Driscoll’s agency, to prove that Sister Bridget didn’t die of foul play. Resuming her ecclesiastic name, Sister Mary Regina Coelis, Giulia dons habit and veil and reenters the Motherhouse, charged with rubber-stamping Sister Fabian’s verdict of suicide.

Along the way Giulia discovers that one nun is a drunk, another cuts herself, the dead sister may have had an addiction to drugs and a visiting Swedish nun has something important to confide—something no one can translate now that Sister Bridget has passed. There’s a suspicious clanging in the cellar pipes, lots of irreverent gossip among the nuns and a strong suspicion that the community confessor, Father Ray, and Sister Fabian may be supplementing the Motherhouse’s coffers by blackmailing novices into acting as drug couriers and sex playmates. Giulia races through the rosary, is late to Mass, bypasses curfew and smuggles in a cell phone so that she can text clues to Frank. A pipe bomb tossed by the least likely suspect winds matters up, leaving Giulia free to discard her habit and smooch with Frank.

Giulia (Force of Habit, 2011) moves a few steps closer from bride of Christ to bride of Frank. Not for those who hold nuns or careful plotting in high esteem.

CHOCOLATE COVERED MURDER

Meier, Leslie Kensington (256 pp.) $24.00 | Jan. 1, 2012 978-0-7582-2933-5

Dueling chocolatiers spell trouble for the stalwart citizens of Tinker’s Cove.

When Corney Clarke brings Ted Stillings, editor of the Pennysaver, the shocking news that Fern’s Famous Fudge has fallen to No. 2 in Maine House and Cottage magazine’s “Best Candy on the Coast” rankings, he hesitates not a moment before sending Lucy Stone (English Tea Murder, 2011, etc.) to interview the new winner, Trey Meacham of Chanticleer Chocolates. Unfortunately, before she can ask Meacham why he’s flavored his Mucho Macho truffles, priced at $5 apiece, with beef jerky and German fingerling potatoes, she’s stopped by the sight of Officer Barney Culpepper dragging Max Fraser’s frozen body out of the lake. Now Dora, granddaughter to the founder of Fern’s Famous, has two problems: the threat to her family’s empire from Chanticleer, and the demise of her kind but feckless ex-husband, who’d promised for ever so long to come 2394

|

1 january 2012

|

fiction

|

up with some money so their daughter Lily can finish college. Lucy’s daughter Sara, who works at Fern’s, lets Lucy in on Dora’s secret: it’s not the penuche but the naughty chocolates, available only by mail order, that are keeping the business afloat. Lucy lets Sara stay at Fern’s but draws a line when Tamzin Graves, Meacham’s sexbomb sales clerk, tries to hire Zoe, the youngest Stone, at Chanticleer. That line, of course, doesn’t stop Lucy from trying to discover whether Max met his end by accident or by more sinister means.

As usual, Tinker’s Covers must huddle together to protect themselves from those nasty outsiders in Meier’s numbing 21st.

MURDER IN ABBOT’S FOLLY

Myers, Amy Severn House (208 pp.) $27.95 | Dec. 1, 2011 978-0-7278-8039-0

Though the father-daughter team of Peter and Georgia Marsh (Murder on the Old Road, 2011, etc.) specializes in cold cases, they don’t expect one to go back as far as Jane Austen.

Georgia is stressed by the return of her mother Elena, who walked out on Peter after an accident left him in a wheelchair. The old friend with whom Elena’s staying invites them all to a gala at Stourdens, a local manor that sports a Jane Austen collection and an old murder case.

The mansion’s owner, Laura Fettis—joined by her husband and daughter Jennifer, Jennifer’s fiancé and other hangerson, including a filmmaker, an author, a caterer and Elena’s friends, who live in an old inn—all have plans to exploit the connection with Jane Austen, especially the rumor that Jane based her unfinished novel The Watsons on a real-life love affair associated with the inn. The announcement of their plans is jeopardized when Laura says that she’s changed her mind and then killed for good along with Laura herself.

Georgia and Peter, warned off by the police, find that their investigation into the safe old murder is tied into the more volatile present-day killing. There are so many people with motives that the duo would have their hands full even if they weren’t busy checking out the Austen memorabilia that may be at the center of the mystery.

Though this installment drags a bit, Myers presents all the ingredients for an enjoyable read: historical interest, multiple suspects and a pair of likable sleuths.

kirkusreviews.com

|

DEATH, ISLAND STYLE

Toussaint, Maggie Five Star (262 pp.) $25.95 | Feb. 15, 2012 978-1-4328-2566-9

A widow tries to rebuild her life only to have her past come back to haunt her.

After the mysterious death of her husband leaves her broke and floundering, MaryBeth Cashour moves to Sandy Shores Island. Her mother, who died from cancer soon after Bernie disappeared, has left her not only the paperwork showing that she was adopted, but enough money to purchase a Christmas shop. MaryBeth has no relatives or friends and not much self-esteem, but all that changes when she finds a body floating in the surf. She becomes the prime suspect when the police learn that the dead man may have connections to her past life in Maryland. Befriended by Daisy Pearl, who owns the sweet shop next door, and hunky pharmacist Russ Marchone, MaryBeth struggles to make sense of her past, which is considerably complicated when she discovers that her husband was either a gangster or a government agent with another wife and two children. Her house and shop are broken into, and she is stalked by people who will stop at nothing to find what they think she’s hiding and are utterly unconcerned about her low self-esteem.

In a departure from her Cleopatra Jones series (On the Nickel, 2011, etc.), Toussaint creates a gutsy heroine whose struggles with murder and romance add up to a very enjoyable read.

science fiction and fantasy THRONE OF THE CRESCENT MOON

Ahmed, Saladin DAW/Berkley (288 pp.) $24.95 | Feb. 7, 2012 978-0-7564-0711-7

Distinctive Middle Eastern fantasy from newcomer Ahmed.

In Dhamsawaat, chief city of the Crescent Moon Kingdoms, Doctor Adoulla Makhslood has devoted his life to hunting and destroying ghuls, constructs brewed from bones, sand and bugs and animated by the vile blood-magic of evil sorcerers. Now fat, old and weary, Adoulla endeavors to ignore the power struggle developing between the cruel, despotic, aloof Khalif and the elusive, magic-powered Robin Hood-style thief who calls himself |

kirkusreviews.com

|

the Falcon Prince. But when the family of his old flame-turnedbrothel keeper Miri is slaughtered by ghuls, Adoulla sets aside his teacup, summons his young assistant, Raseed, a deadly but naive warrior dervish steeped in the religion of his sect, and by the will of God steels himself for another battle. Tracking the ghuls into the desert, Adoulla and Raseed come upon a young girl, Zamia, whose entire family have also been slaughtered by the ghuls.

Zamia, a shapeshifter who can take the form of a huge golden lioness with silver claws, proves more than adept at killing ghuls, but her femininity and forwardness deeply trouble the pious and traditional Raseed. Equally disturbing to Adoulla is the sheer sorcerous power necessary to create such terrible ghuls, and indications that the Falcon Prince is somehow involved. Adoulla, while no fan of the vicious Khalif, refuses to endorse a disastrous civil war. As you might expect, the Arabian Nights theme dominates, and in language, style and approach, Ahmed carries it off with only minor slips into American vernacular. Equally impressive are characters who struggle not only against their opponents but against their own misgivings and desires, and accept that victory may be achieved only at great personal cost.

An arresting, sumptuous and thoroughly satisfying debut. (Agent: Jennifer Jackson)

SEVEN PRINCES

Fultz, John R. Orbit/Little, Brown (600 pp.) $15.99 paperback | Jan. 3, 2012 978-0-316-18786-2 Grisly fantasy debut and first of a trilogy from Fultz.

Immortal necromancer Elhathym appears, seemingly from nowhere, to claim the throne of Yaskatha. When proud King Trimesqua refuses to yield, Elhathym invokes a legion of the dead and slaughters everyone in the palace save for young Prince D’zan and his bodyguard, Olthacus. The pair journey to New Udurum to seek help from King Vod, a giant and sorcerer. But, tormented by guilt over an evil deed in his past, Vod has disappeared, leaving the kingdom to his wife, Queen Shaira, his sons Fangodrel, Tadarus and Vireon, and daughter Sharadza.

Elhathym, it emerges meanwhile, has formed an alliance with another ancient evil sorcerer, Empress Ianthe of Khyrei. Olthacus is slain by assassins sent by Ianthe, but Tadarus and Vireon side with D’zan, while Fangodrel develops a taste for blood-magic and joins the evil allies. Rounding out the seven will be Tyro and Lyrilan of Uurz and Andoses of Shar Dni. Sharadza runs off to learn sorcery and find some magical help. Non-stop action at a blistering pace, decorated with piles of corpses, spurting blood, ghastly tortures, mayhem, monsters and assorted butchery, not to mention the requisite heroics—you get the picture. Fultz sustains it for hundreds of pages, which is a feat in itself. Inevitably, though, it ends up numbing rather than horrifying.

Vigorous and vibrant, with no claim to any serious purpose—a computer game that somehow shook out as words.

science fiction & fantasy |

1 january 2012

|

2395

“Despite a few blips, a hugely satisfying windup for one of fantasy’s most memorable constructs.” from the bride wore black leather

THE BRIDE WORE BLACK LEATHER

Green, Simon R. Ace/Berkley (320 pp.) $25.95 | Jan. 3, 2012 978-1-937007-13-3

Another in Green’s urban-fantasy noir Nightside series (A Hard Day’s Knight, 2011, etc.)—purportedly the last.

Nightside is the uncanny underside of London, inhabited by a bewildering variety of supernatural beings, where it’s perpetually 3 AM and you can get anything you want, and also things you decidedly don’t want. Our narrator, multitalented PI John Taylor, now appointed Walker (think marshal of Dodge City) by the Authorities, decides to take one last case before marrying his sweetheart, bounty hunter Suzie Shooter. He receives a supernatural warning of shenanigans to come at the Ball of Forever, where Nightside’s immortals gather to sneer and preen at one another.

Green introduces us to the attendees in what isn’t too much more than an admittedly inventive parade of otherworldly weirdos. Eventually, somebody murders the widely despised King of Skin (“You’re Only Immortal As Long As You Don’t Die”) and also Frankenstein’s Bride. The Bride is soon back on her feet after a jolt of electricity, but King of Skin is indeed permanently dead. The new Walker soon wraps up the mystery, but then a godlike entity called the Sun King, a charismatic hippie who disappeared back in the 1960s, shows up to declare that he’ll bring devastating, cleansing sunlight to the Nightside, whose denizens are aghast. Worse, the Sun King appears to have been amplified by superpowered entities from another dimension.

What follows is another dramatic, inventive and highly selective orgy of murder and mayhem. Can Walker prevail against odds when almost everybody wants him dead? And will he get to the church on time?

Despite a few blips, a hugely satisfying windup for one of fantasy’s most memorable constructs.

2396

|

1 january 2012

|

fiction

|

kirkusreviews.com

|

nonfiction REAGAN AND THATCHER The Difficult Relationship

USE YOUR BRAIN TO CHANGE YOUR AGE Secrets to Look, Feel, and Think Younger Every Day

Aldous, Richard Norton (352 pp.) $27.95 | Mar. 19, 2012 978-0-393-06900-6

A historian charts the ups, downs, and in-betweens of a transatlantic partnership that defined an era.

The just-released biopic starring Meryl Streep is likely to spark renewed interest in the whip-smart, hectoring and humorless Margaret Thatcher, Britain’s first woman prime minister. No small part of her legacy was the relationship with her philosophical, transatlantic counterpart, the big-picture, affable Ronald Reagan.

Partners in helping to end the Cold War, Reagan and Thatcher were always careful publicly to paper over differences, to appear united, to demonstrate that the “Special Relationship” between Britain and America remained unshakeable. But during the eight years their tenures overlapped, there were frequent, occasionally sharp differences between these two different personalities who seemingly shared only two traits: deep conservative conviction and an absolute devotion to their nation’s interest as they understood it. Although Reagan’s senior in service on the world stage, Thatcher was acutely conscious of her country’s inferior power position. Accordingly, she set out early to court the American president. Relying for color on declassified documents, interviews, oral histories and the published accounts of many observers, Aldous (British History and Literature/Bard Col.; The Lion and the Unicorn: Gladstone vs. Disraeli, 2007, etc.) revisits the two tangling over supplying technology for Soviet construction of the Siberian gas pipeline, over arms sales and control and over nuclear weapons and Reagan’s Strategic Defense Initiative. Reagan disappointed Thatcher by his lessthan-full-throated support for her Falklands war; she responded with lukewarm enthusiasm for his Grenada invasion. They disagreed over policy in Lebanon and Libya, and they clashed over how best to deal with Gorbachev. Throughout, Aldous carefully and persuasively demonstrates the elaborate care each took to “handle” the other, precautions unnecessary had the relationship been as close as publicly portrayed.

A revealing look at the political marriage of two titans, who, like Roosevelt and Churchill, will be forever linked in history.

|

Amen, Daniel G. Crown Archetype (352 pp.) $26.00 | CD $40.00 | Feb. 14, 2012 978-0-307-88854-9 978-0-307-88856-3 e-book 978-0-307-93973-9 CD Clinical neuroscientist and publicbroadcasting favorite Amen (The Amen Solution, 2011, etc.) updates and sharpens his program for shaping a healthy brain.

The brain is the hub: When it works correctly, so will you, like feeling the urge and responsibility to exercise and eat sensibly. When it is weakened or damaged, so too will be your decision making. Readers may quibble with some of Amen’s particulars—such as his equation of brain health equaling wealth—but one would have to be blind not to nod in agreement at the familiar sagacity of his overall plan. In his comforting storyteller’s voice, the author makes tales of the important elements in his healthy-brain system: diet, supportive friends, exercise (including our old friend sex: “Your bed may be the best piece of workout equipment in your house”), confronting and grappling with brain damage, addressing emotional challenges, learning to keep the brain nimble and keeping track of your vital numbers. With clarity and compactness, Amen presents 10 vignettes to drive home his points and then from each draws 20 tips to put the evidence into play in the reader’s life. Though he doesn’t shrink from boosting the brain-health products sold through his Amen Clinics, to his credit he details just which substances and supplements are important to achieve a goal.

Just reading Amen’s book will probably improve your brain, though his commonsensical advice suggests you can do plenty more.

kirkusreviews.com

|

nonfiction

|

1 january 2012

|

2397

I KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND I SAW WHAT YOU DID Social Networks and the Death of Privacy

THE SACRED THREAD A True Story of Becoming a Mother and Finding a Family—Half a World Away

Arieff, Adrienne Crown (288 pp.) $24.00 | Mar. 13, 2012 978-0-307-71668-2 978-0-307-71670-5 e-book

Andrews, Lori Free Press (256 pp.) $26.00 | Jan. 10, 2012 978-1-4516-5051-8

Unnerving narrative about the misuse of personal online information—without our knowledge—to track, judge and harm us in innumerable aspects of our lives.

Social-network executives often dismiss online privacy concerns: “You have zero privacy anyway. Get over it,” said Sun Microsystems’ Scott McNealy. But the constitutional freedoms of millions of people posting personal data on Facebook and other networks are violated routinely, and the law has not kept up with the new technology, writes lawyer Andrews (Institute for Science, Law and Technology/Illinois Institute of Technology; Immunity, 2008, etc.). Noting that social networks make their profits on users’ data, she describes the multibillion-dollar industry of data aggregators who mine online data for the advertising industry, often “weblining” people, denying them certain opportunities due to observations about their digital selves. Most users have no idea how much information is being collected about them: “People have a misplaced trust that what they post is private.” The results can be devastating: A Georgia teacher posted a photo showing her drinking a glass of Guinness at an Irish brewery, and she was forced to resign after the photo was e-mailed anonymously to her school superintendent.

After seeing a mother’s MySpace page showing her posing provocatively in lingerie, a judge awarded custody of her young children to her husband. “Virtually every interaction a person has in the offline world can be tainted by social network information,” writes the author, who proposes creating a “Social Network Constitution” to govern our lives online. Her governing principles would protect against police searches of social networks without probable cause, require social networks to post conspicuous Miranda-like privacy warnings and set rules for the use or collecting of user information.

Authoritative, important reading for policymakers and an unnerving reminder that anything you post can and will be used against you.

A debut memoir recounting how a San Francisco–based couple became parents with the help of a surrogate mother in India.

By age 36, marketing and communications executive Arieff had suffered three painful miscarriages, one of them in the middle of her second trimester. The discovery of large uterine fibroids portended that a successful, full-term pregnancy would be almost impossible. She and her lawyer husband, Alex, looked into surrogacy options, and their research led them to the Akanksha Infertility Clinic in India. Initially Arieff made the trip there solo to undergo several weeks of IVF treatments. Two weeks later, Alex joined her and Arieff ’s eggs were harvested, fertilized and implanted into the couple’s hired surrogate mother, Vaina. A young married mother from a rural village, Vaina spent the next nine months living at the clinic, under a doctor’s care and free from the judgments of her neighbors. She planned to use the money, equal to 15 years of salaried work, to buy her husband a taxi and pay for her children’s schooling. Writing in the present tense, Arieff chronicles all of the minutiae involved in their choice, including their fears, deep gratitude for and connection to Vaina for birthing their two twin girls (“no matter how far apart we are geographically, Vaina, my daughters, and I will always be connected by this sacred thread”), and the reactions of their friends and family. The author provides a smooth, compelling read that will surely interest prospective parents exploring their options for surrogacy abroad.

A personal, optimistic take on a controversial subject.

YOUR BODY BEAUTIFUL Clockstopping Secrets to Staying Healthy, Strong, and Sexy In Your 30s, 40s, and Beyond

Ashton, Jennifer with Rojo, Christine Avery (304 pp.) $26.00 | Jan. 5, 2012 978-1-58333-458-4 Health-and-beauty tips for middleage women.

On a mission to educate women ages 30 through 50 about making manageable changes to daily routines to ensure they carry their vibrancy into their 50s and beyond, OB-GYN and CBS News medical correspondent Ashton (The Body Scoop for Girls, 2009) presents a self-improvement plan involving “clockstopping” tweaks in diet, exercise, skincare, stress management

2398

|

1 january 2012

|

nonfiction

|

kirkusreviews.com

|

“An exemplary demonstration of the transformative possibilities of graphic narrative.” from my friend dahmer

and sex life. As evidence, the author offers her own success at juggling two kids, two dogs, a happy relationship with her physician husband, a busy practice and daily TV appearances, alongside the observation that “the vast majority” of those included in Forbes’ 2010 list of the world’s 50 most powerful women “were in their forties or older.” Encouraging readers to attempt the various behavioral modifications she suggests in five-week increments— “you can do anything for five weeks”—Ashton employs simple math and everyday contextualizing in doling out her advice. For example, in her “Five-Day/Two-Day” diet, she advises, “cut bad carbs and eat lots of veggies, fruits, and proteins” on weekdays, and “then take it easier on the weekends.” A beauty tip for healthier skin includes the exuberant recommendation to apply at least 20 minutes before going outside “as much sunscreen as would fit in a shot glass,” while a subheading for a section on breast reduction is glibly titled, “Honey, I Shrunk the Tits.” The author’s positive attitude, generally practical health recommendations and sassy style combine to lend her professional advice wide appeal.

Whether Ashton’s “clock-stopping” ambitions ultimately succeed, however, only time will tell.

Holistic health advice for women of a certain age.

THE SHORT AMERICAN CENTURY A Postmortem Bacevich, Andrew J.--Ed. Harvard Univ. (288 pp.) $25.95 | Mar. 19, 2012 978-0-674-06445-4

A set of scholarly responses to Henry Luce’s 1941 essay in his Life magazine, “The American Century.”

Editor Bacevich (International Relations and History/Boston Univ.; Washington Rules: America’s Path to Permanent War, 2010, etc.) provides the beginning and ending chapters in this collection of historical and analytical pieces that, combined, claim: there really wasn’t much of an American century; it was always an illusion, anyhow; it has been extraordinarily arrogant and purblind to believe that America was unlike other empires and that its way of life is suitable for the rest of the world. The pieces share a conventional academic structure, which eventually becomes tiresome: introduction, body, conclusion—don’t any of these notable contributors know how to frame an essay in a fresher, more engaging way? They also share an anti-imperialist, leftish slant that will allure some readers and alienate others. David M. Kennedy begins with an essay about American military power and our decision to put most of our chips on air power. Several contributors—Emily S. Rosenberg, Jeffrey A. Frieden and Eugene McCarraher—highlight economic aspects of the topic, variously attacking materialism, the arrogance of the business mind and the effects of globalization on the American economy and way of life. Others looks at the effects of immigration and race, historical antecedents (Manifest Destiny, the Truman Doctrine), military misadventures since World War II (Korea, Cuba, Vietnam, Iraq) and |

the influence of some significant players on the stage, among them Walter Lippmann, Reinhold Niebuhr, Randolph Bourne and Charles Beard. Many attack Republican administrations, though McCarraher has some sharp words for President Obama, sharper ones for Thomas J. Friedman.

Bracing and provocative, despite the tendentiousness and the uniformity of structure.

MY FRIEND DAHMER

Backderf, Derf Illus. by Backderf, Derf Abrams ComicArts (224 pp.) $24.95 | paper $17.95 | Mar. 1, 2012 978-1-4197-0216-7 978-1-4197-0217-4 paperback A powerful, unsettling use of the graphic medium to share a profoundly disturbing story.

If a boy is not born a monster, how does he become one? Though Backderf (Punk Rock and Trailer Parks, 2008) was once an Ohio classmate of the notorious Jeffrey Dahmer, he doesn’t try to elicit sympathy for “Jeff.” Yet he walks an emotional tightrope here, for he recognizes that someone—maybe the other kids who laughed at and with him, certainly the adults who should have recognized aberration well beyond tortured adolescence—should have done something. “To you Dahmer was a depraved fiend but to me he was a kid I sat next to in study hall and hung out with in the band room,” writes the author, whose dark narrative proceeds to show how Dahmer’s behavior degenerated from fascination with roadkill and torture of animals to repressed homosexuality and high-school alcoholism to mass murder. It also shows how he was shaken by his parents’ troubled marriage and tempestuous divorce, by his emotionally disturbed mother’s decision to move away and leave her son alone, and by the encouragement of the Jeffrey Dahmer Fan Club (with the author a charter member and ringleader) to turn the outcast into a freak show. The more that Dahmer drank to numb his life, the more oblivious adults seemed to be, letting him disappear between the cracks. “It’s my belief that Dahmer didn’t have to wind up a monster, that all those people didn’t have to die horribly, if only the adults in his life hadn’t been so inexplicably, unforgivably, incomprehensibly clueless and/or indifferent,” writes Backderf. “Once Dahmer kills, however—and I can’t stress this enough—my sympathy for him ends.”

An exemplary demonstration of the transformative possibilities of graphic narrative.

kirkusreviews.com

|

nonfiction

|

1 january 2012

|

2399

THREE AND OUT Rich Rodriguez and the Michigan Wolverines in the Crucible of College Football

MYTHOLOGIES The Complete Edition, in a New Translation Barthes, Roland Translated by Howard, Richard and Lavers, Annette Hill and Wang/Farrar, Straus and Giroux (320 pp.) $28.00 | Mar. 20, 2012 978-0-374-53234-5

Bacon, John U. Farrar, Straus and Giroux (448 pp.) $28.00 | Oct. 25, 2011 978-0-8090-9466-0 An insider look at the controversial tenure of Rich Rodriguez at one of college football’s most storied programs.

The University of Michigan, college football’s all-time winningest program, has tradition in spades; what it hasn’t had recently is success. Enter Rodriguez, one of the game’s hottest coaches—an apparently ideal match of innovative coach with resource-rich university that seemed to guarantee a championship contender. As Bacon (co-author: Bo’s Lasting Lessons: The Legendary Coach Teaches the Timeless Fundamentals of Leadership, 2008, etc.) writes, however, what looks good on paper doesn’t always translate to the field. By virtue of Rodriguez granting him unrestricted access to the team, the author offers a behindthe-scenes look as the hallowed program descended into turmoil, including a 2008 season that saw the Wolverines go 3-9, their first losing season since 1967. While some of the reasons for the decline were predictable—a cupboard relatively bare of talent, the inevitable difficulties of implementing his unique spread offense—Rodriguez also struggled to win over key “Michigan Men” through a series of PR gaffes. Bacon’s intimate relationship with the coaching staff and players, combined with his extensive knowledge of Michigan football and the inner workings of the university’s administration, contextualizes the narrative in a way the national press couldn’t during Rodriguez’s stormy tenure, which ended with his firing in January 2011 after the school’s worst bowl loss ever. Rodriguez emerges as a sympathetic figure, a hard-working, salt-of-the-earth coach foiled by self-interested administrators, a fractured alumni base, a media intent on generating controversial headlines and his own initially callous treatment of Michigan tradition. The book’s myopic focus makes it difficult to determine whether Michigan’s dysfunction is emblematic of all major programs, but it’s a fascinating look inside a team whose fans, despite its recent hardships, remain rabid.

A must-read for Michigan fans and behind-the-curtain peekers.

2400

|

1 january 2012

|

nonfiction

|

A new edition of landmark work.

As this new translation and expansion of a seminal work by the French semiotician and philosopher demonstrates, Barthes (Mourning Diary, 2010, etc.) remains ahead of his time, and our time, more than 30 years after his death. His impact extends well beyond those who actually read his work (as the pivotal role his ideas hold in the latest Jeffrey Eugenides novel, The Marriage Plot, makes plain). His third book, published in 1957, provides a key to that influence, though early translations included around half or less of the 53 essays here (one of them, “Astrology,” receiving its first English translation for American publication). The book has two parts. The first comprises the short essays, translated by Richard Howard, that show the philosopher-critic illuminating the mythic in everyday manifestations of culture ranging from striptease to pro wrestling to red wine to children’s toys (“usually toys of imitation, meant to make child users, not creative children”). Where those pieces can occasionally read like journalism (on a very high intellectual level), the second part, “Myth Today,” which retains the 1972 translation, provides the philosophical underpinnings of meaning as a social construct and myth as man-made, fluid rather than fixed (“there is no fixity in mythical concepts: they can come into being, alter, disintegrate, disappear completely”). For Barthes, so much of what is accepted as reality is simply perception, shaped and even distorted by the social constructs of language, myth and meaning. Amid the high-powered theorizing, some of his pronouncements require no academic explanation: “If God is really speaking through Dr. [Billy] Graham’s mouth, it must be acknowledged that God is quite stupid: the Message stuns us by its platitude, its childishness.”

It’s remarkable that essays written more than a half-century ago, on another continent, should seem not merely pertinent but prescient in regard to the course of contemporary American culture. (16 pages of black-and-white illustrations)

kirkusreviews.com

|

“The authors intended to ‘help voters sift through the political rhetoric’ to better understand and face the unemployment crisis. Mission accomplished.” from where did the jobs go —and how do we get them back?

I’D RATHER BE IN CHARGE A Legendary Business Leader’s Roadmap for Achieving Pride, Power, and Joy at Work

Beers, Charlotte Vanguard/Perseus (256 pp.) $25.99 | Feb. 1, 2012 978-1-59315-682-4

A celebrated advertising executive shares her insights on women and

leadership.

Beers looks back at her mistakes and successes as an executive and CEO for some of the world’s most powerful advertising companies, as well as stories from participants in her women’s leadership workshops. In the first part of the book, the author guides readers through several exercises designed to give them greater insight into the way their family history and personal qualities influence their behavior at work. Some of the exercises consist of thought questions that readers can easily answer at home. Others, including one exercise that asks readers to conduct “market research” on themselves, demand more effort and would make more sense in the context of a workshop. In the second half of the book, Beers gives readers concrete advice on navigating the work world; though it references the exercises given in the first part, it could be read on its own. The chapter on effective presentations is especially illuminating. Late in the book, Beers splits workers into three categories: doers, managers and leaders. The author’s advice will be most helpful for managers who want to become leaders; there is relatively little information on beginning or resuming a career or making the leap into management. Refreshingly, Beers avoids hand wringing about the “mommy track” or work/family balance. The author assumes that readers are interested in career success and focuses solely on methods by which to achieve it.

A straightforward guide showing successful women how to reach the next step in their careers.

WHERE DID THE JOBS GO—AND HOW DO WE GET THEM BACK? Your Guided Tour to America’s Unemployment Crisis Bittle, Scott and Johnson, Jean Morrow/HarperCollins (368 pp.) $15.99 paperback | Feb. 1, 2012 978-0-06-171566-2

An evenhanded discussion and study guide on unemployment.

Bittle and Johnson draw on solid statistical sources including the National Association of Manufacturers, trade-union organizations, the Heritage Foundation, the Cato Institute and the Economic Policy Institute, and they also rely on expertise |

from, among others, Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman of Princeton, Nouriel Roubini of NYU’s Stern School and Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Analytics. The authors provide a scrupulous analysis of the many problems caused by the unemployment crisis, as well as possible solutions. Bittle and Johnson rightly place a great deal of responsibility on the backs of readers: “If you’ve been reading along carefully, you probably have your own checklist of criteria for judging what’s likely to hurt or help on jobs.” Just in case, though, they provide a list of “considerations [they] think are vital.” The authors encourage readers to review past mistakes and successes in order to be better prepared to assimilate what is to come. In that vein, they provide a useful historical discussion of the 1930s Depression and FDR’s WPA program, as well as estimates of the financial costs of possible solutions and the ramifications for other sectors of American society. Joblessness affects consumer spending, government programs and citizens’ ability to purchase homes, write the authors. Fortunately they provide a helpful series of options to ensure that “the greatest number of people have the greatest possible chance to get ahead.”

The authors intended to “help voters sift through the political rhetoric” to better understand and face the unemployment crisis. Mission accomplished.

AFTER THE ARAB SPRING How Islamists Hijacked the Middle East Revolts

Bradley, John R. Palgrave Macmillan (256 pp.) $26.00 | Jan. 3, 2012 978-0-230-33819-7

In a cynical jeremiad, Bradley finds the pre–Arab Spring dictatorships in Tunisia and Egypt less pernicious than what he sees in the coming Islamist counterrevolution.

Having boldly predicted the revolution in Egypt in his book Inside Egypt and warned of the “saving graces” of Tunisia’s Zine El-Abidine Ben Ali dictatorship before the advent of the Jasmine Revolution in Behind the Veil of Vice, the author sends out another cry of alarm—this time at the democratic fallout that is benefiting the strident Islamist parties mainly because they are organized and their supporters vote. The Jasmine Revolution brought down Ben Ali’s two-decade autocratic regime, riddled with corruption and cronyism, despite his constructing the most secular, liberal and frankly pro-women state in the Arab world. What have replaced it are roving gangs of bearded Islamist and Salafis (adherents of the reactionary, anti-modern Salafism) calling for an Islamic state, and an Islamist party called Ennahda, led by the newly returned exile Rachid Ghannouchi.

Likewise in Egypt, writes Bradley, the revolutionaries were not demanding democratic reforms so much as economic: jobs and opportunity. In a conservative country like Egypt, where nearly half the population is illiterate, the military rules and women do not have the freedoms as in Tunisia, Islamist groups sprouted

kirkusreviews.com

|

nonfiction

|

1 january 2012

|

2401

overnight and the once-banned Muslim Brotherhood have neatly consolidated their political power. To succeed in advancing their aims of “cultural tyranny,” they do not need majority support. Bradley looks at the resurgence of Saudi-sponsored Wahhabism and other forms of tribalism since the revolutions in Yemen, Libya and elsewhere. He also considers the “Shia Axis” and bitter lessons gained from Islamist incursions in Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia, and he chides both the revolutionaries and the Western pragmatists for not learning from history.

A deeply alarmist, precipitous look at recent Arab developments—or lack of developments.

ALL IN The Education of General David Petraeus Broadwell, Paula & Loeb, Vernon Penguin Press (352 pp.) $29.95 | Jan. 24, 2012 978-1-59420-318-3

A semi-authorized biography of Army Gen. David Petraeus, in the context of his Iraq and Afghanistan war commands after 9/11.

While researching her doctorate at the University of London, Broadwell, a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy, decided to focus on Petraeus. She had met him in 2006, while a graduate student at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government, and she eventually came to know him better and won his cooperation to produce a book. Washington Post editor Loeb, who was embedded with a military unit under Petraeus’ command in Iraq in 2003, provides a solid journalistic aspect to the book, which is not a traditional biography—the narrative is not chronological and does not cover every aspect of the subject’s rise from student to the top of the military establishment. The author scatters biographical elements throughout the story, offering a somewhat in-depth understanding of how generals are made in the contemporary American military, and what drove this one man in particular to attain the top rank and become perhaps the most recognizable war commander since Dwight D. Eisenhower. Although Broadwell rarely demonstrates overt political stances in the book, she appears to more or less approve of the invasions of Iraq and Afghanistan as a counterterrorist strategy. Though Petraeus comes across as a consistently “all-in” warrior, Broadwell occasionally includes material that reveals his flaws. To the author’s credit, she pays close attention to Petraeus’ home life; after all, no war commander leaves for battle without consequences for a spouse, children, parents and many others. It is of special interest that Petraeus married Holly Knowlton, whose father William A. Knowlton served as superintendent of West Point when Petraeus was a cadet there.

The narrative is difficult to track because of shifting time elements and sporadic sections of battleground details, but Broadwell provides a first-rate education about the modern American military for outsiders.

2402

|

1 january 2012

|

nonfiction

|

FLAGRANT CONDUCT The Story of Lawrence v. Texas Carpenter, Dale Norton (352 pp.) $29.95 | Mar. 12, 2012 978-0-393-06208-3

A character-rich account of the 2003 landmark Lawrence v. Texas case in which the U.S. Supreme Court overturned its 1986 decision in the Bowers v. Hardwick sodomy case and effectively made same-sex sexual activity legal throughout the country.

Carpenter (Earl R. Larson Professor of Civil Rights and Civil Liberty Law/University of Minnesota Law School) demonstrates both the transformation in public thinking about homosexuality and the evolution of jurisprudence on sexuality.

He opens with the night in 1998 when police in Harris County, Texas, entered the home of John Lawrence and arrested him and Tyron Garner on charges of sodomy; he follows the case through the various maneuverings necessary to take it to the Supreme Court. Found guilty by a justice of the peace, the men subsequently appeared before the Texas Criminal Court, which denied a request to dismiss the charges on Fourteenth Amendment equal protection grounds and on right to privacy grounds. A Texas Court of Appeals also rejected this argument, and after the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals refused to review the case, it headed to the U.S. Supreme Court. Lambda Legal, a national organization supporting gay and lesbian rights, led the challenge, supported by Jenner & Block, a legal firm with considerable Supreme Court experience. Carpenter’s account is filled with relevant quotes by and colorful descriptions of the parties involved: defendants, police, lawyers and civil rights activists, district attorneys and Texas judges, and most of all Supreme Court Justices. The author, who was present when the case was argued before the Supreme Court, is forthright in giving his personal impressions that day of the demeanor of Justices, lawyers, and concerned onlookers. He follows this with imagined scenes of how the Justices might have discussed the issues afterward, and then returns to the scene in the courtroom, three months later, when the decision was announced.

Finally, he depicts reactions to the decision among gay-rights supporters and those like Justice Scalia who were outraged by it.

A legal commentator’s informative, highly readable account of a case that has been likened in significance to Brown v. Board of Education and Gideon v. Wainwright.

kirkusreviews.com

|

CHLOE’S KITCHEN 125 Easy, Delicious Recipes for Making the Food You Love the Vegan Way Coscarelli, Chloe Free Press (288 pp.) $18.99 | Mar. 6, 2012 978-1-4516-3674-1

A past winner of Food Network’s Cupcake Wars presents a cavalcade of easy meatless recipes and culinary notions.

The first vegan chef ever to win a Food Network competition, Coscarelli shares her wealth of knowledge on plant-based cuisine with marked enthusiasm. She opens with a variety of basic pantry-stocking items useful in vegan kitchens, explaining the particular benefits of shelf-stable coconut oil, vegan margarine and soybean-based flavorings like hoisin sauce or miso paste, as well as tempeh, a protein and fiber-rich meat replacement. The author keeps her recipes refreshingly uncomplicated (many can be prepared well ahead of serving time), dividing the book into sections such as small appetizers, soups, salads, finger foods, entrees and desserts. She concludes with a winning section on stock sauces and ingredients. For more traditional palates, mouthwatering offerings like pizzas, paninis and pastas will entice more than the international flare of main dishes like the Indian Buffet Trio, Eggplant Timbales and Seitan Scallopini. In varied recipes, Coscarelli incorporates the unique flavors of maple syrup, mustard and curry and shares tips on cleaning leeks, wrangling fragile phyllo dough and dicing mangos. The surprisingly manageable “formerly secret” recipe for her Cupcake Wars–winning vegan Ginger Nutmeg Spice Cupcakes is in good company with Iced Apple Cake Squares and agave-sweetened Yoga Cookies. Some substitutions seem stretched, however. Can sushi ever be convincingly swapped out with shiitake mushrooms? Will the flavor of dairy-free coconut and almond milk used in the “ice cream” recipes satisfy? Leaving no family member excluded, the vegan chef even includes her all-natural peanut-butter dog treats.

Coscarelli’s sleek volume is crisply photographed and includes the kind of straightforward, go-to recipes busy foodies can appreciate.

BRINGING UP BÉBÉ One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting

Druckerman, Pamela Penguin Press (288 pp.) $25.95 | Feb. 21, 2012 978-1-59420-333-6

Parisian childrearing.

The author of a cross-cultural study on infidelity turns her judicious eye to the differences between American and

|

When Druckerman (Lust in Translation, 2007) was laid off from her job as an international reporter for the Wall Street Journal, she willingly reunited with British journalist Simon, whom she’d met six months earlier. Their romance relocated her to his “two-room bachelor pad” in Paris where an expected culture clash awaited. An “Atkins-leaning vegetarian,” Druckerman found particular discordance with Parisian cuisine and social norms. After getting pregnant, the author became obsessively worrisome and at odds with the structure of French childbirth and childrearing, though she was amazed at how inexplicably well-behaved and good-natured Parisian children seemed.

Intent on uncovering the secret to French nurturing, she began some “investigative parenting,” and the American expat waded through her daughter Bean’s crucial developmental years fortified by what Parisian parents taught their own children.

Druckerman’s epiphanies include how months-old French babies sleep through the night via the “pause” technique and, soon after, are taught the art of patience. She demystifies the day-care “crèche” and preschool “maternelle,” and how French mothers return to top physical shape (and their jobs) following childbirth. The author is a delightfully droll storyteller with an effortless gift of gab that translates well to the page. She backs up assumptions and associated explorations with historical parenting examples and comparisons that temper her skepticisms with an authoritative air. With twins on the way, Druckerman eventually acclimated to the guarded, good-natured bonhomie of Paris and struck a happy medium between French methods and her own parenting preferences.

A quirky family saga of an American mother in Paris.

POT FARM

Frank, Matthew Gavin Univ. of Nebraska (232 pp.) $16.95 paperback | Mar. 1, 2012 978-0-8032-3784-1 A firsthand account of life on a “mostly medical” marijuana farm.

After returning to his childhood home for almost a year to assist his mother in her struggle with cancer, Frank (Creative Writing/Northern Michigan Univ.; Barolo, 2010) and his wife turned to a California medical-marijuana farm to soothe their distress. Amid the marijuana plants, the couple rediscovered themselves and their shared love. Hard physical labor, interactions with other misfits of society who live on the land and the occasional toke on the clippings helped Frank come to terms with the hand his mother was dealt. Coupled with musings about his family, the author details the intimate nature of growing marijuana outdoors under the watchful eyes of the owner of the farm, Lady Wanda. Frank takes the reader into the fields, where a pair of good clippers can make or break a man, and describes the intricate methods used to cut and dry the product to ensure good quality. However, an underlying fear pervades the book. The crew members were literally locked at the farm behind several gates for the season, and no interaction was permitted

kirkusreviews.com

|

nonfiction

|

1 january 2012

|

2403

“A remarkable, emotional journey through unrelenting pain—and laughter.” from hot cripple

HOT CRIPPLE An Incurable Smartass Takes on the Health Care System and Lives to Tell the Tale

between the workers and the outside world for fear the farm would be raided. Lady Wanda even hired two around-the-clock snipers to watch over the farm. Frank also discusses the legality of the work versus its necessary, as much of the product is grown to assist those with AIDS or cancer.

Investigative research coupled with personal reflections on a controversial arena of American farm production.

THE FRY CHRONICLES

Fry, Stephen Overlook (448 pp.) $27.95 | Jan. 19, 2012 978-1-59020-714-7

Actor and bestselling author Fry’s (Stephen Fry in America, 2009, etc.) at times meandering but always charming memoir of “a late adolescence and early manhood crowded with incident.”

In this second installment of the author’s ongoing autobiographical project, the British comedian tells the story of his student years at Cambridge and early professional life at BBC radio and television. After a youth filled with “suicide attempts, tantrums and madness” and a stint in prison for petty theft and fraud, Fry buckled down and demonstrated his ample intellect by winning a scholarship to read English at Queens’ College. He immersed himself in the Cambridge arts scene and joined the prestigious Footlights Club, which had also nurtured the comic talents of Eric Idle and John Cleese. Fry also developed close and enduring friendships with such future luminaries of the stage and screen as Hugh Laurie and Emma Thompson. His voice and unrepentantly Wildean wit became signature trademarks, and although he “loved every single thing about acting,” he found even greater success as a writer. While he was still an undergraduate, his comic play Latin! played to sold-out audiences at the 1980 Edinburgh Fringe Festival. Five years later, his revised version of the musical Me and My Gal became an award-winning smash hit on Broadway and London’s West End and the vehicle that propelled him from BBC respectability and into stardom. Punctuating the detailed accounts of Fry’s professional triumphs are the funny, at times heartbreaking revelations that truly define him. With humility, he describes his tooth-destroying sugar addiction, financial excesses and the “vulnerability, fear, insecurity, doubt, inadequacy, puzzlement and inability to cope” he hid from others and that would eventually lead him down even more destructive paths than those he had already traveled as a youth.

Confessional humor at its warm and wicked best. (53 color and 17 black-and-white photos)

2404

|

1 january 2012

|

nonfiction

|

Gorman, Hogan Perigee/Penguin (272 pp.) $16.00 paperback | Mar. 6, 2012 978-0-399-53728-8

The funny, moving story of the blueeyed, blond model/actress who became the unlikely poster girl for the plight of the poor and uninsured in America after she was struck by a car in New York City street in 2004.

Though Gorman admits that she’s not the kind of woman who typically elicits sympathy from most folks, the author’s tale of woe following her near-death experience is so tragic and compelling, it doesn’t matter one bit that she never once lets her coarse, sarcastic armor slip. She may be the furthest thing from Snow White (more like the “witch-bitch”), but her harrowing experience grappling with a twisted spine, disinterested welfare hacks and outrageous court officers rendered her so broken and vulnerable, readers will root for this unrepentantly bitchy, foul-mouthed fighter. In fact, Gorman’s obvious toughness in dealing with her suddenly penniless situation following her accident only underscores the bleakness of the whole affair.

Even amid the desperation, love pulsates just as powerfully as the pain in this candid account of one out-of-work woman’s season in uninsured hell. It’s a saccharine-free yarn, yet Gorman’s relationships with her mother (an ex-nun) and her former modeling partner are both touching and profound. As is often the case, the author only discovered who her true friends were after she suffered her accident and resulting health-care nightmare.

Ultimately, Gorman succeeds in not only telling her own triumphant story, but also illuminating the countless problems with the broken American health-care and justice systems. The outcome of her slam-dunk court case is nothing less than astounding, and so is her resurrection.

A remarkable, emotional journey through unrelenting pain—and laughter.

THE STORYTELLING ANIMAL How Stories Make Us Human

Gottschall, Jonathan Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (272 pp.) $24.00 | Apr. 10, 2012 978-0-547-39140-3

A lively pop-science overview of the reasons why we tell stories and why storytelling will endure.

Gottschall (English/Washington & Jefferson Coll.; Literature, Science, and a New Humanities, 2008, etc.) knows that any book about telling stories must be well-written and engaging, and his snapshots of

kirkusreviews.com

|

the worlds of psychology, sleep research and virtual reality are larded with sharp anecdotes and jargon-free summaries of current research. His thesis is that humans’ capacity to tell stories isn’t just a curious aspect of our genetic makeup but an essential part of our being: We tell stories—in fiction, in daydreams, in nightmares—as ways to understand and work through conflicts, the better to be prepared when those conflicts arise in reality. To that end, novels are usually “problem stories” that have strong moral underpinnings. That also helps explain why there are so many fake memoirs, he argues—the instinct to give a conflict-and-resolution arc to stories leads many memoirists to tweak (and even invent) details to fit the pattern. Gottschall uses research into mental illness as a way to explore the intensity of our narrative urge, and he explores how imagined characters can have a real-life impact. (Consider Hitler’s obsession with Wagner operas, or the influence of Uncle Tom’s Cabin on abolition.) Though novels may change or become less popular, writes the author, the instinct for story is deathless, and his closing pages explore recent phenomena like live-action role-playing and massive multiplayer games for hints of what future storytelling will become. Is World of Warcraft better or worse for our brains than novels? Is violent storytelling a cause for concern?

The author discusses such concerns only glancingly. For him, one kind of storytelling is largely as good as any other, but he convincingly argues that story goes on.

Gottschall brings a light touch to knotty psychological matters, and he’s a fine storyteller himself. (65 black-andwhite photos)

MOB DAUGHTER The Mafia, Sammy “the Bull” Gravano, and Me! Gravano, Karen & Pulitzer, Lisa St. Martin’s (304 pp.) $24.99Feb. 14, 2012 978-1-250-00305-8 978-1-250-01520-4 e-book

Gravano’s dishy tell-all about growing up in the shadow of her father, Sammy “The Bull” Gravano.

The author, a star of the VH1 reality-TV show Mob Wives, delivers a memoir that’s the literary equivalent of reality TV. Now 39, Gravano grew up in Brooklyn, where her father worked in construction, ran nightclubs and served as the Gambino family underboss. Much of what Gravano recalls qualifies hers as a healthy, happy girlhood. Married, her parents insisted on regular family dinners during which everyone would share something they’d learned that day. The other part, though, concerning how she came to understand her father’s role in the mafia and what it meant for her family, stands in stark contrast to anyone’s idea of a normal childhood. She knew from a young age that her father was a criminal, but her fierce loyalty to him has never wavered and her perspective is decidedly one-sided: “Seeing my father upset made me feel like the cops were the bad guys.”

At another point, after witnessing his fight with a landscape |

designer, Gravano writes, “My father was very fair when it came to the bottom line, and he expected the people he dealt with to be honest and reasonable as well.” The author’s worship of her father makes her views on the man read as somewhat delusional, especially considering his lengthy criminal history.

Readable but neither scintillating nor illuminating.

(8-page color insert)

CAN’T IS NOT AN OPTION My American Story

Haley, Nikki Sentinel (250 pp.) $27.95 | Apr. 3, 2012 978-1-59523-085-0

South Carolina’s governor stakes out her red-blooded American credentials in a by-the-numbers memoir.

Haley, as was reported back when she briefly made the news, was born Randhawa, the child of Punjabi immigrants. Since her father wore a turban and her kin looked different from the other denizens of the Piedmont, she suffered all the expected abuse and racism of the time and place. Apparently she never considered the political leanings of her tormentors in that redder-thanred state, though, because she jumped into GOP politics once she had the self-described epiphany that people listened to her when she talked. Perhaps that affiliation was merely the product of some perceived sense of loyalty, for the sense we get is that Randhawa/Haley has long gone along to get along: “I got a scholarship to go to Clemson to study textile management.

Cotton, wool, and silk weren’t really my areas of interest, but I thought, Fine, I’ll do it. I just wanted to go to Clemson.” Haley’s approach to politicking is homespun and commonsensical: Ply the audience with Krispy Kremes, win over legislators by doing small favors, profess to love “the people.” On the personal front, she allows that she doesn’t watch TV or read newspapers at home so that her children aren’t exposed to the meanness of politics (so much for education). There’s scarcely a moment that approaches originality in these pages. Every note seems scripted, including her protestations that it’s Washington that keeps her from doing her job: Obama bad, Reagan good, etc.

Haley’s prose rises above a monotonous whisper only when she gets on the subject of the Tea Party: “That’s what I love most about the Tea Party. It’s drawing the line on government arrogance and overspending with the taxpayers’ money.”

If you’re a fellow traveler, this is your book. If not, you likely won’t pick it up.

kirkusreviews.com

|

nonfiction

|

1 january 2012

|

2405

THE STORY OF IRELAND A History of the Irish People

EMANCIPATING LINCOLN The Proclamation In Text, Context, and Memory

Hegarty, Neil Dunne/St. Martin’s (400 pp.) $27.99 | Feb. 1, 2012 978-1-250-00289-1 978-1-4299-4129-7 e-book

Holzer, Harold Harvard Univ. (200 pp.) $24.95 | Feb. 27, 2012 978-0-674-06440-9 978-0-674-06520-8 e-book

A balanced overview of the history of Ireland, written to accompany a BBC television series.

This island nation’s history teems with explosive, emotional issues that partisans tend to view in simplistic, black-and-white terms; such readers will find no encouragement here. “Nothing reduces me to despair more than a vision of Irish history that reduces the debate about the past to a simple paradigm of the Irish versus the English, who was right and who was wrong, as if history could be reduced to a crude morality play,” writes Irish author Hegarty (Dublin: A View from the Ground, 2008, etc.) at the outset of this ambitious survey of nearly 1,600 years of Irish history. His primary theme is that Ireland is a land repeatedly invaded and settled by foreigners, from the Vikings who founded Dublin to the Scottish Presbyterians invited into Ulster by the government of James I, and that each of these groups has contributed to the ethnic, religious and cultural diversity and conflicts on this divided island. Ireland has also been deeply affected by such outside influences as the Counter-Reformation and the French Revolution, and has in turn affected Europe and North America by the almost constant emigration of its people. Hegarty highlights the complexities underlying Ireland’s ongoing conflicts and sails through them without passing judgments, calmly observing as one communal massacre inspires another, or as British government policies fail to relieve the devastation of the Famine, or the Irish Free State descends into civil war. The broad scope of the work requires that the author move along briskly. There is no dreary catalogue of early Irish kings; even such giants as Oliver Cromwell and Charles Parnell receive only about a dozen each, and cultural history is given short shrift. The resulting focus on political events and social movements at the expense of colorful personalities and illuminating anecdotes, combined with Hegarty’s consistently objective tone, render the narrative sometimes disappointingly bland but never dry.

Recommended general readers seeking a thorough, nonpartisan guide to the tragic history of this most distressful country. (Two 8-page color photo inserts)

2406

|

1 january 2012

|

nonfiction

|

As we near its sesquicentennial, a distinguished Lincoln scholar examines the problematic history of the Emanci-

pation Proclamation.

On New Year’s Day 1863, Lincoln steadied himself before signing the document whose culture-changing significance he well understood: “If my name ever goes into history it will be for this act, and my whole soul is in it.” Today Lincoln’s image as “the Great Emancipator” has eroded—too politically incorrect—replaced by Lincoln the unifier, Lincoln the wise. After his death the Proclamation “soon achieved the status of holy writ.” Today it’s often dismissed as the delayed, insufficient and half-hearted act of a desperate president fearful of losing his office and the war. Holzer’s (Lincoln President-Elect, 2009, etc.) tripartite narrative deals first with the historical context of the Proclamation, laying out Lincoln’s exquisitely difficult political, legal, moral and martial calculations as he gradually widened his circle of confidants, labored to manipulate public opinion and slyly prepared the nation for his momentous decision. He spent months refining the announcement released after Antietam and steadfastly signed the promised executive order. The author then moves to a discussion of the Proclamation’s rhetorical deficiencies (Richard Hofstadter said it contained “all the moral grandeur of a bill of lading”), explains why our most eloquent president wrote so uncharacteristically and points us to contemporaneous speeches and letters for the “poetic accompaniment” to what was, after all, preeminently a legal document.

Finally, Holzer turns to the iconography surrounding Lincoln and emancipation, tracing images from the early kneeling-slave, peculiarly disconcerting to modern audiences, on through to treatments by contemporary artists such as Rauschenberg, Basquiat and Kara Walker. This visual evidence effectively underscores his larger point about our troublesome, still evolving understanding of the Proclamation’s place in our history.

A fine introduction to what promises in 2013 to become a nationwide discussion.

kirkusreviews.com

|

“In a polymathic performance, a Nobel laureate weaves together the theories and practices of neuroscience, art and psychology to show how our creative brains perceive and engage art—and are consequently moved by it.” from the age of insight

EXPLORING MARS Chronicles from a Decade of Discovery

Hubbard, Scott Univ. of Arizona (224 pp.) $45.00 | paper $17.95 | Feb. 23, 2012 978-0-8165-2111-1 978-0-8165-2896-7 paperback NASA “Mars Czar” Hubbard (Aeronautics/Stanford Univ.) draws an intimate picture of the Mars Exploration Program, which he fully revamped starting in 2000.

After a series of failed, high-profile projects in 1999, the Mars project was an embarrassing mess. The agency hired Hubbard, a veteran director of its Ames Research Center, to pick up the pieces and reignite the program as well as public perception as to the meaning and worth of such a costly enterprise. In an affable voice thinly covering his diplomatic shrewdness, Hubbard displays how to be in command without being suffocatingly commanding.

He admits from the get-go that Mars sells itself in many ways: its strange color and weird motion, its evidence of water and the tantalizing amino acids trapped in its meteorites. But Hubbard most of all wants readers to understand how he fashioned his Mars program. Half of it concerns insider maneuvering in the snake-pit of Washington, a place often referred to as a “logic-free zone,” where “inside-the-Beltway, spin doctor, agenda-setting, rumor-mongering activity...went on continuously.” Still, such duplicitous, venal behavior is little but comic relief when held up against the artful qualities of the program’s design and the tools created to accomplish its goals. The author explains the scientific strategy, presented for public consumption, as to what the program was doing and why; one of Hubbard’s strong suits is his yearning for good science at the service of education and public outreach. He outlines the program’s balance as regards orbital and land-based exploration, the systems-engineering approach, the expected high level of return, the budgetary consideration and the program’s probes into ancient Mars and current Mars. The author closes with an impressive list of the program’s successes over the last decade.

A lucid, concentrated appreciation of the technological, political and scientific imperatives that guide the nation’s approach to Mars.

SEEING THE LIGHT Inside the Velvet Underground

Jovanovic, Rob St. Martin’s (320 pp.) $26.99 | Apr. 1, 2012 978-1-250-00014-9

A celebration of the Velvet Underground’s enduring influence and a serviceable retelling of its story, though with little in the way of original reporting, illumination or attribution of source material for quotes. |

Having previously churned out musical biographies on artists ranging from cult favorites (Perfect Sound Forever: The Story of Pavement, 2004) to those with more mainstream celebrity (George Michael, 2009), Jovanovic focuses here on the band that “managed to produce what is now described as the most influential record of rock history, The Velvet Underground & Nico (1967).” This is the sort of provocative assessment that pulls its punches, leaving readers to guess whose verdict this is (the author’s?) or how much of a consensus it represents. Similarly: “There can be a strong argument put forward for Lou Reed being the single most important person in American rock over the last four decades.”

Again, the author doesn’t say whether he is in fact making that argument. To the contrary, Jovanovic often minimizes Reed’s importance, attributing the band’s splintering to his autocratic power grab—along with divide-and-conquer management, lack of record-company support and failure to achieve any commercial success. Of the original members, only drummer Moe Tucker talked with the author, though he does a good job of showing what each of the four members contributed to the early dynamic and how the creative tension between Reed and multi-instrumentalist John Cale in particular contributed something crucial, a quality lost after Reed forced Cale from the band. For those who want to know why some consider the band’s subsequent two studio albums as essential as—if not better than—the first two, or explore in more depth the artistry of Reed, Cale and the Velvets, the bibliography lists dozens of books from which the author drew, some more substantial than this.

Better than a clip job, but still hit and run. (8-page blackand-white photo insert)

THE AGE OF INSIGHT The Quest to Understand the Unconscious in Art, Mind, and Brain, from Vienna 1900 to the Present Kandel, Eric Random House (448 pp.) $40.00 | Mar. 27, 2012 978-1-4000-6871-5

In a polymathic performance, a Nobel laureate weaves together the theories and practices of neuroscience, art and psychology to show how our creative brains perceive and engage art—and are consequently moved by it.

Kandel (Biochemistry and Biophysics/Columbia Univ. College of Physicians; In Search of Memory, 2006, etc.) is uniquely equipped for this vast task. Born in Vienna, a collector of Klimt and Kokoschka, a scientist of the first rank, the author possesses in abundance the myriad requirements for such an integrative enterprise. Moving seamlessly and effortlessly between the worlds of art and science, Kandel begins with a look at the art world of Vienna, 1900. Then it’s off to Freud, whose theories and discoveries the author treats with great respect, awarding credit where it’s due, noting but not condemning errors. Kandel also glances at innovations in literature, especially the technique of

kirkusreviews.com

|

nonfiction

|

1 january 2012

|

2407

interior monologue pioneered by Arthur Schnitzler in his Lieutenant Gustl (1900). Some sexy chapters ensue as Kandel discusses sexuality in art, and sex remains a leitmotif. He looks at how painters reveal the interior states of their subjects, and he examines the theories and discoveries of neuroscientists—though he continually returns to the art world for illustration, elaboration and example. Kandel reminds us that the brain creates the world for us: Our poor eyes bring in only a fraction of what’s there; the brain assembles and interprets, using memory as a principal guide. Readers will also learn how artists can make a subject’s eyes seem to follow the viewer, how scientists have used animals and imaging to explore the brain and how artists employ models’ faces, hands and attitude to affect us, to prompt our empathy.

Kandel also investigates the nature of creativity.

A transformative work that joins the hands of Art and Science and makes them acknowledge their close kinship.

LIBERATION SQUARE Inside the Egyptian Revolution and the Rebirth of a Nation

Khalil, Ashraf St. Martin’s (320 pp.) $26.99 | Jan. 3, 2012 978-1-250-00669-1

A debut journalistic memoir by Cairobased reporter Khalil, who covered the rise and fall of Hosni Mubarak’s dictatorship.

The author begins with the optimism that followed Mubarak’s coming to power and presents a pattern of events that demonstrate how the corruption and intimidation practiced in a police state produced the demoralization and resignation that affected almost every Egyptian citizen. Khalil details how courageous individuals such as Saad Eddin Ibrahim—one of Egypt’s leading civil-rights advocates, whose prosecution helped spark a mass movement against Mubarak in 2003 and 2004—began to stand up against the regime. The poisonous combination of judicial corruption and police brutality began to awake significant opposition, and the tipping point was the brutal beating death of Khalid Saieed in Alexandria on June 6, 2010. After pictures of his brutalized body were disseminated online, many Egyptians understood the gravity of the situation—anyone could be killed in the same way. Khalil’s discussion of the role of the Internet and social media provides insight into how large numbers of people were organized to achieve specific objectives—for example, converging on Cairo’s squares and other public areas. The author skillfully examines how the opposition to Egypt’s paramilitary police gained strength, and how American diplomacy contributed to the cause. Khalil closes with the battle for Tahrir Square and the overthrow of the dictatorship.

“Seeing Egyptians regain that sense of dignity, pride, and ownership,” he writes, “was one of the most amazing aspects of the entire pressurized three-week Egyptian revolution.”

A personal account that will be appreciated by those looking to move beyond the day’s headlines, from one who wrote some of the stories published under those headlines.

2408

|

1 january 2012

|

nonfiction

|

THE RACE FOR WHAT’S LEFT The Global Scramble for the World’s Last Resources

Klare, Michael T. Metropolitan/Henry Holt (320 pp.) $27.00 | Mar. 13, 2012 978-0-8050-9126-7

A reasoned discussion exploring a chilling phenomenon: the increasingly competitive and potentially dangerous rivalry for Earth’s diminishing natural resources.

Though empires and countries have always harvested the resources necessary for their survival, writes Nation defense correspondent Klare (Peace and World Security Studies/Hampshire Coll.; Rising Powers, Shrinking Planet: The New Geopolitics of Energy, 2008, etc.), the world now faces an unprecedented combination of factors, a perfect storm made up of “a lack of any unexplored resource preserves beyond those now being eyed for development; the sudden emergence of rapacious new consumers; technical and environmental limitations on the exploitation of new deposits; and the devastating effects of climate change.” The author touches on the discovery of the mammoth deposits of oil, copper, gold, natural gas and other key minerals made after World War II, which fueled prosperity for decades.

However, in 2011 many of these commodities have passed their peak, and corporations and governments must now venture into “previously inaccessible or inhospitable areas.” Klare deftly describes the complex and questionable methods required for acquiring these resources, including deep offshore drilling and hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”). The author devotes one chapter to the “land-buying sprees” now occurring around the globe. Saudi Arabia, China, South Korea and the United States are buying up land in other countries in order to secure a stable food supply for their citizens—often at the expense of the supplying country. In Ethiopia, plots of land owned by Saudi Arabia have become “high-tech plantations set in the middle of a country where farming is still conducted with sickles and ox-drawn plows, and where millions suffer from chronic malnutrition.”

Though occasionally repetitive, the book is a provocative, important addition to the literature of resource issues. (15 maps)

kirkusreviews.com

THE BULLY SOCIETY School Shootings and the Crisis of Bullying in America’s Schools

Klein, Jessie New York Univ. (288 pp.)

Mar. 1, 2012 978-0-8147-4888-6

In her first book, Klein (Sociology and Criminal Justice/Adelphi Univ.) presents an exhaustive and sure-to-be-controversial |

“Glistening evidence that a great critic needs both a bookworm’s habits and a capacious heart.” from reading for my life

examination of school shootings, and, more broadly, the culture of violence, intimidation and exclusion that typifies the school experience in America. “[O]ur children,” she writes, “feel terrorized and tormented on a daily basis.” Boys and girls in school, and increasingly out of school through cyberspace, are subject to a rigid and unforgiving hierarchy based on violently enforced norms. Any deviation from these norms—of rigid heterosexuality, of the proper status symbols signifying wealth, of being strong and able-bodied—is met with a barrage of violent and aggressive behavior, ceaseless bullying and ferocious isolation. In what Klein terms a culture of “hypermasculinity,” cruelty is not only expected but deemed necessary—to not bully is to be bullied. In such a context, school shootings are not so much aberrations but the ultimate act of bullying and affirmation of masculinity by students, mostly boys, marginalized beyond endurance. Students learn bullying behavior from adults, who engage in the same type of individualistic status seeking or simply look the other way in tacit approval of bullying as the norm. In turn, the whole of society sanctions such aggression and cruelty as unbridled capitalism makes life a zerosum game in which the terror of not making it becomes a war of all against all. While we may not be able to transform the overall culture, Klein provides numerous examples in which compassion and cooperation become dominant values. While the author writes with clarity and compassion—this is hardly a dry academic tome—it is a big leap from the murderous actions of a few to the condemnation of an entire economic system. Still, it would be a mistake to dismiss Klein’s thesis out of hand, as she offers an opportunity for us to examine, discuss and consider the world we have created for our children.

Overambitious but challenging condemnation of schools as learning grounds for hatred.

READING FOR MY LIFE Writings, 1958-2008

Leonard, John Viking (376 pp.) $32.95 | Mar. 19, 2012 978-0-670-02308-0

A selection of reviews and essays from the celebrated literary critic, followed by a sort of festschrift with contributors ranging from family members to noted authors (Toni Morrison, Mary

Gordon and others).

Leonard (1939–2008), long-time reviewer for and sometime editor of the New York Times Book Review, displays an astonishing erudition throughout these pieces, chronologically arranged.

(Many readers, however, will be disappointed to find no external indications of when and where the piece initially appeared.)

Sentences sometimes feature as many as nine allusions, such as the one that mentions Yeats, Pound, Lessing, Bellow, Rudolf Steiner, Rosicrucians, Alpha and Omega, Jarrell and Auden. Yet there is often a playfulness—an informality—in his prose, as well. In the initial piece (about how he reads for his living), he |

recalls, “I became an intellectual because I couldn’t get a date.”

And: “Like God and television,” he writes in a long and wonderful essay about TV and popular culture, “we see around corners.”

Leonard could also bring tears at unexpected moments. For example, he ends his review of Joan Didion’s The Year of Magical Thinking, with “I cannot imagine dying without this book.” He ends a piece about Morrison, a writer he championed, with, “I was holding my breath, and she took it away.” Included in the collection are prescient reviews of Maxine Hong Kingston, Robert Stone, Norman Mailer, Don DeLillo, Philip Roth, Amos Oz, Ralph Ellison, Maureen Howard and numerous other luminaries. There is a moving piece about 9/11 and another on the AIDS crisis. More than once, he blasts Bob Dylan for his treatment of Joan Baez (whom Leonard adored). Other, unsurprising targets of his disdain included Richard Nixon and Peggy Noonan.

Glistening evidence that a great critic needs both a bookworm’s habits and a capacious heart.

MEMOIRS OF AN ADDICTED BRAIN A Neuroscientist Examines His Former Life on Drugs Lewis, Marc PublicAffairs (336 pp.) $26.99 | Mar. 6, 2012 978-1-61039-147-4

Developmental neuroscientist Lewis (Human Development and Applied Psychology/Radboud Univ., Netherlands) examines his odyssey from minor stoner to helpless, full-blown addict.

It all started when he was sent to boarding school in New England, where each student had their own host of problems and despair. But it was when he attended UC-Berkeley that he began to explore the world of drugs beyond the occasional bottle of cough syrup, to smoke marijuana and hash throughout the day and pop psychedelics a few times a week. As he now understands it, the drugs were talking to his brain “in the language of dopamine and peptides, neuromodulators and receptors,” tricking the brain into releasing the neurochemicals of reward. As Lewis unspools one pungent drug episode after another, he capably knits into the narrative an accessible explanation of the neural activity that guided his behavior. Lewis chronicles his drug life shuffling from California to Malaysia to Calcutta to Canada, and he provides sharp place portraits intermixed with cringingly prismatic descriptions of intoxication and the bite of boredom, loneliness and shame. “I saw myself as a pathetic creature,” he writes, “a fool, completely obsessed with a stupid drug that I was impervious to the riot of life, the celebration of everyday sensation, that even the poorest people on earth were enjoying all around me.”

And though it is cheering that Lewis was finally able to shake the monkey off his back, it’s a shame that neuroscience couldn’t give him an answer about why: “I don’t actually know the answer. I believe that further research in the neuroscience of addiction will help me get closer to finding it.”

kirkusreviews.com

|

nonfiction

|

1 january 2012

|

2409

From opium pipe to orbitofrontal cortex, a smoothly entertaining interplay between lived experience and the particulars of brain activity.

MOUNTAINS OF LIGHT Seasons of Reflection in Yosemite

Liebenow, R. Mark Univ. of Nebraska (208 pp.) $16.95 paperback | Mar. 1, 2012 978-0-8032-4017-9 Solace after grief in Yosemite.

After the early death of his wife, Liebenow (And Everyone Shall Praise: Resources for Multicultural Worship, 2000, etc.) traced a path similar to naturalist and activist John Muir, who focused much of his work on the Sierra Nevada region and who considered nature not as an adversary but as a seeker with profound respect for its mysteries. Though Liebenow initially poeticized the scenery, remarking on “astounding scenes of transcendent beauty” and the “awe and majesty” the setting inspired, he soon acknowledged the dangers and challenges, from extreme weather to predatory wildlife. Embarking on forays from a base camp populated by climbers, Liebenow discovered a community know for its daring, but also for the frequently shared spirituality found amid harsh conditions.

He intersperses sumptuous observations with reflections on death and man’s inner wilderness. There are few startling revelations—e.g., “Death does not interrupt life, life interrupts death”—but the author mostly renews familiar ideas with personal insights. References to Native Americans and figures such as Theodore Roosevelt, Ansel Adams and others lend historical depth to the work. Descriptions of minute, painterly details hammer home Liebenow’s wonderment, but the grandeur of the locale bears such repetition.

An elegant portrayal of retreat, renewal and return to life with an increased respect for one of the nation’s most revered natural sites.

THE MAMA’S BOY MYTH Why Keeping Our Sons Close Makes Them Stronger

Lombardi, Kay Stone Avery (336 pp.) $26.00 | Mar. 15, 2012 978-1-58333-457-7

In this provocative debut, New York Times contributor Lombardi challenges the cultural message that “a well-adjusted, loving mother is one who gradually but surely pushes her son away, both emotionally and physically, in order to allow him to grow up to be a healthy man.”

Drawing on her experience as the mother of an adult son 2410

|

1 january 2012

|

nonfiction

|

with whom she still maintains an intimate bond, and that of her wide circle of friends and acquaintances, the author suggests that many modern women reject the prevailing wisdom that mothers must distance their sons. They do not agree with the cultural norm that a mother should neither comfort a son once he reaches school age, nor encourage him to confide emotional problems. Lombardi deconstructs the implicit assumption that traits such as sensitivity and empathy are gender-specific “female characteristics,” at odds with a healthy masculine identity. She points to the dichotomy between the way daughters and sons are treated now that young women are encouraged to assume traditionally masculine roles. The opposite is true for boys. From the cradle on, they are expected to “man up” and not cry or seek comfort when they are distressed. Lombardi suggests that supposed innate gender differences reflect culturally determined differences in nurturing as opposed to a significant divergence between male and female brains. She cites a number of recent studies, which indicate that boys who receive less “mothering” are more vulnerable to psychological problems. She contends that not only does mother/son bonding play a positive role in a boy’s maturation, but that mothers are better able than fathers to help their sons develop better relationships with women, and the communications skills necessary for success in the modern work world. This is especially so in situations where bosses are frequently women.

An insightful, timely study, especially now as feminist gains are under attack.

CONSENT OF THE NETWORKED The Worldwide Struggle for Internet Freedom MacKinnon, Rebecca Basic (224 pp.) $26.99 | Feb. 1, 2012 978-0-465-02442-1

An incisive overview of the global struggle for Internet freedom.

MacKinnon, a former CNN journalist in Beijing and now online-policy guru at the New America Foundation, warns of the threats to online free expression and assembly at a time when our political lives are highly dependent on digital services and platforms largely owned by the private sector. The corporations and governments that govern cyberspace (“sovereigns operating without the consent of the networked”), she writes, are not being held sufficiently accountable. In her wide-ranging book, MacKinnon details the many ways in which governments, corporations and others are using the Internet— from empowering people to helping authoritarian dictators survive. In China in 2009, online citizen protests forced the government to drop murder charges against a waitress who inadvertently killed a Party official while fighting off his sexual advances.

But the Internet also serves as a means of political control for the Chinese government, whose complex censorship system is able to distort the information on issues and events reaching

kirkusreviews.com

|

people, including educated elites. Although China is the most advanced case, other authoritarian regimes take similar advantage of their power over private networks and platforms. In the United States, writes the author, present laws and policies make it “vastly easier for government agencies to track and access citizens’ private digital communications than it is for authorities to search or carry out surveillance of our physical homes, offices, vehicles, and mail.” With all governments now using technology to defend their interests, it is time to develop innovative ways to hold companies accountable for business, software and engineering choices. The author describes the hopeful emergence of a decentralized “transnational movement to defend and expand Internet freedom,” which might eventually shift the balance of power. At the same time, individuals must raise their awareness of online-freedom issues, becoming citizens of the Internet— ”netizens”—rather than passive users.

An informed call to action by the “networked” to protect their rights.

SUCH A LIFE

Martin, Lee Univ. of Nebraska (232 pp.) $16.95 paperback | Mar. 1, 2012 978-0-8032-3647-9 A novelist explores his rural, dysfunctional upbringing for hints of the writer he would become.

For his third memoir, Martin (English and Creative Writing/Ohio St. Univ.; Break the Skin, 2011, etc.) assembles a series of personal essays that run roughly in chronological order, from his childhood in a small Illinois farm town to his more urbane, literate adulthood. His father looms large over many of these pieces, and understandably so: He lost both of his hands in a farming accident, becoming a sour and abusive parent, and many of the early pieces are concerned with Martin proving his manliness to adults. In “You Want It?,” a particularly strong piece, the author recalls working a summer farm job at 14 and shrewdly lays out the subtle parrying among the boys, exposing the reasons why some boys bully and why some do or don’t push back. Martin can seemingly turn any subject back to his hardscrabble youth: Asked to write about the Pittsburgh mansion of robber baron Henry Clay Frick, he bounces the industrialist’s wealth against the lives of the working-class men he better relates to. The author’s prose is carefully controlled, which is a welcome counter to the flash, drama and broad comedy that mark noisier (and more factually suspect) memoirs. But at times the narrative feels more bloodless than it ought to be. On a number of occasions Martin mentions a debate with his wife over their childlessness, but his avoidance of discussing the tension between them sticks out. In “Somniloquy,” he strains to connect his childhood sleepwalking to his mother-in-law’s sad decline from Alzheimer’s, but some stories don’t need such effortful metaphorical setups or so much attention on the author. |

Martin is an expert memoirist willing to explore every remembered utterance for emotional weight, though at times he keeps the reader at too far a distance.

TEA PARTY PATRIOTS The Second American Revolution

Meckler, Matt & Martin, Jenny Beth Henry Holt (240 pp.) $23.00 | Jan. 17, 2012 978-0-8050-9437-4

The founders of Tea Party Patriots, Inc., explain their movement and its plan “to restore America to greatness.”

Meckler, a lawyer, entrepreneur and family man from California, and Martin, a housecleaner and family woman from Atlanta who lost her home in the collapse of the housing bubble, found each other after the emotional response of CNBC financial analyst Rick Santelli on the floor of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange to the Obama administration’s 2009 proposal to bail out delinquent mortgages. Claiming the Founding Fathers would be rolling over in their graves, Santelli called for a Chicago Tea Party in July. Rush Limbaugh broadcast Santelli’s rant on his radio show and called for revolution. “The next day,” the authors note, “the modern-day Tea Party movement was born.” Meckler and Martin deny that theirs is an “Astroturf ” (i.e., artificial) grass roots movement and a front for the Republican Party. They claim their numbers were, from the beginning, made up of Republicans, Democrats and Independents, like Meckler himself, who had all but given up on the two-party system. But the politics they advocate are solidly right wing. Peppering the text with quotes from founders like Jefferson and Madison and conservative icons like Ronald Reagan and Margaret Thatcher, they argue for small government, low taxes and a free market. They want to abolish the income tax, overturn the Health Care Reform Act of 2010, weaken public-employee unions, challenge public education with vouchers for educational choice and somehow instill in their fellow citizens and the nation’s culture makers reverence for American exceptionalism. Areas of common ground with those they disagree with, such as an intriguing proposal for more direct democracy via the Internet, are rare.

Like-minded readers will find this book inspiring and invaluable. Others may find it overly strident at worst or a political curiosity at best.

kirkusreviews.com

|

nonfiction

|

1 january 2012

|

2411

k i r ku s q & a w i t h b r o o k e g l a d s t on e For more than a decade, journalist Brooke Gladstone has investigated the latest media trends on her NPR show On the Media. In June she published The Influencing Machine, with illustrations

by Josh Neufeld, the author of A.D.: Katrina After the Deluge. Gladstone’s book earned a star and was named one of the Kirkus Best Nonfiction Books of 2011. In an e-mail exchange, the author discusses the current state of the media and offers advice for news consumers in this chaotic time.

THE INFLUENCING MACHINE:

Brooke Gladstone on the Media Brooke Gladstone Illustrated by Josh Neufeld Norton (192 pp.) $23.99 June 1, 2011 978-0-393-07779-7

Q: I think the graphic format works extremely well for this book. Why did you decide on that format?

A: I thought speaking in bubbles would be more like radio, the medium I know best. Radio listeners rely on the reporter’s voice to paint pictures, and voices are very personal. It may be an illusion, but the experience of listening seems strangely intimate. I thought that if I could speak in balloons and look readers in the eye, I could approximate that sense of intimacy.

Another reason for using comics: I was trying to respond to a boatload of media books predicting impending doom, or alternatively, cyber-utopia. I build a complicated argument against both assertions on a series of historical anecdotes, and I wanted those stories to stick with the reader. Pictures are sticky.

Finally, I am a total science-fiction geek, and I craved the chance to float through time and space and change my shape as the occasion demanded.

That was pure joy.

Q: How did you hook up with Josh Neufeld?

A: Dan Frank, the head honcho at Pantheon, suggested Josh to me. Josh was finishing up his brilliant A.D. for Pantheon, and I cold-called him after looking at his stuff on line. Luckiest phone call I every made. He was the first one to tell me it was my job to think up all the images (gulp!), and then he was the one to ensure that they could work on the page. And when they couldn’t work, he would guide me to a solution. This was a real collaboration. Josh’s experience and judgment, his skills as an artist and a journalist, are reflected on every page of The Influencing Machine.

Q: With social media and new user-generated content initiatives, it seems more important than ever to have gatekeepers or content curators. Do you agree, and how do you effectively sift through what is an increasingly saturated news marketplace?

A: Absolutely, this media environment cries out for curators. But more than ever, it’s up to the individual news consumer to work that out. Legacy news operations like the TV networks or major newspapers can and do fulfill that role, but websites also have emerged that do a terrific job, and social media such as Twitter are increasingly vital.

The savviest, best-informed news junkies I know find experts they trust on Twitter and follow the links those experts provide. That is “bespoke curation,” that’s the future, and it works.

Q: What advice do you have for readers who may feel overwhelmed and/or completely turned off from news coverage?

A: My first piece of advice would be to turn off the coverage that offends you (usually, it turns out to be cable news). Then, I would advice readers to return to reading, seek out those reliable curators—they are out there!—and finally, as the sage once said, “fasten your seatbelts…it’s gonna be a bumpy ride.”

–By Eric Liebetrau

9 For the full interview, please visit kirkusreviews.com.

A: Sure, it’s worse. Part of it is due to the way we gerrymander our voting districts and our system of primaries that benefits the most extreme 2412

|

1 january 2012

|

nonfiction

|

kirkusreviews.com

|

P HOTO © C HR IS T IN E B U T L ER

Q: Your book examines how many of the biases of reporting have always been around. However, the current reporting on politics seems particularly poisonous to intelligent debate.

Do you think our current atmosphere is any worse than it has been in previous decades?

candidates. And of course, part of it is due to the unmediated environment of the Internet.

The media biases I outline in the book have always been with us, baked into the commercial nature of the business and also baked into us as human beings. We don’t like to be argued out of our prejudices.

Still, in the last 70 years or so, news outlets (seeking mass audiences to pay for increasingly expensive news operations) have worked with the establishment to marginalize the most extreme voices, for good and ill. Now, thanks to the Internet and cable feedback loop, all those voices feed into the national debate, keeping alive issues that once would have been ignored (for instance, the president’s citizenship). But if you look further back in history, say 100 years, we see eras just as poisonous as this one, and they pass. So will this.

THE GREAT NORTHERN EXPRESS A Writer’s Journey Home Mosher, Howard Frank Crown (288 pp.) $25.00 | Mar. 6, 2012 978-0-307-45069-2 978-0-307-45095-1 e-book

An acclaimed novelist’s cross-country, “Great American Book Tour,” woven with quaint recollections of teaching in northern Vermont as well as enthusiasm for trout fishing.

Following radiation treatment for cancer, the then-65year-old Mosher (Walking to Gatlinburg, 2010, etc.) embarked on a road trip inspired by a childhood promise that also coincided with the publication of a new novel. Forays in cities included stops at notable independent bookshops, from Prairie Lights to Powell’s; near-escapes with wildlife; anecdotal encounters with Oliver Sacks as well as Harry Potter fans; musings on landscapes; and conversations with locals characterized by humorous, occasionally larger-than-life traits. In three sections (“Faith,” “Hope” and “Love”), Mosher threads the uncertainty of his pre-novelist days with the foibles of now being an accomplished yet realistic, humble author. Rather than presenting a linear career story, he refreshingly alternates chapters between past and present. With equal aplomb, Mosher also looks back at challenges such as moving a piano, raucous motel patrons, rest-stop brawlers, limited audiences that included only the staff that organized the event and being mistaken for homeless. He also skillfully highlights memories that emphasize neighborly relationships. Chapters on Vermont are noteworthy for the recurrent theme of discovering simpler pleasures and searching for stories amid colorful lives.

Fleeting conversations with imaginary characters may strike some readers as overly whimsical, and the digressive story about an inheritance is distracting. Still, Mosher provides a genial reminder that adventures are possible at any age.

One man’s appreciation for curious experiences, portrayed with self-effacing wit; best suited for fans of the author’s work.

THE CONUNDRUM How Scientific Innovation, Increased Efficiency, and Good Intentions Can Make Our Energy and Climate Problems Worse

Owen, David Riverhead (272 pp.) $14.00 paperbackFeb. 7, 2012 978-1-59448-561-9

Americans talk a good game when it comes to environmental responsibility, but all we care about is the price of gas. |

Is there any news in the observation that the road to hell is paved with good intentions? Probably not, though New Yorker staffer Owen, who established his credentials as an environmental scold with Green Metropolis (2009), seems surprised and irritated to learn that there are trade-offs involved in trying to live responsibly in the world. Take those pesky Vermonters, for instance, who think of themselves as solid citizens on their backto-the-land organic farms, but who drive 10 times more than urban New Yorkers. Or take the advocates of high-speed trains between, say, San Francisco and Los Angeles, who aren’t solving anything by encouraging Californians to travel faster on the way to whatever it is they’re up to. Owen—who holds New York City as a model for most things—thrives on the straw man: Put a solar panel array on your roof, he suggests, and you’ll start leaving your lights on throughout the day just because you have the illusion of free power for the burning. As for those customers on highspeed trains? Well, the minute they took their cars off the interstate, someone else, sensing the lessening in traffic, would come along to take their place. A little of this contrarian stuff goes a very long way. Owen does make useful points by encouraging us to reframe problems of the environment more precisely—urging, for instance, that the key to protecting wilderness is to make cities livable enough that people want to stay in them rather than out in the sticks and “not to encourage sprawl by treating cities as soul destroyers.” But that’s an old argument: Read Jane Jacobs, Lewis Mumford or J.B. Jackson for the particulars.

Readers seeking environmental snark will enjoy the book. Others, probably not.

WINTER KING Henry VII and the Dawn of Tudor England

Penn, Thomas Simon & Schuster (480 pp.) $30.00 | Mar. 6, 2012 978-1-4391-9156-9

Henry VII, who reigned from 1485 to 1509, is little known compared to his son, Henry VIII, and granddaughter, Elizabeth I, but Verso Books editorial director Penn does an eminently satisfying job of remedying this.

Popular historians note that Henry VII’s death left England at peace and with a full treasury, but the author emphasizes that contemporaries breathed a sigh of relief at the exit of a paranoid, Machiavellian ruler who inspired no love. A usurper with only a distant claim to the throne, Henry Tudor returned from exile at age 28 to defeat Richard III on Bosworth Field.

Although this ended the interminable, destructive War of the Roses, no one realized this at the time. Powerful nobles plotted his overthrow, and many supporters were lukewarm, so he spent his reign battling rebellions, obsessively seeking conspiracies (many genuine) and enhancing his power through surveillance, diplomacy and manipulation of trade. He also filled his coffers with fines, bonds for good behavior and property seizures, the result of a mixture of suspicion, pure greed and treason, real or

kirkusreviews.com

|

nonfiction

|

1 january 2012

|

2413

“A frank, exhaustive, marvelously readable study.” from sword of the spirit, shield of faith

fancied. Except for a single disastrous invasion of France, he avoided war and began a 300-year policy in which British rulers preferred sending money rather than armies to support European allies. This is straightforward politics-and-great-men history, and readers will refer frequently to the book’s genealogy chart to identify which quarrelsome prince, pretender, duke or earl is tormenting the king at that point.

An entertaining, insightful biography featuring a colorful cast of characters, led by the formidable Henry VII, who passed on the first untroubled succession in 80 years, launching the equally turbulent but more familiar Tudor renaissance.

SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, SHIELD OF FAITH Religion in American War and Diplomacy

Preston, Andrew Knopf (832 pp.) $37.50 | Feb. 28, 2012 978-1-4000-4323-1

A sharp, clear, deeply researched examination of the consistent application of the founding religious principles to American foreign policy, from the colonists’ sense of a Protestant exceptionalism to President Obama’s “Good Niebuhr Policy.”

The invocation of God and religion to sanctify foreignpolicy decisions is not a new or surprising idea, as Preston (American and International History/Cambridge Univ.) learned especially when he was researching his work on McGeorge Bundy and the Vietnam War (The War Council, 2006). However, the extent to which religion has been used consistently to shape U.S. diplomatic history proved “an odd and unsettling discovery.” Here the author thoroughly documents that discovery, from the self-righteous Puritans’ establishing their “City upon a Hill” to the modern-day presidents acting as self-appointed popes. Preston explores this fascinating paradox of a nation founded on freedom of religion yet exhibiting, in its relations with the wider world, a profound belief in a Judeo-Christian sense of “exceptional virtue.” America’s unique geographical position in the world allowed it “free security” to engender idealistic choices and values, reflected in its moralistic foreign policy. Its founding Reformation Protestant society eventually developed tenets of pluralism, libertarianism, a deep suspicion of despotism and hostility to arbitrary power, a faith-based progressivism, nationalism and even isolationism, all of which Preston explores systematically. America’s reaction to what it perceived as corrupt and tyrannical foreign influences thus allowed the republic to model itself as virtuous and in the right, spreading “God’s own cause” in subsequent dealings with the Indians, Canadians, Mexicans, Cubans and Filipinos, largely for worse. Preston sifts carefully through the “religious biographies” of certain key policymakers, including John Quincy Adams, William McKinley, Abraham Lincoln, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin Roosevelt, John Foster Dulles and others.

A frank, exhaustive, marvelously readable study.

2414

|

1 january 2012

|

nonfiction

|

A MAGNIFICENT OBSESSION Victoria, Albert, and the Death that Changed the British Monarchy

Rappaport, Helen St. Martin’s (336 pp.) $26.99 | Mar. 13, 2012 978-0-312-62105-6 978-1-4299-4092-4 e-book

Absorbing account of the making of a queen through her awful, protracted grief.

To Queen Victoria (1819–1901), her beloved husband Albert was counsel, teacher, co-ruler and more—“King in all but name,” as British historian and Russian expert Rappaport (Conspirator: Lenin in Exile, 2010, etc.) depicts in this readable narrative.

Twenty happy years of marriage had produced nine healthy children—unheard of in that era of common infant mortality—and a solid sovereign partnership by 1861. Yet within the year, the unthinkable happened: A mysterious debilitating illness seized her husband, and he died on Dec. 15. Victoria’s all-consuming grief stemmed partly from a deliberate denial of the seriousness of Albert’s disease, both on the part of the doctors and her own willful intractability. A man of regular habits, excellent education, incorruptible rectitude, absolute loyalty and finest culture, Prince Albert had instructed his wife over the years on how to be a proper queen, ironically bolstering her enormous popularity to the detriment of his own. Essentially for the next 10 years she devoted herself to preserving his memory. She erected monuments (a regular “Albertopolis”), banished all pleasures at court, supported an entire industry of black fabrics and jet jewelry and published his speeches and memoir of their life together in Scotland. Eventually the public and the government grew tired of her “luxury of woe” and by year three she was being roundly criticized for her seclusion. Thanks to the loyalty of her favored Highland attendant, John Brown, her fondness for Benjamin Disraeli and her distaste for her profligate heir, Bertie, Queen Victoria got back in the saddle—though Rappaport skates over her transformation in one concluding page, keeping readers wanting more.

Fluid reading by the knowledgeable author of Queen Victoria: A Biographical Companion. (16-page black-and-white photo insert)

THE EMERALD DIAMOND How the Irish Transformed America’s Greatest Pastime Rosen, Charley Harper/HarperCollins (288 pp.) $25.99 | Mar. 1, 2012 978-0-06-208988-5

Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day—a celebration of the many men (and one woman) of Irish descent who have densely populated professional baseball, especially in its earliest decades.

kirkusreviews.com

|

FoxSports.com analyst Rosen (Bullpen Diaries: Mariano Rivera, Bronx Dreams, Pinstripe Legends, and the Future of the New York Yankees, 2011, etc.) has nothing too weighty on his mind here. The text is full of bullet points, lots of anecdotes and earnestness mixed with facetiousness. The author begins with a snapshot of the game in 1894, a game that in some ways resembled today’s, in other ways was nearly alien (pitchers had to keep both feet on the ground but could doctor the ball with just about any substance). He writes about the socioeconomic factors that brought so many Irish immigrants to American shores and notes how they found baseball one of the few places that (grudgingly) accepted rather than excluded them. By the 1880s about 40 percent of players were Irish. The author leaps back to the 1870s and the first professional league, then advances decade by decade to the present. Some famous names from diamond (and cultural) history emerge along the way—the evangelist Billy Sunday gave the game a whirl, and was slugger Mike “King” Kelly the source for “Casey at the Bat”? By the 1890s some future deities on baseball’s Olympus had appeared, John McGraw, Connie Mack and Charles Comiskey among them. As the decades proceeded, the Irish influence waxed and waned and waxed again, and the author includes a number of interviews—oddly dull ones for the most part—with current players with Irish ancestry. Readers will no doubt enjoy the stories (most are quite brief) about the likes of Billy O’Hara (an outfielder who improved the techniques of throwing hand grenades), Joe McCarthy, Casey Stengel, umpire Jocko Conlan, Denny McClain and myriad others.

As frothy as a ballpark beer. (13 black-and-white photos)

SIX TIRES, NO PLAN The Impossible Journey of the Most Inspirational Leader that (Almost) Nobody Knows Rosenbaum, Michael Greenleaf Book Group (200 pp.) $21.95 | Mar. 1, 2012 978-1-60832-257-2

Financial journalist and consultant Rosenbaum (Your Name Here Guide to Life, 2009, etc.) tells the cheering story of Bruce Halle, the force behind the Discount Tire Company.

Halle’s tale is inspiring because he built a business empire out of treating both his workforce and his customers with good will. Starting in 1960, he sold tires from his little shop in Ann Arbor, Mich., with a welcoming smile on his face, fast and courteous service and clean restrooms. He worked like a dog, yet he never showed anything but respect and appreciation to his customers and employees. Rosenbaum presents the story in pleasingly unadorned fashion; you can almost sense Halle standing over his shoulder, feeding him the material. One moment the action will be centered on an aspect of Halle’s business strategy, which in turn might spark some personal reminiscence. Though a considerable amount of the book chronicles Halle’s life’s progress, what sings from the pages are the heart-gladdening pillars of his business vision. It goes without saying that the customer |

gets class treatment—for, as a friend of Halle’s noted, “Nobody gets up in the morning and says, ‘What a beautiful day. I think I’ll go buy four tires.’ They get up and say, ‘I have to buy new tires.’ It’s like going to the dentist”—but the workers also feel like they are getting class treatment from the workplace. Many of the workers who gravitate to Discount are “lost boys” without a sense of direction. The company provides a genial atmosphere, a good wage serious potential. Rosenbaum makes it all sound like business-for-dummies, with a bright helping of humor and head-slapping obviousness, repeating his subject’s mantra: “Be honest. Work hard. Have fun. Be grateful. Pay forward.”

Call them Halle’s Golden Rules. They ought to be canned and fed to every schoolchild.

POWER, INC. the Epic Rivalry Between Big Business and Government—and the Reckoning that Lies Ahead

Rothkopf, David Farrar, Straus and Giroux (464 pp.) $30.00 | Mar. 6, 2012 978-0-374-15128-7 Rothkopf (Superclass: The Global Power Elite and the World They are Making, 2009, etc.) uses a wide-angle lens to examine the relation between public and private power.

The author compares various models of capitalist functioning for insight into their relative rates of success—the U.S. “government-lite” opposition to big government; China’s top-down state control; the more democratic “statist” version offered by India and Brazil; a European model, derived primarily from Sweden and Germany; and one based on such commercially successful small states as Israel, Singapore and the United Arab Emirates. Comparing models, the author separates successful economies from the near successful, the failing and the failed, and he compares countries and public institutions to the private sector—Wal-Mart, Exxon, Royal Dutch Shell and dozens of others. Rothkopf adds historical context with his account of one of the oldest companies in the world, Sweden’s Stora, which began as a mining venture in the 1200s and has endured under different names for centuries. Sweden and Stora’s mines were vital to the outcome of both the Protestant Reformation and the Thirty Years’ War, the concluding settlement of which signaled the victory of the nation state. In Rothkopf ’s view, the world has shifted from a “battle between capitalism and Communism to something even more complex: a battle between differing forms of capitalism in which the distinction between each is in the relative role and responsibilities of public and private sectors.” The extremes of both Soviet communism and free-market financial “overreach” have been discredited. American capitalism initially triumphed but has receded, and competition between different capitalisms will continue.

Rothkopf delivers a lively, accessible treatment of a multifaceted, complex subject.

kirkusreviews.com

|

nonfiction

|

1 january 2012

|

2415

“A sound, basic survey without a rigid agenda, useful for students, tourists and those planning aliyah.” from israel

ISRAEL An Introduction

Rubin, Barry--Ed. Yale Univ. (352 pp.) $30.00 | Feb. 1, 2012 978-0-300-16230-1

A thorough, occasionally defensive overview of the young nation from inception to the present by an accomplished Israeli lobbyist and scholar.

The director of the Global Research in International Affairs Center at the Interdisciplinary Center, Herzliya, Israel, which sponsors this project, Rubin (The Truth About Syria, 2008, etc.) has marshaled many contributors in this fairly evenhanded survey of the many rich and complex facets of Israeli history, society, government, economics and culture. He establishes immediately that “a great deal about Israel is controversial,” and confronts the issues in a straightforward manner. Such issues include existential insecurity, ongoing Palestinian conflict, fluid borders, diverse immigrant population, living with daily terrorist violence and the sense of being “misunderstood by outside observers.” He reminds readers that Jews even in exile acted as a “national people, arguably the first such in history,” and thus the establishment of Israel was “the continuation of a long historical process,” not merely the result of the Holocaust. The early socialist framework of the kibbutz and moshav, created around farming communities by immigrants with little capital or modern resources, continued well until the 1990s, forming a mostly secular, pluralist, democratic society; today Israel’s economy is driven by technological innovation, while Rubin downplays the country’s vast military strength, insisting that “Israel has never been a militarized country.” The author writes that Israelis want peace and are willing to give up territory captured in the 1967 war and grant a Palestinian state, but are not convinced that the Palestinians are reliable partners. Rubin’s delineation of the numerous political parties is elucidating, and he concludes with an overview of cultural tenets.

A sound, basic survey without a rigid agenda, useful for students, tourists and those planning aliyah.

THE GODFATHER EFFECT Changing Hollywood, America, and Me

Santopietro, Tom St. Martin’s (320 pp.) $25.99 | $12.99 e-book | Feb. 1, 2012 978-1-250-00513-7 978-1-4299-5262-0 e-book

Amusing fusion of memoir and cultural critique, focusing on the family saga none of us could refuse.

Broadway theater manager Santopietro (Sinatra in Hollywood, 2008, etc.) asserts that with the 1972 release of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Godfather, “notions of ethnicity in America 2416

|

1 january 2012

|

nonfiction

|

had been upended in rather spectacular fashion” especially for young Italian-Americans who felt conflicted about many aspects of their heritage, including a stifling emphasis on family ties, love for America paired with distrust of authority and, of course, a convenient stereotype of pervasive criminal involvement. The author claims that it was his early viewings of the film and its sequels that revealed to him “just what had transpired in my grandfather’s leap to L’America,” allowing him to transition into a family history in which his grandparents settled in Waterbury, Conn., around 1917, where the effects of anti-immigrant prejudice were evident despite the Italian community’s established local roots. Since his most of his mother’s family were locally prominent WASPs, this resulted in an embarrassed confusion regarding his upbringing and inner identity. His narrative shifts between this personal history and an examination of the production and impact of the three Godfather films. He discusses many intriguing aspects of the original production, including studio resistance to Coppola and the actors Al Pacino and Marlon Brando (their indelible performances notwithstanding), and the long-rumored presence of actual mobsters on the set. He also explores other relevant cultural tangents, such as the many shoddy pastiches of mob culture (and some good ones, like The Sopranos) and the transformative impact of unapologetic paisano Frank Sinatra. The writing is slick, and most engaging when Santopietro looks back nostalgically at his personal history, but many of the observations drawn about the Godfather trilogy’s effect on American society since then seem familiar.

An entertaining but slight merger of social and personal history, via the lens of popular culture.

WHEN GENERAL GRANT EXPELLED THE JEWS

Sarna, Jonathan D. Schocken (224 pp.) $24.95 | Mar. 20, 2012 978-0-8052-4279-9 978-0-8052-4303-1 e-book

Sarna (History/Brandeis Univ.; A Time to Every Purpose: Letters to a Young Jew, 2008, etc.) nimbly reappraises Grant’s presidency as ushering a “golden age” for American Jews, despite the short-lived expulsion order he couldn’t live down.

General Orders No. 11, published in 1862 by Gen. Grant as head of the Union Army’s Department of the Tennessee, decreed that “Jews as a class” were to be expelled from the department because of “violating every regulation of trade”— i.e., on account of smuggling. While the order was issued during the pressing exigencies of wartime, then swiftly revoked

by President Lincoln when visited by prominent Kentucky merchant Cesar Kaskel and Ohio Congressman John Addison Gurley some weeks later, Grant was vilified by the Jewish community—nearly 150,000 citizens—and hard-pressed to exonerate himself as presidential candidate, then president. Sarna expertly navigates the repercussions of this shocking order, which galvanized the American Jewish community to action,

kirkusreviews.com

|

“Precisely the sort of levelheaded, serious discussion our political leaders appear so unwilling to conduct.” from the predictable surprise

reminding many who were refugees from European expulsions how insecure they were even in America. It also deeply divided the Jewish community when faced with the 1868 GrantSeymour presidential election. The order aroused a passionate debate both in the Senate, where some Democratic members moved to censure the (Republican) general, unsuccessfully, and in the press, which spoke out against the stereotyping and scapegoating of the Jews as “swindlers.” (Sarna evenhandedly considers the extent to which Jews were involved in smuggling.)

Moreover, with the passage of the Emancipation Proclamation, Jews expressed their consternation that the rise in status for blacks came at the cost of their own abasement. Jewish leaders such as Simon Wolf and Isaac Mayer Wise wrestled with the ethics of backing the modern-day Haman, as Grant was called, or support the racist, anti-black Democrats. Sarna weighs the short-lived order against important Jewish appointments in Grant’s administration, his humanitarian support for oppressed Jews around the world and lasting friendships with Jews.

A well-argued exoneration of a president and a sturdy scholarly study.

THE PREDICTABLE SURPRISE The Unraveling of the U.S. Retirement System Schieber, Sylvester J. Oxford Univ. (464 pp.) $34.95 | Mar. 1, 2012 978-0-19-989095-8

A former chairman of the Social Security Advisory Board offers some straight talk about our tottering retirement system.

To add to our current economic anxieties, along comes Schieber (co-author: Fundamentals of Private Pensions, 2010, etc.), warning our children and grandchildren about their golden years turning to dross because of the reluctance of political leaders to grapple with a retirement system that cannot be sustained. He begins by identifying the components of the “system”—Social Security, employer-sponsored pensions (both public and private sector), personal savings, retiree health insurance and the parttime jobs people take as a bridge to retirement—and traces the history and development of each. He goes on to demonstrate how the system has been shaped by changing demographics and economics, the political response to the needs and desires of workers and the regulatory structure installed to administer and monitor private and public retiree programs. For more than 40 years the author has helped shape retirement policies, and he’s not bashful about inserting his own authoritative voice and considerable experiences into his history. The discussion necessarily gets deep into the weeds—analysts and policymakers will welcome the thoroughness—but general readers will appreciate Schieber’s efforts to warm the material with quotations from Sophocles, Confucius, Dickens, Churchill, Lewis Carroll and even Mae West, and to demystify the arcana with a plethora |

of table, charts and graphs, and a useful glossary. The author brings us up to 2010, surveys our precarious footing and makes recommendations for repairing our broken system. Even those who disagree with his prescriptions for reform—he forthrightly calls, for example, for immediate sacrifice by the boomers, would allow individual accounts as an element of Social Security, believes health-benefit plans should be taxable—will be forced to confront the dire facts. There’s time to fix our retirement system, he insists, but not much.

Precisely the sort of levelheaded, serious discussion our political leaders appear so unwilling to conduct.

THAT WOMAN The Life of Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor

Sebba, Anne St. Martin’s (352 pp.) $27.99 | Mar. 13, 2012 978-1-250-00296-9 978-1-4299-6245-2 e-book

An in-depth biography of the notorious Wallis Simpson, Duchess of Windsor, the American divorcée whose marriage to King Edward VIII cost him the throne.

Already a bestseller in the UK, the latest work by biographer Sebba (American Jennie: The Remarkable Life of Lady Randolph Churchill, 2007, etc.) pulls no punches in revealing the secrets of its subject. Born in 1896 in Pennsylvania, Bessie Wallis Warfield was raised by a single mother dependent on the charity of her less-than-generous family. Even by virtue of shortening her name, Sebba theorizes, Wallis proved herself to be self-created and controlling. Though funny and smart, she was neither brilliant nor beautiful. Much of the book focuses on her romantic and sexual life, including a claim that Wallis most likely suffered from a disorder of sexual development, or intersexuality. It’s impossible to know definitively, but Sebba’s extensive research has led her to conclude that Wallis may have been born genetically male, but developed outwardly as a female, or, alternatively, that she was a pseudo-hermaphrodite. Wallis herself claimed never to have had intercourse with either of her first two husbands. She was still married when she met Edward, whose obsession with marrying Wallis prompted outrage across England and led him to abdicate his throne. She was granted a second divorce, and the two married in 1937 after two years of waiting. Derisively referred to as “that woman” by the Queen Mother, Wallis is depicted, in grand detail, as cunning yet “irresistible” for her charismatic “personal sparkle.”

Salacious and consuming, this well-researched biography will appeal to readers interested in British political and women’s history. (First serial in T: The New York Times Style Magazine)

kirkusreviews.com

|

nonfiction

|

1 january 2012

|

2417

BLOOD AND BONE Truth and Reconciliation in a Southern Town Shuler, Jack Univ. of South Carolina (248 pp.) $29.95 | Feb. 8, 2012 978-1-61117-048-1

A transplanted Southerner explores the aftermath of the 1968 shootings of unarmed black college students by highway patrolmen in his hometown of Orangeburg, S.C. When Shuler (English/Denison Univ.; Calling Out Liberty: The Stono Slave Rebellion and the Universal Struggle for Human Rights, 2009, etc.) came across a copy of The Orangeburg Massacre (1970)

by Jack Bass and Jack Nelson, what he read launched him on a quest to discover how the town had dealt with the event in the wake of the violence and the current status of race relations there. The author traveled to Orangeburg in 2009 and 2010 and interviewed dozens of people, including both blacks and whites who were there in 1968. Among his interviewees were businessmen, ministers, the mayor, even a highway patrolman, who happened to be the author’s great-uncle. Their stories often conflict, reflecting their complicated feelings, perceptions and prejudices, the “narratives deep in the blood and bone of the community.”

What is not in dispute is that many black students were injured, three were killed and nine highway patrolmen were tried and found not guilty. No compensation was made to victims’ families, and one black civil-rights activist was tried, convicted of rioting, jailed and later pardoned. Although public officials have issued apologies, Shuler makes clear that the reconciliation process is long and begins with listening to and paying attention to each other’s stories. Orangeburg remains a town struggling with a damaged reputation and divided by race and class. It is also, the author points out, a symptom of a larger problem across the country, which demands that we look at our history closely and come to grips with the underlying issue of racism.

Filled with the voices of men and women willingly or reluctantly responding to a journalist’s probing, Shuler’s report paints a dark picture with glimmers of light. (14 illustrations)

THE BOXER REBELLION AND THE GREAT GAME IN CHINA

Silbey, David J. Hill and Wang/Farrar, Straus and Giroux (272 pp.) $26.95 | Mar. 20, 2012 978-0-8090-9477-6

A succinct revisiting of the turn-of-thecentury uprising that pitted Chinese recalcitrance against “imperial buccaneering.”

There are still some important lessons to be learned in studying the Boxer Rebellion, as Silbey (History/Cornell Univ.; A War of Empire and Frontier: The Philippine-American War, 1899–1902, 2007, 2418

|

1 january 2012

|

nonfiction

|

etc.) clearly points out—certainly as a way of understanding how the Chinese have traditionally met with chaos from outside. By 1900 the incursions of the imperialistic powers Britain, Russia and Germany had forced open China to foreign trade, especially opium, weakening further the Qing dynasty and hastening an internal collapse of a poor, overpopulated country. The catastrophic loss to Japan after the First Sino-Japanese War had shocked the Chinese into a need for reform; however, it was not forthcoming under the rule of Empress Dowager Cixi. Groups of illiterate peasants, unemployed and displaced by the coming of the railroads and resentful of the presence of meddling missionaries, acted out, attacking foreigners. From the secret societies, “the last refuge of the dispossessed,” emerged the Yi-he-quan, the Boxers, a kind of cult that caught on. They were steeped in martial arts and the role of being Robin Hoods, writes Silbey, and they disrupted society, catching the attention of the foreign press by the fall of 1899, and culminating in the murder of missionary Rev. Sidney Brooks. Drought and famine exacerbated local worries, spreading the movement across northern China, until finally the violence against Chinese Christians, railway workers and merchants exploded in 1900 and a combination of foreign legations fought their way to Beijing, battling for forts and arsenal, ultimately relieving the besieged embassies and breaking the Boxer resistance. Although the uprising ultimately failed, it would forge a generation of peasant resisters, whom Mao Zedong believed “did the hard and dirty work of preparing China for a true, Marxist revolution.”

A fresh, accessible take on a crucial turning point for the modern Chinese state.

TALKING WITH MY MOUTH FULL My Life as a Professional Eater

Simmons, Gail Hyperion (320 pp.) $25.99 | Feb. 21, 2012 978-1-4013-2450-6

From the popular judge and host of Top Chef, a memoir of a life devoted to the romance of food and the business of restaurants.

To her credit, Simmons notes that she has led a fortunate life, in which her career “coincided, serendipitously, with a widespread boom in enthusiasm about the culinary world.” The author grew up as the child of South African and Canadian Jewish parents in Montreal, circumstances which instilled in her a cultural curiosity and desire to travel. Uncertain how to build a career as a food writer, Simmons began with local lifestyle magazines, and soon moved to New York, where she took the unusual step of attending cooking school, then worked briefly on the lines at renowned restaurants Le Cirque 2000 and Vong (which gave her authority later in the media world). She received fortuitous boosts from luminaries like Daniel Boulud and Jeffrey Steingarten, culminating in positions at Food & Wine, which led to her selection by Bravo for Top Chef. The

kirkusreviews.com

|

show quickly became popular, as did the spin-off Just Desserts, which she hosts (an experience she describes as surprising in its challenges and 14-hour days). Simmons describes the shows in terms that are specific about the complexities and stress of their production, but not hugely revelatory otherwise—e.g., “On Top Chef, we typically only see chefs on their best behavior.”

Although each chapter opens with an evocative description of food or a meal, her writing is straightforward and relaxed. Many famous chefs make appearances, but readers looking for dirt or sensuous flights of foodie detail will be disappointed, and the chapters that focus on Simmons recent personal life are less engaging. The book is most appealing as a professional overview of the dining industry’s explosive growth and public profile during the last decade, even during the recession.

Some readers may wish the prose had a little more grit or character, but the book will surely appeal to Simmons’ many fans.

FAT, DRUNK, AND STUPID The Inside Story Behind the Making of Animal House Simmons, Matty St. Martin’s (240 pp.) $25.99 | Apr. 10, 2012 978-0-312-55226-8 978-1-4299-4235-5 e-book

Animal House fans will find some anecdotes of interest, but there is barely enough here for a comprehensive magazine article on the making of the classic movie.

As the publisher of National Lampoon and co-producer of its first movie smash, Simmons (The Credit Card Catastrophe: The 20th Century Phenomenon That Changed the World, 1995, etc.) worked with a wide variety of funny people and writers. Unfortunately, in these pages there are too few of them and too much of Simmons, who frames his account with his early years “as a very young press agent in the 1950s” through his launching of magazines for Diner’s Club and Weight Watchers, and culminates in an afterword that begins: “So, Animal House made me a film producer and for three decades people have been asking me what a producer does. I will tell you.” The author mainly shows himself to be a master of hyperbole, bathing every aspect of the production in superlatives: “It became more than a movie. Animal House changed comedy”; “casting, particularly of the young Deltas and Omegas, was superior to any comedy movie before or after Animal House”; its screenplay was “the tightest 110 pages of writing I had seen before or I have seen since.” Throughout the book, Simmons provides too little revelation about the shooting itself or insight into the talent involved. Instead, the text is padded with excerpts from dozens of reviews, summaries of outtakes and accounts of what those who participated did before the movie and where their careers have gone since.

The title and cover promise the sort of hilarious irreverence that the book rarely delivers. (Two 8-page black-andwhite photo inserts)

|

UNDEFEATED America’s Heroic Fight for Bataan and Corregidor Sloan, Bill Simon & Schuster (416 pp.) $28.00 | Apr. 24, 2012 978-1-4391-9964-0

A skillful step-by-step description of the brutal and heroic but mismanaged 1941–42 campaign in the Philippines.

Veteran military historian Sloan (The Darkest Summer: Pusan and Inchon 1950, 2009) delivers his usual vivid, energetic battle account. Using reminiscences from a dozen survivors, he introduces prewar Philippines, a tropical paradise with an army led by the imperious General Douglas MacArthur, who insisted a Japanese invasion was impossible. Learning of Pearl Harbor, he remained curiously idle, allowing Japanese planes to destroy his air and naval defenses. After the December invasion, Philippine and American forces retreated to the Bataan peninsula, fighting valiantly until April 1942. The island fortress of Corregidor surrendered a month later. Readers should steel themselves for what followed as Japanese forces treated captives despicably during the Bataan death march and then starved and abused them in prison camps. No revisionist, Sloan delivers the traditional image of MacArthur (“brilliant general with inflated ego”), yet no brilliance is detectable as MacArthur neglected to supply Bataan until it was too late. As a result, starvation and disease decimated his troops. Safe on Corregidor, he allowed subordinates to conduct operations while sending out a torrent of press releases containing dramatic, heartwarming and often fictional accounts of how his genius was frustrating overwhelmed Japanese forces; in fact, his forces outnumbered theirs two to one.

Aided by a fawning media, he emerged a national hero when commanders of all other early World War II debacles (Pearl Harbor, Hong Kong, Singapore, Burma, Dunkirk) were disgraced.

Sloan writes expertly of the soldiers’ courage battling the Japanese, but readers must search elsewhere (Richard Connaughton, H.P. Willmott) for the latest insight into the competence of their leader. (40 black-and-white photos; 4 maps)

ELIZABETH THE QUEEN The Life of a Modern Monarch Smith, Sally Bedell Random House (576 pp.) $30.00 | Jan. 10, 2012 978-1-4000-6789-3 978-0-679-64393-7 e-book

A microscopically detailed portrait of the reigning Queen of England.

Vaulted unexpectedly onto the throne at a young age after the death of her father, and before that the abdication of her uncle, Elizabeth II has occupied the position for 50 years, as the British Empire faded into the Commonwealth

kirkusreviews.com

|

nonfiction

|

1 january 2012

|

2419

“A candid, inspiring narrative of the author’s brutal physical and psychological journey through a wilderness of despair to a renewed sense of self.” from wild

and the monarchy turned from making history to making tabloid headlines. Smith (For Love of Politics: Bill and Hillary Clinton: The White House Years, 2007, etc.) traces the queen’s life with exhausting thoroughness, down to what was served for dinner at seemingly every royal function she attended. As an American, the author brings an outsider’s perspective to the insular world of British royalty; those already familiar with its intricacies may want to skim the detailed explanations of protocol and the meaning of each ritual. Behind all the pomp and circumstance, Smith reminds us, is a real person, a wife and mother as well as a monarch. Though we do see glimpses of her humanity through the years, it becomes clear that Elizabeth’s position, and her duty to uphold its honor, is who she is at her core—Queen and country always come before wife and mother. Though Smith is clearly a supporter, she does not shy away from showing the blemishes beneath the polished facade, and readers in search of juicy gossip will find plenty of palace intrigue, illicit affairs, breaches of protocol and other drama. Of particular note are the events leading up to the Annus horribilis of 1992, with Prince Charles portrayed as the victim in his tragic relationship with Diana, who is shown as selfish, childish and emotionally and mentally unstable. But Elizabeth rarely makes a misstep, remaining the solid center that keeps the monarchy standing.

God save the Queen. She is a human being, and an extraordinary one at that.

THE GOOD NEWS CLUB The Christian Right’s Stealth Assault on America’s Children Stewart, Katherine PublicAffairs (352 pp.) $25.99 | Jan. 24, 2012 978-1-58648-843-7

Investigation of Christian fundamentalist groups introducing religious doctrine into public schools across the United States.

Freelance journalist and novelist Stewart (Class Mothers, 2006, etc.) became aware of the fundamentalist campaign when it entered her daughter’s elementary school in California, and later, the school district in their new home in New York City. Stewart not only interviewed school officials, classroom teachers, constitutional-law experts and students, but she also attended training sessions sponsored by Christian fundamentalists. Despite what she assumed was an inviolable separation between church and state, Stewart discovered that the U.S. Supreme Court, led by justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas, has been interpreting the Constitution to mandate taxpayer-financed public schools to open their buildings to evangelical missionaries. The author explains some of the court’s rulings, including the leading case Good News Club v. Milford Central School (2001). Although Stewart treats the missionaries fairly, the book is advocacy journalism at its strongest. The author does not mask her dismay at the success of the movement, and she is especially concerned that the evangelicals are laboring to skew textbooks so that all 2420

|

1 january 2012

|

nonfiction

|

lessons revolve around the virtues of a Christian nation, and are pushing for the defunding of public education in favor of churchaffiliated schools. At times Stewart’s phrasing borders on alarmist, but she usually backs up the alarm with solid reporting. Some of the most poignant sections move away from policy debates to demonstrate how many evangelists have ripped the formerly positive fabric of student-teacher-administrator-parent cooperation, replacing it with warring camps—those who oppose the introduction of fundamentalist religion, those who favor it and those uncertain what to think.

Compelling investigative journalism about an undercovered phenomenon.

WILD From Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail

Strayed, Cheryl Knopf (336 pp.) $25.95 | Mar. 20, 2012 978-0-307-59273-6 978-0-307-95765-8 e-book Unsentimental memoir of the author’s three-month solo hike from California to Washington along the Pacific Crest Trail.

Following the death of her mother, Strayed’s (Torch, 2006) life quickly disintegrated. Family ties melted away; she divorced her husband and slipped into drug use. For the next four years life was a series of disappointments. “I was crying over all of it,” she writes, “over the sick mire I’d made of my life since my mother died; over the stupid existence that had become my own.

I was not meant to be this way, to live this way, to fail so darkly.”

While waiting in line at an outdoors store, Strayed read the back cover of a book about the Pacific Crest Trail. Initially, the idea of hiking the trail became a vague apparition, then a goal. Woefully underprepared for the wilderness, out of shape and carrying a ridiculously overweight pack, the author set out from the small California town of Mojave, toward a bridge (“the Bridge of the Gods”) crossing the Columbia River at the Oregon-Washington border. Strayed’s writing admirably conveys the rigors and rewards of long-distance hiking. Along the way she suffered aches, pains, loneliness, blistered, bloody feet and persistent hunger. Yet the author also discovered a newfound sense of awe; for her, hiking the PCT was “powerful and fundamental” and “truly hard and glorious.” Strayed was stunned by how the trail both shattered and sheltered her. Most of the hikers she met along the way were helpful, and she also encountered instances of trail magic, “the unexpected and sweet happenings that stand out in stark relief to the challenges of the trail.”

A candid, inspiring narrative of the author’s brutal physical and psychological journey through a wilderness of despair to a renewed sense of self. (First printing of 100,000)

kirkusreviews.com

|

THE POPE WHO QUIT A True Medieval Tale of Mystery, Death, and Salvation

Sweeney, Jon M. Image/Doubleday (224 pp.) $14.00 paperback | $9.99 e-book Mar. 6, 2012 978-0-385-53189-4 978-0-385-53188-7 e-book

Ruminations on the career of a most inept and unlikely pope.

In 1294, a deadlocked College of Cardinals suddenly selected an 84-year-old hermit monk, Peter of Morrone, to be pope.

Upon taking office as Celestine V, he spent 15 miserable weeks in the custody of the King of Naples before resigning, allegedly the only pope ever to do so. He was imprisoned by his successor, Boniface VIII, who promptly annulled the few actions Celestine had taken. After ten months of confinement Peter died of unknown causes. He was declared a saint in 1313. Unfortunately, the extant well-established facts about Celestine’s tenure appear insufficient to sustain a work of book length. Paraclete Press associate publisher Sweeney (Verily, Verily: The KJV—400 Years of Influence and Beauty, 2011, etc.) provides extensive background information about topics ranging from contemporary poisons to the Sicilian Vespers. He demonstrates his enthusiasm for medieval history, but the information often only has tangential relevance to the life of his subject. Where facts are urgently needed but lacking, the author attempts to compensate with unsatisfying conjecture about such central issues as the true motivation for Celestine’s resignation (he gave a number of reasons) and the cause of his death. Internal contradictions, overstatements and mysteries abound, but the central one concerns Peter’s character. Sweeney declares that Peter proved utterly incompetent as a pope because he did not have “a political bone in his body” and “did not understand how to live and succeed among powerful men on earth,” even though he had traveled extensively, lobbied popes and cardinals and built and administered an array of dozens of monasteries. Was his resignation an act of cowardice, holy wisdom or just weariness?

No one really knows. Ultimately, does his story have any ongoing significance? The author labors to argue that Celestine’s resignation and death were a hinge point in the culture of the late Middle Ages, but his contentions are clearly a stretch, and this issue too is left unresolved.

A confused and disappointing ramble through 13thcentury papacy.

|

THE PARTNERSHIP Five Cold Warriors and Their Quest to Ban the Bomb

Taubman, Philip Harper/HarperCollins (496 pp.) $27.99 | Jan. 3, 2012 978-0-06-174400-6 Timely portrait of an alliance, seemingly unlikely, of former Cold War mavens now committed to nuclear disarmament.

Only last month did the news come that China’s nuclear arsenal is likely much more extensive than anyone had guessed.

Russia is a constant worry, not least because its conventional forces are so reduced that the temptation is ever greater to rely on nuclear solutions in the event of an attack, real or perceived.

But the heroes of former New York Times reporter and editor Taubman’s (Secret Empire: Eisenhower, the CIA, and the Hidden Story of America’s Space Espionage, 2003, etc.) tale are less worried about these major players on the world stage than about the disaffected, shadowy figures from the margins—al-Qaeda, the Muslim Brotherhood, perhaps even the narcotraficantes. At the center of the group is nuclear strategist Sidney Drell; around him are Sam Nunn, at one time “the Senate’s leading authority on Cold War military matters”; George Shultz and William Perry. Closing up the five—and this may give Christopher Hitchens fits—is Henry Kissinger, that dark master of realpolitik, who more than any of the other figures maneuvered and positioned himself for best advantage when, early in 2011, the quintet signed off on a Wall Street Journal op-ed piece calling for the effective abolition of nuclear arms. Kissinger’s position, it seems, is still nuanced—read: subject to revocation—but the mere fact that these five quite different players, whose names show up in the indexes of every history of the Cold War, came together on the point was significant enough. However, as Taubman continues, there’s more to the story. The great value of his book is twofold. First, the author gives a lucid summary of the long, shifting struggle between East and West and the contributions each of the five made to it, for better or worse.

(See Robert De Niro’s film The Good Shepherd for worse.) Second, Taubman shows how influential these old Cold Warriors have been in shaping the policy of the present administration and its “ambitious nuclear agenda,” providing a useful look at the way in which such decisions are made and shaped.

Will the partnership prevail? Stay tuned, but hope for the best—for, they warn, “[i]f urgent steps are not taken to rein in nuclear weapons... a catastrophic attack is virtually inevitable.” (Author appearances in New York, San Francisco, Washington, D.C.)

kirkusreviews.com

|

nonfiction

|

1 january 2012

|

2421

APOCALYPSE ON THE SET Nine Disastrous Film Productions

Taylor, Ben Overlook (272 pp.) $21.95 | Feb. 2, 2012 978-1-59020-188-6

Hollywood dreams are turned inside out in this tragic collection of some of the most disastrous film productions in cinematic history.

The casualty list of the dead and broken is horrifying, and some of the true-life tales are staggering in their sheer level of insanity. Included in Taylor’s rogues’ gallery of misbegotten movies are big-budget Hollywood entries like The Crow, Waterworld and The Abyss, but lesser-known forays into the dark side of film production—e.g., the mind-boggling North Korean monster flick Pulgasari and the unbelievable Werner Herzog–directed Fitzcarraldo—are no less astounding. The author doesn’t offer new revelations about how or why any of these failed projects were allowed to wander so far astray, but his cold, flat approach still packs a wallop. If nothing else, a few inchoate film students might be discouraged from yelling “action” before they’re ready. The sweeping allusions made at the head of each chapter to such disparate figures as disgraced journalist Stephen Glass and Romanian despot Nicolae Ceausescu are something of a stretch. However, they do provide at least some perspective on the collected calamities and lend an appropriate amount of gravitas to the epic nature of the cinematic failures that follow.

Believe it or not, knowing something about the housing-market collapse really does make the decision to greenlight a seasick saga about a post-apocalyptic Planet Earth a little easier to grasp. Ultimately, picking through this much celluloid wreckage is a sorry business, especially for those who view movies as a refuge from the cruelties and injustices of the world.

Far from groundbreaking, but undeniably fascinating and sadly enjoyable.

HOW TO BE BLACK

Thurston, Baratunde Harper/HarperCollins (256 pp.) $24.99 | Feb. 1, 2012 978-0-06-200321-8 Comedian and Onion director of digital Thurston (Better Than Crying: Poking Fun at Politics, the Press & Pop Culture, 2003) delivers a “book about the ideas of blackness” in the guise of a helpful howto guide to being black.

The author and a “Black Panel” made up of friends and colleagues, including one white person to avoid charges of reverse discrimination and also as a control group, ponder many questions about being black—e.g., “When did you first realize you were black?” and “Can you swim?” However, the humor does not 2422

|

1 january 2012

|

nonfiction

|

serve the role of making light of race and racism, but rather as a gentle skewering that invites serious consideration of how black Americans are often limited by certain expectations concerning blackness. In “How to Speak for All Black People,” Thurston challenges the assumption that one black person can speak to the experience of an entire race, as well as the assumption that a black person can only speak to the black experience. In “How to Be the Black Employee,” he confronts the challenges of being hired both for the job and for being black—you will and must be, for instance, featured in every company photo. The humor does not always work; at times it is blog-like cleverness for the sake of cleverness (and is yet another joke about blacks needing white friends to get a cab really needed?). Thurston is at his best when he writes about his own life: growing up in Washington, D.C., attending Sidwell Friends School, matriculating at Harvard (“my experience of race at Harvard was full of joy and excitement”). The key to greater harmony is not necessarily seeing beyond race, but, as one Black Panelist puts it, to “see that and all of the things that I have done, to embrace all of me.”

Flawed but poignant and often funny.

TUTANKHAMEN The Search for an Egyptian King Tyldesley, Joyce Basic (352 pp.) $29.99 | Mar. 6, 2012 978-0-465-02020-1

A catch-all study by a British Egyptologist of the most famous boy king of the 18th Dynasty.

The search for the probable “truth” behind King Tutankhamen’s short reign (1336–1327 BCE) continues in this engaging reconstruction of his tomb discovery, family and life. Fluent in her subject, Tyldesley (Myths and Legends of Ancient Egypt, 2011, etc.) gives her own spin to the story in order to get beyond the sensational nonsense. She first looks at Howard Carter’s remarkable pinpointing of the tomb named KV 62 in the Valley of the Kings. The 18th Dynasty kings had broken with the earlier tradition of building enormous pyramids in the deserts of northern Egypt and chose instead the remote west-bank valley, clustered around the temple of the ascendant deity of the time, Amen. Bankrolled by George Herbert, aka Lord Carnarvon, Carter discovered in 1922 a tomb improbably crammed with royal objects inscribed with the names of the various 18th Dynasty kings and queens, as well as intact seals of the residing king, Tutankhamen, and his untouched burial chamber. The tomb had apparently been protected and hidden from sight by a flood shortly after burial, then forgotten; moreover, evidence suggested that Tut’s successor, Ay, inheriting the throne as an elderly man, had swapped Tut’s original, large tomb for the one intended for him. Deceptions and lies abound, not only in Carter’s discovery (removal and rearrangement of objects), but in the ensuing autopsies (a missing penis, two mysterious female fetuses). The handling of the artifacts

kirkusreviews.com

|

“Quirky, insightful and enjoyable—a welcome corrective to the typical advice from economists and financial managers steeped in the ‘dismal science.’ ” from all the money in the world

TOO BIG TO KNOW Rethinking Knowledge Now that the Facts Aren’t the Facts, Experts Are Everywhere, and the Smartest Person In the Room Is the Room

strikes us now as shockingly casual, while the supposed curse of the mummy is merely silly.

Tyldesley does an admirable detective job of reconstructing the boy king’s narrative. Proves that there is no end to the fascination, and speculation, around this subject. (16-page color insert)

ALL THE MONEY IN THE WORLD What the Happiest People Know About Getting and Spending

Vanderkam, Laura Portfolio (272 pp.) $25.95 | Mar. 1, 2012 978-1-59184-457-0

Vanderkam (168 Hours: You Have More Time Than You Think, 2010, etc.), a member of the USA Today Board of Contributors, takes a fresh look at financial planning.

The author debunks the traditional approach to budgeting in which fixed percentages are allocated to predetermined categories that prioritize the basics such as housing and food.

According to Vanderkam, the trick to remaining financially solvent without sacrificing is not to scrimp and save on the small items—the lattes and occasional nights out. She offers a road map about how this might be accomplished and substantiates her claim that “the resources we already have or can obtain can do more for our happiness than we think.” A key tenet is that our happiness is not based on the accumulation of big-ticket items—diamond engagement rings, super-sized homes and cars—but on the accumulation of everyday pleasures, especially those activities we share with friends and family. Vanderkam provides thought-provoking examples of how it’s possible, even in a depressed economy, to explore new entrepreneurial opportunities to supplement income as an alternative to penny-pinching self-denial. She also warns of the pitfall inherent in saving for retirement—not only because of the effect that market volatility can have on a nest egg, but also the possibility of inflation. She suggests that it is better to find rewarding work than plan for early retirement, and warns of the dangers of becoming entrapped by the “hedonic treadmill” of increased expectations and spending more for less.

Quirky, insightful and enjoyable—a welcome corrective to the typical advice from economists and financial managers steeped in the “dismal science.”

Weinberger, David Basic (256 pp.) $27.50 | Jan. 3, 2012 978-0-465-02142-0

Razor-sharp analysis of the state of knowledge in the age of computer networking.

Weinberger (Everything Is Miscellaneous: The Power of the New Digital Disorder, 2007, etc.), a senior researcher at Harvard’s Berkman Institute for Internet and Society, argues that the collaborative, hyperlinked, instant nature of the Internet has fundamentally altered the way humans relate with knowledge. In the Gutenberg age, because of the finite nature of the book, limited by both its number of pages and the number of copies that could be printed, knowledge was necessarily ordered and hierarchical. The author added pieces to the collective store of knowledge, while publishers, editors, librarians and the community of scholars decided for the common good what was and was not important to know. The Internet has radically upended that hierarchy and knocked down the walls of the knowledge store. In 1989, pundits worried that with 1,000 books published in the world every day, people were suffering from information overload. That was small potatoes, it turns out.

In 2008, Weinberger writes, Americans consumed 3.6 zettabytes, “a number so large that we have to do research just to understand it.”

The author suggests that we make peace with this overwhelming state of affairs, and it seems many of us already have. The democratizing of knowledge is not without its dangers. Bad information has equal access to the common well with good information, and is just as viral. But crowdsourced and refereed resources like Wikipedia give Weinberger hope. The difference between the old style of knowing and the new one is embodied in the differences between a set of encyclopedias and Google. One can fit on a shelf; the other is uncontainable, essentially “an infrastructure of connection.”

A witty and wise companion in this new age of information overload.

THOMAS HART BENTON A Life

Wolff, Justin Farrar, Straus and Giroux (432 pp.) $40.00 | Mar. 20, 2012 978-0-374-19987-6 Judgmental biography of the controversial American painter.

Thomas Hart Benton (1889–1975) was controversial because he was a realist in an age when artists and curators, though not necessarily the general public, considered abstraction the most

|

kirkusreviews.com

|

nonfiction

|

1 january 2012

|

2423

advanced, exciting form of art. He also vigorously defended himself and fellow regionalists like his friend Grant Wood by attacking the elitist art world in terms that even at the time were judged homophobic and jingoistic. Yet, as Wolff (Art History/Univ. of Maine; Richard Caton Woodville, 2002) demonstrates, Benton was no ignorant philistine. Born into a prominent Missouri political family, he studied in Paris, was affiliated (albeit uneasily) with Alfred Stieglitz’s circle in New York and grappled for many years with abstraction before turning to the muscular, writhing figures that impart dynamism—and occasionally stereotypes—to such famous murals as The Arts of Life in America and A Social History of the State of Missouri.

Benton’s best work did not airbrush American history; he had read Marx in his youth and remained influenced by Marxist analysis long after he turned to the right politically. In the 1930s, when he was at the height of his fame, his art and opinions fit comfortably under the umbrella of New Deal liberalism. Wolff does a decent job of explicating Benton’s belief that art had a public purpose and should be accessible to the common people, but his distaste for the vast majority of the artist’s work is so plain that readers may wonder why he chose to write this biography—particularly after reading the final chapter’s closing lines, in which the author speculates on what this convinced realist might have achieved as an abstract painter.

It’s jarring, as is Wolff’s habit of jumping decades ahead in chronology within a single paragraph.

Even those who don’t especially care for Benton’s work might agree that an artist whose work is so enduringly popular merits a more sympathetic assessment. (16 pages of full-color illustrations)

BRAVE DRAGONS A Chinese Basketball Team, an American Coach, and Two Cultures Clashing Yardley, Jim Knopf (320 pp.) $26.95 | Feb. 14, 2012 978-0-307-27221-8

A unique, engaging way to view the Americanization of China: through the introduction of an NBA coach to a professional Chinese basketball team.

New York Times journalist Yardley honed in on a fantastically implausible, ultimately cautionary tale of how the Chinese and American ways often mix like oil and water. On one hand, the enthusiastic Chinese steel entrepreneur Boss Wang, owner of the Shanxi Brave Dragons, wanted to incorporate American-style basketball so badly that in 2008 he hired former NBA player and coach Bob Weiss to come to China and turn around his losing team. On the other hand, Boss Wang ultimately hired a Chinese coach to run the daily practices because of deep-seated fears about discipline, thus undermining most of what Weiss was trying to instill in his young Chinese players. Weiss inherited a team with the worst record in the Chinese Basketball Association (CBA); they were convinced they were “defective.” Working out of a bleak warehouse in Taiyuan, once ranked as the most polluted city in the 2424

|

1 january 2012

|

nonfiction

|

world, Weiss had to use an interpreter to communicate with the players and with his assistant Chinese coach, Liu Tie, who strongarmed the team during practices and simply kept them going all the time—not Weiss’ style. Indeed, the basketball players had been selected early on in elementary school, chosen from X-rays of their skeletal structure determining projections of tallness. It was a motley team made up of misfits, such as a shortish Taiwanese player, nicknamed Little Sun, mercilessly taunted by Coach Liu for playing “Taiwan independence defense”; and several foreign hirelings such as NBA bad boy Bonzi Wells, who played a few games then fizzled. The Dragons didn’t end so shabbily, although the lessons in teaching American marketing and know-how only went so far.

An expert journalist compresses the culture class of nations into one palatable sports season. (Author tour to Boston, Houston, Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Washington, D.C.)

THE GREY ALBUM On the Blackness of Blackness

Young, Kevin Graywolf (476 pp.) $25.00 paperback | Mar. 13, 2012 978-1-55597-607-1 African-American self-creation in literature and music receives a meandering study.

Young, a National Book Award finalist in poetry (Jelly Roll, 2003, etc.) and academic (Atticus Haygood Professor/Emory Univ.), takes nearly 400 overstuffed pages to arrive at a two-page consideration of the titular Danger Mouse mashup of Jay-Z and the Beatles. Many readers may be enervated by then. Young uses “storying”—the “lies” spun by black artists to form their personal and artistic identities—as the purported foundation for his sprawling tome, which stretches from the post-slavery 19th century to the rap era. Writers like Zora Neale Hurston and Richard Wright and poets—especially Paul Laurence Dunbar, Langston Hughes, and Bob Kaufman—are the focus in the early going, though prewar blues and such performers as Louis Armstrong, Bessie Smith and Billie Holiday also figure prominently. Young’s shotgun methodology and his propensity for pointless riffing and overwrought observation obscure any thread that might keep readers in touch with his supposed theme. The writing becomes a farrago of unfocused research, leaden academic language, incongruous snippets of autobiography and excruciatingly contorted textual readings. Even his most personal and thoughtful chapter, about Beat master Kaufman, manages to dilute the poet’s crackling musicality. In later chapters, the author makes a case for postwar African-American music—bebop, soul, the freeswinging rock of Jimi Hendrix, disco, hip-hop—as foundational postmodernism. Though he manages to drop sharp, highly personalized science about the import of rap artists like Run-DMC, Public Enemy and NWA, his explications are so fatiguing that readers will lose patience before Young closes his argument. Young strives for encyclopedic scope, but the narrative is ultimately shapeless.

An imaginary textbook for a daunting Black Studies course that very few students would want to take for credit.

kirkusreviews.com

|

children & teens CHOPSTICKS

Anthony, Jessica Illus. by Corral, Rodrigo Razorbill/Penguin (272 pp.) $19.99 paperback | Feb. 2, 2012 978-1-59514-435-5 A provocative tale of forbidden love and madness.

In their first collaboration, the wildly inventive duo of Anthony (The Convalescent, 2009) and Corral, designer of varied and various bestselling book covers (Decoded, by Jay-Z; Classy,

by Derek Blasberg, both 2010, etc.), presents a dark picture book for mature teens. The plot appears simple: Gloria “Glory” Fleming, a child prodigy on the piano, falls for Francisco “Frank” Mendoza, the boy next door. Glory’s overprotective father disapproves, causing both teens untold misery as Glory’s torn from Frank to tour Europe, and Frank eventually gets expelled from private school. But rippling beneath the surface of this star-crossed love story lurks an undercurrent of madness, as Glory starts infusing her performances of classic concerti with the basic “Chopsticks” theme and soon finds she can’t stop. That’s where the work’s literally graphic nature—oversized and teeming with photo collages of significant objects and moments—turns this familiar plot on its ear, forcing readers to infer reality from the often captionless, seldom contextualized images. The result leaves readers wondering what really takes place—even if Frank ever existed—and, through its narrative reticence, speaks volumes to the ineffable nature of both mental illness and intimate relationships. (An interactive, multimedia electronic version is scheduled to release simultaneously.)

Eerie and edgy—and effective as Poe. (Graphic fiction. 15 & up)

A WARMER WORLD From Polar Bears to Butterflies, How Climate Change Affects Wildlife

Arnold, Caroline Illus. by Hogan, Jamie Charlesbridge (32 pp.) $16.95 | paper $7.95 | $6.99 e-book Feb. 1, 2012 978-1-58089-266-7 978-1-58089-267-4 paperback 978-1-60734-087-4 e-book That global warming is occurring faster than ever is certainly bad news.

The facts are laid out in clear, easy-to-understand prose as climatic changes affecting various forms of wildlife, including polar |

bears, butterflies, walruses and penguins, are described on pages that look as if they were torn out of writing tablets. Readers learn that in many cases, living creatures, including some plants, have adapted to the phenomenon. In some instances, however, environmental changes have occurred so rapidly—and will continue to do so—that many plants and animals won’t have time to adjust to their new environments, and the results could be devastating.

Hogan’s art, rendered in charcoal pencil and pastels with collage elements, is colorful but only serviceable. The volume would have benefited from photographs that depict actual changed environments in addition to images of the animals and plants struggling to survive in a warmer world. Furthermore, the various life forms discussed are labeled with toe tags—invoking a death knell for sure—that are distracting as well as occasionally confusing.

An adequate introduction for younger readers that sounds an alarm about global warming but offers little information on how to halt its pace. (glossary, bibliography) (Nonfiction. 8-11)

RIDE, FLY GUY, RIDE!

Arnold, Tedd Illus. by Arnold, Tedd Scholastic (32 pp.) $6.99 | Mar. 1, 2012 978-0-545-22276-1 Series: Fly Guy, 11

A ride in the car has never been scarier—or this much fun When Buzz (the boy) and Fly Guy (the fly, naturally) decide to go for a ride with Dad, things get exciting for the littlest member of the family.

The seatbelt proves a poor restraint for the insect, and he is whisked out the window and into a passing truck driver’s mouth and out the window again (“PTOOIE!”). All this happens in the first 12 pages! Arnold’s enormous-eyed humans mimic Fly Guy’s ping-pong-ball eyes, showing dramatic changes from joy to fear to sadness. (Buzz’s leaking half-staff eyes when Fly Guy is lost in space will make any reader pause in empathy.) This newest installment moves with the speed of Fly Guy’s temporary vehicles: car, truck, boat, train, plane, rocket and, finally, bicycle. Using a variety of page designs to keep up with Fly Guy, Arnold is careful to make sure the young readers know where to look next. Some panels span the gutter, while others change perspective suddenly to mirror the action. Clear type, bright white space and careful word choice make this a must-read for children ready for books a little more challenging than Elephant and Piggie.

Keep flying, Fly Guy! (Early reader. 4-8)

kirkusreviews.com

|

children

&

teens

|

1 january 2012

|

2425

THE MOON OVER HIGH STREET

Babbitt, Natalie Michael di Capua/Scholastic (160 pp.) $15.95 | Mar. 1, 2012 978-0-545-37636-5 Babbitt’s gentle tale presents 12-yearold Joe, who is faced with a decision that could completely change the course of his life.

Orphaned shortly after his birth, Joe, who loves the moon, has been raised by his Gran, but after she breaks a hip, he’s sent to spend some of the summer with his father’s cousin, Aunt Myra, an unmarried teacher who’s always dreamed of raising the boy. In nearly idyllic Midville, he meets the lovely Beatrice, who is not only just his age but also a soul mate. But he inadvertently comes to the attention of the very wealthy factory owner Mr. Boulderwall—aptly, humorously named—who decides that he will adopt Joe and raise him to take over his company, a decision offering the potential of enormous wealth for the boy, but little else. Characters share an otherworldly simplicity of focus and concern that changes this effort from a realistic tale to a cautionary fable about the true impact of choices. The plot quietly meanders toward a conclusion that’s never in doubt, but readers will still celebrate Gran’s showdown with the clueless businessman. While set in the mid1960s, there’s little to strongly place it in that period.

A congenial, cheerful tale with an important message; Babbitt may reach a new generation of readers with this satisfying work. (Fiction. 8-12)

GIL MARSH

Bauer, A.C.E. Random House (192 pp.) $15.99 | $10.99 e-book PLB $18.99Feb. 28, 2012 978-0-375-86933-4 978-0-375-98311-5 e-book 978-0-375-96933-1 PLB Smart, handsome, athletic Gil Marsh, 17, hero of this contemporary take on the Gilgamesh epic (and first literary bromance) thinks he has no competition. Then hirsute Enko Labette shows up at Uruk High.

More than Gil’s equal, Enko’s popular, too. Infuriated, Gil provokes a physical confrontation that clears the air and, as the cliché provides, cements an intense, lasting bond between them. As in the epic, Bauer offers hints but ultimately punts on whether that bond is sexual. (Both date girls, but the boys’ passionate friendship is paramount.) After a few brief adventures, Enko succumbs to a sudden illness and dies. Grief-stricken, Gil flees high school in Connecticut for Canada, seeking Enko’s grave and the provenance of the garnet ring, a family heirloom, Enko gave him. Here the plot slows to a crawl. Though 2426

|

1 january 2012

|

children

&

teens

|

interspersed with evocative tidbits of Québécois history and culture, Gil’s quest, goals and expectations lack urgency and clarity. Does he really believe he can restore Enko to life? Enko himself fades into irrelevance as Gil’s focus turns to daily survival. Simple vocabulary, staccato style and straightforward syntax convey classic appeal and make this a good choice for reluctant readers. Genuine strengths include a likable hero and vivid sense of place.

What’s ultimately lacking, though, is a compelling link between myth and contemporary tale. (French glossary, author’s note) (Fiction. 12 & up)

ARTIST TED

Beaty, Andrea Illus. by Lemaitre, Pascal McElderry (32 pp.) $15.99 | Feb. 7, 2012 978-1-4169-5374-6 Ted’s back, bursting with enthusiasm, this time throwing himself into the role

of painter.

As usual, Ted awakens in his bedroom. In Doctor Ted (2008), he had a sore knee, so, seeing no doctor in his immediate bedroom, he became one; in Firefighter Ted (2009), he smelled burnt toast and found no firefighter at hand and so became one. Here, bored by humdrum walls, “Ted looked everywhere”—fish tank, fridge—before gamely becoming an artist himself. Sporting a tiny green beret and smock-like coat, he creates a brush by tying a curtain tassel to a wooden cooking spoon. “Artist Ted didn’t have any paint, so he made some of that, too”: ketchup, mustard, chocolate syrup, toothpaste. Painting hijinks ensue at home and school. Some humor is of the classic-kid variety (a mural of “a monkey juggling stinky socks”), some more likely to be appreciated by adults (Ted titling a masterpiece Green despite an utter lack of it). Characters are various round-eyed animals, which Lemaitre outlines in casually uneven black strokes and fills in with bright colors. The visual style is loose and easygoing. Ted’s use of a new classmate’s white shirt (that the classmate’s wearing) as blank canvas makes the mischief feel a bit more malicious than when only adults are dismayed, and it feels textually forced, as well.

Oblivious but funny and full of gusto, Ted’s bound for detective work next. (Picture book. 3-7)

kirkusreviews.com

|

“Sheban’s soft watercolor illustrations present a warm, cozy depiction of the child’s communion with her cherished book.” from the lonely book

IN SEARCH OF THE FOG ZOMBIE A Mystery about Matter

Beauregard, Lynda Illus. by Helmer, Der-shing Graphic Universe (48 pp.) $6.95 paperback | $21.95 e-book PLB $29.27 | Mar. 1, 2012 978-0-7613-8544-8 978-0-7613-8744-2 e-book 978-0-7613-5689-9 PLB Series: Summer Camp Science Mysteries, 1

Following cryptic clues left by a counselor, a quartet of young campers track down the source of mysterious noises in this science-laden series kickoff.

The instruction begins before the story does, with a disquisition on the nature and states of matter, and continues after the denouement with a pair of experiments and a page of explanations. In between, 9-year-old twins Angie and Alex settle in at Camp Dakota, where they’re treated to successive scientific demonstrations. These include: air pressure in action, with an overturned glass in a bowl of water; comparative density, with eggs in fresh and salt water; and heat-related expansion and contraction with a suspended weight. They’re also treated to eerie nighttime moans ascribed to a local zombie that turn out to have a natural cause. Helmer places a multicultural cast with oversized, rolling-flashlight eyes in neatly drawn sequential panels—between which Beauregard occasionally shoehorns further science facts—and tries to crank up the suspense with lots of atmospheric fog and night scenes. The fictional plot is really just a vehicle, and if the science is largely extraneous and sometimes simplistic (gravity doesn’t just pull objects “toward Earth’s surface”), at least there’s plenty of it. The load-out continues in #2, The Nighttime Cabin Thief: A Mystery About Light, and two more Summer Camp Science Mysteries.

Alas, nary a zombie in sight—but budding “braaaiiinnns” may be tempted to repeat some of the experiments for themselves. (further experiments, glossary, scientific principles) (Graphic fiction/instructional blend. 8-10)

THE LONELY BOOK

Bernheimer, Kate Illus. by Sheban, Chris Schwartz & Wade/Random (40 pp.) $17.99 | PLB $20.99 | Feb. 14, 2012 978-0-375-86226-7 978-0-375-96226-4 PLB

last page, she delights in the story and pictures about a little fairy living under a toadstool. She checks it out and enjoys reading it with her father and sharing it at school. Unfortunately, she forgets to renew it when she returns to the library and mistakenly leaves it on the floor. A parenthetical plot twist has a volunteer put the book in the library’s book sale. In a happily-ever-after ending befitting the text’s nostalgic tone, girl and book are reunited at the book sale and she takes it home. Throughout, Sheban’s soft watercolor illustrations present a warm, cozy depiction of the child’s communion with her cherished book.

A lovely story in its own right, this picture book may make readers clamor for the story within the story about the little fairy living under her toadstool. (Picture book. 4-7)

DROWNING INSTINCT

Bick, Ilsa J. Carolrhoda Lab (352 pp.) $17.95 | $12.95 e-book | Feb. 1, 2012 978-0-7613-7752-8 978-0-7613-8726-8 e-book Bearing scars both literal and figurative, Jenna Lord, 16, falls for Mitch Anderson, the married chemistry teacher who helps her survive a rocky start at a Wisconsin science magnet school.

Years earlier, Jenna was maimed in a house fire. Today she copes with stress by e-mailing her beloved brother, a Marine in Iraq, and by self-mutilation, which recently earned her a stint in a hospital psychiatric ward. Isolated, with a domineering, plastic-surgeon dad and alcoholic, bookstore-owner mom, Jenna’s increasingly smitten with Mitch, who goes out of his way to advocate for her and invite her into his life. Jenna’s voice is edgily authentic, but other characters seem to consist entirely of symptoms—case studies in uncontrolled violence, rape, self-mutilation, victim-grooming and sexual and substance abuse. The one exception, a refreshingly normal classmate and potential boyfriend, is soon left behind. The framing conceit (Jenna dictates her story to a detective who has given her a digital recorder) is distancing. Readers will easily unravel the tired, central plot twist, but they may be confused when Jenna morphs abruptly, without explanation, from a teenager under surveillance—lacking cell phone, driver’s license, privacy—into a free spirit enjoying all of the above.

Readers will find a more challenging, original take on abuse, abusers and recovery in Margo Lanagan’s Tender Morsels (2008). (Fiction. 15 & up)

Subtle personification imbues the titular lonely book with longing for a

child to read its story.

Initially, the book is not lonely at all. Indeed, it’s quite popular with library patrons, until it becomes tattered with use and is finally forgotten on the shelves among the other, newer titles.

Then, a girl discovers the book, and even though it is missing its |

kirkusreviews.com

|

children

&

teens

|

1 january 2012

|

2427

“In an improbably compelling quest, a goat and a rolling robot go on the hunt for a single sock’s mate.” from beep and bah

THE LIFEGUARD

Blumenthal, Deborah Whitman (268 pp.) $16.99 | Mar. 1, 2012 978-0-8075-4535-5

A girl spends the summer at her aunt’s beach house and falls for a fascinating, handsome lifeguard with supernatural healing powers.

Sirena can’t help but be drawn to the seemingly magical lifeguard, who turns out actually to be named “Pilot.” She also finds Antonio, an 80-year old-beach artist, quite magnetic. Sirena’s obsession gets out of control when she steals Antonio’s painting of Pilot, then confesses to the old man. She’s jealous when she sees Pilot with a blond bombshell of a girl she assumes is his girlfriend. She dips a toe into the ocean during a time of dangerous riptides and nearly drowns, also getting stung by a stingray. When doctors want to amputate her leg, Pilot heals it. Antonio dies and leaves Sirena his magic paintbrush and, apparently, his painting talent. And aha! Perhaps the blond isn’t a girlfriend after all! Blumenthal writes suspenseful episodes, but she tends to abandon them and move on to the next one, which adds up to a narrative that doesn’t flow well. For example, readers see Sirena, just after Antonio’s death, painting with newfound, zealous ability until the wee hours, but there is no description of the resulting painting. Throw in clichéd phrases such as “Would I ever feel I’d taken in enough of his face? His being? His touch?” for an undemanding beach read.

Fine for diehard romance fans. (Paranormal romance. 12 & up)

HIGGINS HOLE

Boreen, Kevin Illus. by Clark, David Charlesbridge (224 pp.) $16.95 | $9.99 e-book | Feb. 1, 2012 978-1-57091-641-0 978-1-60734-076-8 e-book A middle-grade undersea fantasy angles to be a comical clambake but reels in only a damp debacle.

Higgins Hole is a paradisiacal reef off the Florida Keys, where sharks, shellfish and sealife of every kind live in harmony under the wise leadership of Lutus the lobster—until their peaceful idyll is invaded by the monstrous white shark Tacitus and his gang of thugs. Every denizen of the deep, from the tiniest shrimp to the giant blue whales, will have to summon unprecedented courage to save their home, with just a little unexpected assist from the abyss. The premise is a charming one, but when the prologue drains any potential suspense by announcing a complete, casualty-free victory, the story needs to rely instead upon a likable voice or clever execution. Unfortunately, the first-person narration by the vainglorious grandiloquent seahorse Petronius (and especially his tedious reliance on 2428

|

1 january 2012

|

children

&

teens

|

incessant, groan-worthy puns) quickly becomes annoying, while the broad political and social satire will most likely sail over the heads of younger readers. The cartoony ink illustrations provide a certain goofy brio, and the brief chapters and constant cliffhangers might make for a passable classroom read-aloud.

The failure to allow any named female a role beyond passive oracle or silly damselfish-in-distress, however, unnecessarily excludes half the potential audience, while the condescending tone and corny humor will probably alienate the rest.

Steer clear. (Fantasy. 8-11)

BEEP AND BAH

Burks, James Illus. by Burks, James Carolrhoda (32 pp.) $16.95 | $12.95 e-book | Mar. 1, 2012 978-0-7613-6567-9 978-0-7613-8721-3 e-book In an improbably compelling quest, a goat and a rolling robot go on the hunt for a single sock’s mate.

Bah the goat finds it and trots (almost) silently behind as extroverted Beep the robot does the talking: “Hello, Pig. Does this sock belong to you?” Alas, not greedy pig nor frantic chicken, not angry ox, grumpy bear or bird, snake, monkey, frog, crab, giant squid—or, for that matter, clam, fish or rock own up. Framing angular, jellybean-colored cartoons in graphic panels and channeling classic Hanna Barbera–style humor and storytelling, Burks (Gabby and Gator, 2010) sends his odd couple “where no goat has gone before.” They trek up and down rollercoaster hills, through quicksand and ocean deeps in a search that outdoes even Eric Carle’s classic Do You Want To Be My Friend? (1971) for serial relentlessness. Reaching a sign reading “Go Back. End of the Road” Beep admits at last, “I guess we’ll never find the other sock.” But: “It was a Great Adventure!”— and, as the final picture’s visual punch line reveals, that second sock was along for the entire ride.

It’s a ride is rich enough in slapstick, comical mishaps, jokes and general silliness to make anyone want to invite themselves along. (Picture book. 5-7)

THE CLOUD SPINNER

Catchpool, Michael Illus. by Jay, Alison Knopf (32 pp.) $16.99 | PLB $19.99 | Mar. 13, 2012 978-0-375-87011-8 978-0-375-97011-5 PLB A boy with a singular talent catches the eye of the king, with ominous results, but it turns out well.

In rhythmic text that holds an occasional rhyme, the story unfolds. The boy weaves wondrous cloth from the clouds: gold in the morning, white in the afternoon, crimson at sunset, “[j]

kirkusreviews.com

|

ust as his mother had taught him.” His mother also taught him to be sparing, so he uses just enough to weave a white scarf to protect his head from the heat of the day, and a gold and crimson one to keep him warm in the cold. The king, recognizing the beauty of the scarves, demands the boy weave a scarf for him.

The boy boldly says the king does not need this, but the king insists. When he gets the scarf, he wants a cloak and dresses for his wife and daughter besides. The boy sadly complies, but then there are no more clouds, hence no rain, and the kingdom suffers. The young princess, however, returns the weaving to the boy, who releases the yarn and restores the clouds. Much happens in Jay’s luminous, crackle-finish pictures. Almost every cloud adopts a shape, from hats to fishes and strange creatures.

The hills and the houses have gentle or surprised faces made of flowers and wildlife or windows and doors, so subtle one only notices them on the second or third reading. Her figures have roly-poly bodies and tiny heads, her colors simply glow.

There are definitely lessons about taking only what you need, about care for the needs of others and about listening to what is unsaid, but they are fully inside the story and only add to the pleasure. (Picture book. 5-8)

THE BOOK OF PERFECTLY PERILOUS MATH

Connolly, Sean Workman (240 pp.) $12.95 | Mar. 13, 2012 978-0-7611-6374-9

In a labored follow-up to his Book of Potentially Catastrophic Science (2010), Connolly offers 24 hazardous scenarios that require math and logic skills to escape.

Introductions to each chapter specify which “Survival Strategies”— ranging from “Operations and Algebraic Thinking” to “Geometry” and “Expressions and Equations”—will be exercised.

The author then plants readers beneath a bladed pendulum, imprisons them in an ancient tomb with coded directions to a hidden exit, charges them with stringing a fiber-optic cable around the Earth before a giant asteroid hits, challenges them to get three people across a rope bridge in the dark with but one flashlight and so on. Though he provides blank work pages for do-it-yourselfers, he also lays out every significant component of each problem and places step-by-step solution immediately adjacent. These are accompanied by “Math Lab” projects that require similar skills in more real-world settings and occasional number tricks. Dramatic and varied as the situations are, they’re never more than thinly disguised exercises, because nearly every one depends on a rat chewing through a rope in exactly one minute, the bus getting precisely 17 miles to the gallon, an astronaut’s heartbeat never varying from 72 beats per minute or other arbitrarily fixed values.

An inviting alternative to utilitarian workbooks, but full of transparent contrivances. (Nonfiction. 10-13)

|

WHEN YOU OPEN YOUR EYES

Conway, Celeste Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster (304 pp.) $9.99 paperback | Mar. 20, 2012 978-1-4424-3031-0 A modern-day Romeo and Juliet.

The novel’s Romeo is Lucien, the manic, self-important son of a French diplomat, and Juliet is Tessa, the querulous daughter of an American FBI agent.

The story takes place far from Verona, in Argentina, an exotic locale that functions as one of the few appealing characters in the book. Lucien’s penchant for dangerous behavior is well known in diplomatic circles and ostensibly the reason why Tessa’s father has forbidden her to see him. The two must meet in secret, and so begins the downward spiral of an astonishingly dysfunctional, co-dependent relationship. Lucien is a teen Svengali, lazing about in a silk kimono, working on “guerilla” art projects and threatening to consume Tessa with his neediness. It’s difficult to even characterize narrator Tessa, because the harder she falls for Lucien, the more frustratingly weak and subservient she becomes. The love scenes, at least initially, are steamy, and the narrative, particularly when describing the setting, is often rich and sensuous, but neither of these things can make up for the novel’s shortcomings.

Whether Lucien is a victim or a predator is up to readers to interpret, but either way, it’s hard to imagine anyone rooting for these two. (Fiction. 14 & up)

CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG FLIES AGAIN

Cottrell Boyce, Frank Illus. by Berger, Joe Candlewick (224 pp.) $15.99 | Mar. 1, 2012 978-0-7636-5957-8

Ian Fleming’s strong-minded auto takes a new road trip, and if its passengers are largely just along for the ride, it’s still a grand outing.

Powering the decrepit camper van that Mr. Tooting is restoring with a massive engine that he finds in the branches of a tree turns out to be like “putting the heart of a Tyrannosaurus rex into a hamster.” When he, his wife and their children, Lucy, Jeremy (Jem) and little Harry, climb aboard to take a spin, they find themselves not only roaring down back roads at terrifying speeds but soaring off over the Channel. Chitty, it soon becomes clear, has an agenda: It seems that its headlights have been repurposed atop the Eiffel Tower, its wheels are buried near the Sphinx and its body has somehow washed ashore in Madagascar.

Along the way, Cottrell Boyce folds in winking references to the 1964 original and its author (including a certain heavily armed Aston Martin DB5 that James Bond fans will recognize). He also

kirkusreviews.com

|

children

&

teens

|

1 january 2012

|

2429

trots in strangely familiar would-be carnappers Tiny Jack and his unctuous but deadly Nanny, along with the odd giant squid or horde of poisonous spiders to keep the Tooting children on their toes. The book ends with Chitty Chitty Bang Bang back together, poised for further outings.

Berger depicts the Tootings as a biracial family but otherwise adds to the tale’s antique flavor with frequent, retro ink-and-wash drawings. The old racer’s still good for another lap—and maybe more. (afterword). (Fantasy. 10-12)

BLOODROSE

Cremer, Andrea Philomel (416 pp.) $18.99 | Feb. 1, 2012 978-0-399-25612-7 Series: Nightshade, 3 Fast paced and full of action, the Nightshade trilogy comes to a howling conclusion.

As with the second installment, Cremer writes little to no exposition of the overall plot, clearly expecting that new readers will begin with the first book. Heroine alpha–woman-wolf Calla remains in love with alpha–man-wolf Shay, while still burning for her previously intended mate, other alpha–man-wolf Ren. Shay, the only person alive who can wield enchanted swords, must find the final three pieces of two swords that can slay the evil force that threatens them. Calla, her wolf pack and their allies magically travel to exotic locales for suspenseful fights to retrieve them. After suffering casualties, the group faces the final, desperate showdown, but Calla still can’t disentangle from her romantic problems. With abundant action and sexy heavy breathing, the trilogy ends in a nifty resolution that readers won’t see coming. The author sustains the pace throughout by filling even her peaceful scenes with aggressive behavior, and she keeps romantic pulses constantly pounding. She briefly returns to her earlier underlying theme of freedom, but this series finally becomes more about action scenes and sexual tension than about lofty ideals, a development that should keep its many fans briskly turning pages. Yet the saga’s clever surprise ending intimates that Calla’s long-sought freedom comes with limitations.

Fans will eat it up. (Paranormal adventure/romance. 14 & up)

WOMEN EXPLORERS Perils, Pistols, and Petticoats

Cummins, Julie Illus. by Harness, Cheryl Dial (48 pp.) $17.99Feb. 16, 2012 978-0-8037-3713-6

After showcasing risk-taking gals in Women Daredevils (2007), Cummins introduces 10 “dauntless” women born before 1900 whose little-known deeds “contribut[ed] 2430

|

1 january 2012

|

children

&

teens

|

to science, geography, history, and cultural understanding” at a time when “proper ladies simply did not go gallivanting around the world to explore new territories.”

Starting with Louise Boyd, who traded stylish dresses for boots and breeches to explore the Arctic, and closing with Daisy Bates, who studied Australian Aborigines for 35 years, Cummins presents breezy three-to-four–page biographies of her unconventional females. The variety of their endeavors astound.

Nellie Cashman “rushed” for gold in British Columbia, the Klondike and Alaska; botanist Ynes Mexia collected thousands of plants in the wilderness of Mexico, the United States and the Amazon; Lucy Cheesman sojourned with cannibals while studying insects in the South Pacific. Suffragist Annie Peck scaled Europe and South America’s highest peaks. Dutch heiress Alexandrine Tinné searched for the Nile’s source and was murdered traversing the Sahara. Delia Akeley became the first woman to cross Africa. Violet Cressy-Marcks made eight trips around the world, and Freya Stark traveled throughout the Middle East. In an engaging, informative style, Cummins highlights fascinating facts about these feisty females “who conquered the unknown.”

Dramatic watercolor illustrations memorialize each.

Should attract aspiring adventurers. (author’s note and list of additional female explorers; selected bibliography, websites) (Collective biography. 9-11)

GET THE SCOOP ON ANIMAL POOP! From Lions to Tapeworms, 251 Cool Facts about Scat, Frass, Dung, and More!

Cusick, Dawn Imagine Publishing (80 pp.) $14.95 | $9.99 e-book | Feb. 1, 2012 978-1-936140-42-8 978-1-60734-344-8 e-book

From bluebird and alpaca droppings to buffalo dung and termite frass, an upbeat guide to coprology, the study of feces.

Who knew that possums release a sticky green anal liquid when threatened, that some animals use defensive defecation to frighten predators, that moose poo makes good jewelry or that some animals practice coprophagia, or feces eating? If it’s possible for a nonfiction work to have too much information, this volume may be the case. But Cusick affects a compensatory subversive tone: This isn’t a work for squeamish adults; it’s for kids who supposedly delight in all things scatological, and they’re encouraged to “[j]ust hide the book in your backpack or your sock drawer and make sure [adults] don’t catch you grinning after you’ve been looking at it.” Who wouldn’t be grinning after reading about dung spiders that look like “a pile of poop,” plankton poo or the variations in color of Adélie penguin droppings? Rooted in a tremendous amount of research, as indicated by the two-page list of acknowledgments, this is a bright and inviting treatment of an unusual subject. Every page is packed with colorful photographs, and the text is an accumulation of

kirkusreviews.com

|

“The volume guides readers on a (literally) out-of-this-world tour, dealing with topics and concepts that, in the hands of a less-gifted writer, might have remained obscure and unclear.” from a black hole is not a hole

snippets, a few sentences about each of the hundreds of topics.

A browser’s delight.

So much information presented that readers may well be pooped when they finish. (further activities, glossary, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 7-11)

PINCH AND DASH MAKE SOUP

Daley, Michael J. Illus. by Yezerski, Thomas F. Charlesbridge (48 pp.) $12.95 | paper $5.95 | $9.99 e-book Feb. 1, 2012 978-1-58089-346-6 978-1-58089-347-3 paperback 978-1-60734-081-2 e-book Daley’s easy-reading text about good friends learning to cooperate is served up just right with Yezerski’s illustrations in pen, ink and watercolor.

When lazy Pinch visits industrious Dash hoping for a good meal even though he has plenty of food in his refrigerator, he finds his friend stirring a pot of “skinny soup” with “bits of herbs floating in a lot of water.” Disappointed, Pinch asks his buddy if they can “fatten it up.” What ensues is a series of suggestions

by Pinch to make the soup better. Of course, each ingredient he recommends is back in his kitchen. As he goes to and fro “all the way home,” the soup begins to thicken. To make it perfect, Pinch wants to add pepper and hot sauce. Dash is offended and has a tantrum—no spicy ingredients will be added. But when each of the characters is alone with the soup, the heat factor is soon doubled. The comic aftermath results in a friendly hug and some shared soup at the local Chat and Chew restaurant. Newly independent readers will enjoy the light humor while tackling the more difficult words repeated throughout the text (simmering, slurped, refrigerator). Although Pinch and Dash are rather nondescript animals, they portray the full range of emotions friends experience when they must ultimately compromise.

Here’s hoping more servings of this charming duo will make it to the (reading) table. (Early reader. 5-8)

WELCOME TO SILVER STREET FARM

Davies, Nicola Illus. by McEwen, Katherine Candlewick (80 pp.) $12.99 | Feb. 1, 2012 978-0-7636-5831-1

Monty led them to the toy corner, they instantly built a farm, complete with plastic cows, chickens and a headless sheep. Playing farm helped build their friendship, kick-started by these city kids’ love of animals and fueled by books about farming and farm life. When Meera’s Auntie Priya hears about an old, unused railroad station with outbuildings and land, they decide it’s perfect for an urban farm. Moving forward at the speed of elementary students with an obsession, these future farmers visit the space, arrange television interviews and bring local adults on board, all the while facing down the property owner, who plans to raze the railroad station to put up a parking lot. Funny situations, especially Karl’s aunt’s online purchase of twin poodles that turn out to be sheep, and such details as various animal footprints racing across the bottom of most pages keep this good-hearted tale moving forward. A tidy ending ensures the farm’s success.

Young activists will be inspired and entertained by these three animal-loving friends and their supportive community. (Chapter book. 6-9)

A BLACK HOLE IS NOT A HOLE

DeCristofano, Carolyn Cinami Illus. by Carroll, Michael Charlesbridge (80 pp.) $18.95 | $9.99 e-book | Feb. 1, 2012 978-1-57091-783-7 978-1-60734-073-7 e-book Oh, my stars! As the cover proclaims, a black hole may not be an actual hole, but readers will be glad they fell into this book.

The volume guides readers on a (literally) out-of-this-world tour, dealing with topics and concepts that, in the hands of a less-gifted writer, might have remained obscure and unclear.

DeCristofano handles the material with wit, style and singularly admirable clarity, frequently employing easy-to-understand and, yes, down-to-earth ideas and scenarios to help make complex principles comprehensible to readers of all ages. Carroll’s illustrations, diagrams and charts, along with superb telescopic photographs (many courtesy of NASA) are splendid and filled with the drama and excitement of the limitless vastness of space.

The handsome design and visuals greatly enhance the text and add much to readers’ grasp of the subject. Stargazers will be entranced, and even those not especially attuned to matters celestial will come away feeling smarter, awestruck and with a sense of finally understanding this fascinating, other-worldly phenomenon. An excellent resource.

Hole-y astronomy! (timeline, glossary, author’s note, bibliography, image credits, index) (Nonfiction. 10-14)

Three kids, many years of planning and an audacious go at public activism add up to one community farm.

Though Gemma, Meera and Karl can’t quite remember when their dream of having a farm of their own began, it seems to have started in kindergarten. When Mrs. |

kirkusreviews.com

|

children

&

teens

|

1 january 2012

|

2431

ARTHUR’S DREAM BOAT

bedraggled with each romp. Young readers will relate to Gideon’s assertion of control; adult readers will smile knowingly when he finally starts to snooze.

Dunrea has proven himself a master of child behavior (and waterfowl)—let’s hope the gaggle keeps growing. (Picture book. 2-5)

Dunbar, Polly Illus. by Dunbar, Polly Candlewick (40 pp.) $15.99 | Feb. 1, 2012 978-0-7636-5867-0 Dunbar imaginatively transforms a seaside memory of a small boy in the ocean and a boat on the distant horizon into Arthur’s adventure with a dream boat.

Arthur wakes up with a boat on his head, telling his dog he’s had an “amazing” dream. “Last night I dreamed about a pinkand-green boat with a striped mast,” he tells his brother. When Arthur describes the boat to his mother, it has “polka-dotted sails.” He adds a golden flag to the description he gives his baby sister and a “beautiful figurehead” when he describes it to his father. But no one’s paying attention to Arthur or the remarkable boat that’s growing larger and more elaborate atop his head. The line between dreams and reality blurs when Arthur yells, “Listen to me,” and everyone must pay attention as ocean water engulfs them while Arthur sails the waves in his dream boat. Humorous, exuberant pencil-and-watercolor illustrations give visual representation to the dream boat as it adds a striped mast, polka-dotted sails, a golden flag and figurehead, mirroring details in Arthur’s environment. Exaggerated facial expressions and effective use of white space trace the metamorphosis of Arthur’s family from nonchalant self-absorption to amazement as waters rise and the dream boat gloriously expands.

A real attention-getter. (Picture book. 2 & up)

GIDEON

Dunrea, Olivier Illus. by Dunrea, Olivier Houghton Mifflin (32 pp.) $9.99 | Feb. 6, 2012 978-0-618-43661-3 Series: Gossie & Friends, A new gosling joins Dunrea’s Gossie & Friends.

Gideon is a ruddy little goose who likes to play. All day.

With boundless energy, he dashes, hops, scoots and scurries across the farmyard in search of adventure. In the piggery he plays chase-the-piglet. In the sheep house he bounces on the ewe. In a rare moment of stillness, he plays quietly with the turtle, gently looking, never moving. But Gideon can’t play all day. Mama Goose keeps interrupting his fun by calling for naptime. Gideon’s response is familiar to caregivers far and wide: “No nap! I’m playing!” A defiant naptime battle to be sure, but tiny Gideon also embodies a toddler’s insatiable curiosity. Why should he sleep when there’s so much to do and see? Familiar clean, white backdrops frame each scene, and Gideon’s widemouthed exuberance echoes his feathered friends from previous works. Gideon doesn’t show many signs of tiring, but the lumpy, striped octopus that he drags everywhere looks more 2432

|

1 january 2012

|

children

&

teens

|

GIDEON & OTTO

Dunrea, Olivier Illus. by Dunrea, Olivier Houghton Mifflin (32 pp.) $9.99 | Feb. 6, 2012 978-0-618-43662-0 Series: Gossie & Friends, Gideon the gosling loves toy Otto; Gideon loses Otto; Gideon finds Otto. Joy, oh joy.

Gideon and his toy octopus, Otto, are inseparable. They swim, play and read together. But one day, Gideon leaves Otto on a wall while he plays with his bunny friends. During their playful romp, Otto falls into the long grass. Gideon searches desperately until Otto rides out of the grass on a turtle’s back.

There you have the entire tale, told simply, but conveying heartfelt emotion. Gideon, a new character in Dunrea’s sweet gosling series, like his predecessors, reflects very young readers’ concerns, experiences and confusions. Gideon and Otto are loving friends, no matter that one of them is an inanimate toy.

His feelings of sadness and worry when Otto is missing are universal, as is his relief and happiness when they are reunited. The small 6 x 6 format is just right for little hands, as is the clarity of the design. Each page has one sentence in large typeface with an illustration above that perfectly matches the action and is surrounded by lots of bright white space. The illustrations are neatly outlined in black and are rendered in pen, gouache and ink on watercolor paper, with true shades of oranges, yellows and greens predominating.

A lovely and comforting addition to a charming series.

(Picture book. 2-5)

THE STAR SHARD

Durbin, Frederic S. Houghton Mifflin (320 pp.) $16.99 | Feb. 27, 2011 978-0-547-37025-5 Mediocre fantasy fare buckles under a preposterous physical setting.

Cymbril lives aboard the Thunder Rake, a “wheeled city” on a wagon, with “stables, houses, towers, gardens—even a rippling canal” big enough for two bridges. On “wheels seven times as tall as a man,” the Rake is propelled across land by a rowing system of levers, gears and “tremendous claws, gouging the ground, drawing the vessel forward.” Because the claws destroy the ground, the Rake must “follow the wildest country

kirkusreviews.com

|

Every

Breakup Starts Wit h a Love Story.

cinematic virtuosity that leaps  “Aoffsharp, the pages.” heartbreaking, bittersweet, and compelling  “Aromance with a unique angle.”

Handler’s genius is to make us hear…  “minor key notes as if they were playing on —Kirkus

—SLJ

our first—and last—dates, too.” —Booklist

 “Handler shows exceptional skill.”  “Completely engrossing.”

—PW

—Horn Book

978-0-316-12725-7 • $19.99

Tell us YOUR story at www.WhyWeBrokeUpProject.com

A SASSY,

SPARKLING DEBUT.

Ricki Jo is a small town farmer’s daughter who dreams of something chicer. The first day at a new school gives her the chance to become Ericka. Ericka is pretty, popular, and a cheerleader. But popularity doesn’t always mean friendship. Can Ericka learn her lesson and rediscover the joys of being Ricki Jo?

978-0-316-12506-2 • $17.99

|

kirkusreviews.com

|

children

&

teens

|

1 january 2012

|

2433

“Rambling narration, elasticized with many ands, thats, commas and a boy’s earnest concerns for his seeds, runs on, leaving readers waiting and waiting and waiting—just like the child gardener.” from and then it’s spring

where no one built or planted,” yet it reaches “cities and towns” regularly to sell merchandise. Another logic flaw big enough to drive a wagon city through is the Rake’s ability, despite being of city-width, to abruptly steer left or right to avoid an obstacle just ahead. Cymbril, a glamorous slave (“[p]eople tended to stare at her startling blue eyes, her olive-golden skin, and, most of all, her shining hair”), sings while Rake merchants sell wares; at night she creeps around the Rake finding magical objects and, once, an entire dark market. As a classic mischievous orphan of unknown parentage, she naturally befriends enslaved Fey boy Loric, and they attempt escape. Overt anti-slavery themes sit uneasily alongside portrayals of the Urrmsh, explicitly free creatures whose description metaphorically echoes happy plantation slaves and wise natives.

Plot and characters are fine (though stock), but they can’t overcome the credulity-straining setup. (sheet music with lyrics) (Fantasy. 9-12)

HARBINGER

Etienne, Sarah Wilson Putnam (320 pp.) $17.99 | Feb. 2, 2012 978-0-399-25668-4 Debut author Etienne’s novel tells the story of Faye Robson, a 16-year-old girl plagued by mysterious “episodes” and shipped off to Holbrook Academy by her parents, ostensibly for her own good.

Thus betrayed by her family, Faye quickly connects with a small group of fellow students, bound together by mysterious happenings at the school. Desperate to uncover the secrets of her past, the source of her visions and the truth behind the frightening goings-on at Holbrook, Faye and her new “family” risk serious and painful consequences in their quest for answers. The novel has its share of plusses. Faye is an artist at heart, and the first-person narration, even when relaying the darkest and most gruesome aspects of the story, reflects Faye’s vivid and sensuous view of the world. It also lends itself to an interesting perspective on Faye’s internal struggles, particularly with regard to her love/hate relationship with her terrifying visions. Unfortunately, the resolution feels forced, the author having spent too much time reveling in dark, gory details to the detriment of the story.

It’s unfortunate that the more positive aspects of the novel are diluted by a confusing plot that takes too long to work itself out and has the potential to leave readers scratching their heads at the end. (Fantasy. 14 & up)

2434

|

1 january 2012

|

children

&

teens

|

BLUE THREAD

Feldman, Ruth Tenzer Ooligan Press (296 pp.) $12.95 paperback | Feb. 1, 2012 978-1-932010-41-1 Travels in time give a middle-class girl the courage to fight for both women’s suffrage and her own dreams.

Sixteen-year-old Miriam, lover of typography, wants nothing more than to train at her father’s print shop. But respectable, well-to-do girls don’t work with heavy machinery in 1912 Portland, Ore. Miriam’s immigrant Jewish parents, proud of the future they’ve built from poverty, intend an advantageous marriage for their only living child. If befriending a lovely pair of poor young suffragists isn’t enough to make Miriam rebel, what is? Perhaps time travel is what she needs. Miriam is visited by her biblical relative, Serakh, who begs Miriam to travel back in time to help her ancestors. The daughters of Zelophehad seek a favor from Moses, and Miriam is needed to provide them with courage. Miriam pops back and forth between worlds: wellto-do Portland, where she makes morning calls and attends fancy-dress parties; biblical Moab; and the equally exotic, alien environment of suffragist marches and working-class neighborhoods. It takes all three to help her find the initiative, empathy and common sense to help push her toward adulthood.

In the spirit of Jane Yolen’s The Devil’s Arithmetic (1988), with a mix of historical details about the women’s-suffrage movement and early printing, tied together with a very Jewish thread of historical continuity. (Historical fantasy. 11-13)

AND THEN IT’S SPRING

Fogliano, Julie Illus. by Stead, Erin E. Neal Porter/Roaring Brook (32 pp.) $16.99 | Feb. 14, 2012 978-1-59643-624-4 A boy plants seeds in late winter’s brown, barren earth and vigilantly watches for green sprouts alongside his companions (a dog, turtle, rabbit and bird).

Rambling narration, elasticized with many ands, thats, commas and a boy’s earnest concerns for his seeds, runs on, leaving readers waiting and waiting and waiting—just like the child gardener. The boy’s oversized glasses, his tilted, blank face (we never see his eyes) and tiny chin melt hearts instantly. Stead wisely withholds his features, letting Fogliano’s babbling stream of small worries and staggeringly sharp imaginings flesh him out.

Silly bears might tread on the plantings, unaware of signs that read “please do not stomp here— / there are seeds / and they are trying.” Germinating seeds issue “a greenish hum / that you can only hear / if you put your ear to the ground / and close your eyes.”

This elaborate inner world and darling voice reverberate in

kirkusreviews.com

|

muted wood-block prints and empathetic pencil illustrations as well, its timbre and tone unchanged. Delicate lines run like fine veins, describing animals, trees, plants and fences with intricate and intentional specificity. Sizable, scalloped cloud formations, whose flat panes of white widen double-page horizons, offset both the scrupulous line-work and abundant regions of brown and blue. Their simplicity ventilates these pictures, allowing readers to note amusing secondary animal activities in the dirt.

Many treasures lie buried within this endearing story, in which humor and anxious anticipation sprout alongside one another.

This sweet seedling will undoubtedly take root and thrive. (Picture book. 3-8)

THESE BEES COUNT!

Formento, Alison Illus. by Snow, Sarah Whitman (32 pp.) $16.99Mar. 1, 2012 978-0-8075-7868-1

Formento and Snow successfully collaborate again (This Tree Counts! 2010) as the environmentally aware Mr. Tate takes his class on a field trip to Busy Bee Farm.

As in their previous text, counting has a dual purpose, with “1, 2, 3” taking a backseat to education. This time, Farmer Ellen helps the children suit up in beekeeping gear, then teaches the class about bees, apiaries and pollination. She encourages the children to listen to the bees’ buzz about their work: “We find three wild strawberries bursting with sweetness. / Four apple blossoms tickle us with soft petals.” Readers learn along with the class how bees transform nectar into honey and how that honey is extracted. A final author’s note goes into more detail about the vital importance of honeybees to agriculture, as well as telling readers more fascinating facts about bees, including their dances, their hierarchy within the hive and the jobs they do. A final paragraph mentions colony collapse disorder. The digital look of the illustrations detracts slightly, catching readers between the nature theme of the text and the rather sterilized artwork. Still, the adventures of this multicultural class of kids are sure to interest readers, and Snow makes it easy to identify and count the items in the pictures.

After learning all about how bees count, readers will be counting on Mr. Tate’s class to give them another environmental armchair trip. (Picture book. 4-7)

|

STOLEN INTO SLAVERY The True Story of Solomon Northrup, Free Black Man

Fradin, Dennis & Fradin, Judy National Geographic (128 pp.) $18.95 | $18.95 e-book | PLB $27.90 Jan. 1, 2012 978-1-4263-0937-3 978-1-4263-0987-8 e-book 978-1-4263-0938-0 PLB

Most readers know something about the Underground Railroad, when African Americans went from slavery to freedom, but this volume presents the opposite scenario: the enslavement of thousands of free Northern blacks.

Solomon Northup was one of 400,000 free blacks living in the United States in 1841. He was living in Saratoga Springs, N.Y., with his wife and three children, when two white men offered him good money to play violin for the circus they represented. Solomon jumped at the chance and soon found himself captured, beaten and transported to Louisiana, where he suffered a 12-year odyssey as a slave. Brevity, the focus on one man’s story and a lively prose style make this an unusually affecting and important narrative. All of the dialogue and many of the details come from Northup’s own memoir, Twelve Years a Slave, published in 1853. Photographs, maps and reproductions of a bill of sale and various newspaper images complement the text.

Unfortunately, sources are not always provided, as for a Frederick Douglass quotation on the final page, and the meager bibliography offers no sources for young readers, a shame since so many fine sources exist.

An excellent and important introduction to a man who went from freedom to slavery and back again. (afterword, time line, online resources, index) (Nonfiction. 10-14)

STEP GENTLY OUT

Frost, Helen Photos by Lieder, Rick Candlewick (32 pp.) $15.99 | Mar. 13, 2012 978-0-7636-5601-0

Breathtaking photos and an exquisite poem capture a bug’s-eye view of nature.

One can only hope the present collaboration will be the first of many between nature photographer Lieder and Frost (Hidden, 2011, etc.), one of the most gifted, versatile children’s poets writing today, for the synthesis of word and image in this short picture book is so finely wed that the final page turn leaves one begging for more. While Frost’s lightly rhymed declarative verse encourages children to experience the natural world with care and openness to the tiny wonders of insect life around them, Lieder’s richly colored intimate close ups offer every reason why. “Step gently out,” Frost advises, pointing out how “the creatures shine with stardust, / they’re splashed with morning dew. / In song and dance and stillness, they share the world

kirkusreviews.com

|

children

&

teens

|

1 january 2012

|

2435

with you.” Golden-hued endpapers catch a honeybee and firefly mid-flight; the volume also spotlights the less-frequently spied praying mantis, katydid and damselfly, alongside more common insects. For precise readers wishing to know, for example, that the fuzzy, stoplight-colored creature twisting around a blade of grass happens to be a tussock moth caterpillar, the volume’s endnotes include brief descriptions of the featured species.

A dazzlingly poetic photo album of the insect world for tots on up. (Picture book. 2 & up)

IF ONLY

Geithner, Carole Scholastic (336 pp.) $16.99Mar. 1, 2012 978-0-545-23499-3 A detailed exploration of grief in one year of an eighth-grade girl’s life.

It’s only been a few months since Corinna’s mom died of cancer, and her daily life is consumed with reminders of that fact. She can’t make herself throw away the expired containers of her mom’s favorite yogurt and still dials her mom’s cell phone number to hear her recorded message. She struggles with her friends’ casual mentions of their own mothers and doesn’t feel that she can talk to her bereaved father. But after joining a counseling group at school and discovering her mother’s old journal, Corinna begins to heal. As the anniversary of her mom’s death approaches, Corinna is able to face it armed with cherished memories and the anticipation of a family trip to Japan, a place that was special to her mother. Geithner was a clinical social worker before she was an author, and it shows.

Corinna moves through the stages of grief with textbook precision, and too often her conversations with her friends or father sound like they come from an afterschool-special script on losing a family member. However, young teens who are dealing with this issue will easily identify with Corinna’s anger, confusion and eventual acceptance.

Better for bibliotherapy than recreational reading. (Fiction. 10-14)

PIECES OF US

Gelbwasser, Margie Flux (336 pp.) $9.95 paperback | Mar. 8, 2012 978-0-7387-2164-4 Two sets of deeply damaged siblings fall apart when their once-compartmentalized worlds of school and summer connect and crash.

Alex and Kyle are brothers; Katie and Julie are sisters. Alex despises his mother, whom he holds responsible for his father’s suicide and failing to protect him from a string of brutal boyfriends. He takes out his 2436

|

1 january 2012

|

children

&

teens

|

contempt for women on his loose-girl sex partners, frequently offering them to his intimidated younger brother Kyle, whom he abuses even though he thinks of himself as his brother’s protector. The only girl Alex doesn’t see as a slut is Katie. But Katie, who, when the book opens, is a queen-bee cheerleader with a star-athlete boyfriend, has too much to drink at a party and, semiconscious, has nonconsensual sex with her boyfriend and his teammate, an ugly secret the boys then use to torment and control her. Meanwhile, Katie’s younger, less-pretty and pudgier sister, Julie, plagued by a mother who belittles her, believes that her sister stole the one boy who liked her. The four protagonists alternate the narration, three in the first person, one, oddly, in the second, providing multiple lenses on this car crash of a story, which finally ends on a welcome note of healing and hope.

Suspenseful, disturbing and emotionally fraught, a strong novel for a strong stomach. (Fiction. 14 & up)

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YOU AND ME

George, Madeleine Viking (272 pp.) $16.99 | Mar. 1, 2012 978-0-670-01128-5

A novel with alternating narrators takes an unusually interesting twist due to one of the character’s habitual tendency

toward self-delusion.

Self-proclaimed misfit and outspoken manifesto-author Jesse deals daily with the hazards of being out and proud in high school. She’s also carrying on a secret affair with image-conscious Emily, the girlfriend of a popular boy at school. Meeting weekly in the bathroom of the local public library, the two experience an inexplicable chemistry, even though Emily will barely acknowledge Jesse at any other time. Switching perspective among Emily, Jesse and a third girl, Esther, this heartbreaking tale is powerfully raw in its exploration of attraction and shame. Jesse hides her relationship from her warmly quirky and accepting parents not because it is with a girl, but because she knows they will disapprove of its secrecy. Readers will ache for her, and they will be torn between rage and pity toward Emily, so intent on forcing herself into a normative role that she cannot admit the truth even to herself. Clever phrasing, a decided political bent against big-box stores and characters who gently poke fun at various stereotypes round out this work of contemporary fiction.

While in the end there are some plot lines left untied in slice-of-life fashion, the bittersweet resolution of the main conflict is deeply satisfying. (Fiction. 13 & up)

kirkusreviews.com

|

“A sweet and gentle picture book with friendship, etiquette and a hint of dragon breath.” from how to be friends with a dragon

I SPY UNDER THE SEA

Gibbs, Edward Illus. by Gibbs, Edward Templar/Candlewick (32 pp.) $14.99Mar. 27, 2012 978-0-7636-5952-3

An under-the-sea guessing and counting game from the creator of I Spy with My Little Eye (2011).

In alternating spreads, readers receive clues about a sea creature, with the answer revealed in the next. In the first, each verso features an image of the creature’s eye paired with the bold words “I spy with my little eye . . .” If children look carefully, they will spot a full or partial silhouette of the animal, too. The recto provides further information: “something with stripes,” “big claws,” “lots of arms.” A die-cut hole allows youngsters to peek at part of the creature, and an additional hint is provided.

Hints vary from leading prompts “I have a funny name” to common observations “I walk sideways on the beach” to the factual “My arms are called tentacles.” Turn the page, and a colorful scene unfolds. Digital art mimics paint with black-ink outlines, creating texture and movement. Each friendly-looking animal is named (clownfish, crab, octopus and more) and the quantity noted. This starts arbitrarily with the number seven and counts down to one shark. His smile, unfortunately, may appear more menacing than merry when he says “I’m a SHARK, and I spy… / YOU!” In the end, children are invited to discover their own world through a spy-hole.

A clever introduction to ocean life. (Picture book. 2-5)

HOW TO BE FRIENDS WITH A DRAGON

Gorbachev, Valeri Illus. by Gorbachev, Valeri Whitman (32 pp.) $16.99 | Mar. 1, 2012 978-0-8075-3432-8

amiably goofy expression poses no threat, even when breathing fire. Bedtime approved thanks to its soft palette and reassuring tone, and clever enough to land in many a read-again pile.

Decorum delivered in a refreshing package. (Picture book. 3-6)

WOLF WON’T BITE!

Gravett, Emily Illus. by Gravett, Emily Simon & Schuster (32 pp.) $16.99 | Mar. 20, 2012 978-1-4424-2763-1 Three carny pigs push a patient wolf too far in Gravett’s latest.

On the opening endpapers, three pigs with a net chase a wolf.

Soon they’re pasting up a circus poster trumpeting, “The Three Pigs Proudly Present WOLF WON’T BITE!” One pig wears a ringmaster jacket, one a tutu and one a weightlifter’s leotard. In elaborate and ever-shifting display types, they crow, “Roll up!

Roll up! Roll up! We have caught a wild wolf!” The wolf, looking dubious, sticks his head out of an old-fashioned wheeled circus cage. White space surrounds the animals, showing no context beyond props. Oil-based pencil sharpens and details red, pink and gray watercolor (the tutu’s yellow-white). These pigs are barkers, announcing each trick as they do it. They ride the wolf like a horse; they throw knives at him. When they shoot him from a cannon, he rockets from the back-middle of the left page right off the spread’s front right corner, about to smash into readers. Subtlety is conveyed in the wolf ’s priceless expressions (doubtful, apprehensive) and the question of why the pigs are so cocksure, repeatedly boasting, “WOLF WON’T BITE!” Their hubris whets readers’ expectations: Surely the pigs go too far?

The punch line’s not a bite, but it’s a welcome turnaround—and don’t miss the closing endpapers.

A slightly cryptic but satisfying wolf/pig reversal. (Picture book. 2-5)

PINCH HIT

A sweet and gentle picture book with friendship, etiquette and a hint of

dragon breath.

The prolific Gorbachev, (Shhh!, 2011, etc.) uses a soft color palette to introduce readers to a spirited dragon lover named Simon. The boy’s secret: He wants to befriend a dragon. His older, wiser sister, Emma, has a quick response: “If you want to make friends with a dragon, you must remember the rules…”

The author deftly teaches life lessons with the softest of nudges.

Emma’s worldly recitation of tips for dragon friendship shows that befriending a dragon is a lot like befriending anyone else, requiring courtesy and kindness. “[D]on’t try to scare him”; “be nice”; “[a]fter lunch, when the dragon takes a nap, you really shouldn’t try to wake him up by putting a stick in his nose.”

The imagined scenes play up the comedy, varying perspective when necessary and depicting the cowboy-hat–clad little boy interacting with a classically spiky, winged green dragon whose |

Green, Tim Harper/HarperCollins (320 pp.) $16.99 | Mar. 20, 2012 978-0-06-201246-3 Two boys decide to trade places prince-and-pauper style.

Trevor’s a Hollywood star wishing he could play baseball like a real kid, and Sam’s that real kid, whose father is unsuccessfully peddling his script. The credulity-straining plot is not new, but Green attempts to make this fantasy seem plausible by having the boys discover quickly that they may be identical twins separated at birth. Female teen heartthrob McKenna acts as Sam’s advisor in Hollywood, leaving Trevor to negotiate Sam’s trailer-park life on his own. Sam is a great baseball player, of course, and Trevor’s main challenge is

kirkusreviews.com

|

children

&

teens

|

1 january 2012

|

2437

“History, science and a guidance lesson all rolled into one, this could surely be the spark for many a school garden.” from first peas to the table

fulfilling Sam’s coach and teammates’ reasonable expectations.

Trevor’s distracted and distant parents make Sam’s success at his half of the fraud a little more believable, but that he would wow the director on his first take in the blockbuster Trevor has been filming is hard to take. As is Trevor’s birthday present of playing baseball with the Los Angeles Dodgers and the fake birthmark that distinguishes the two supposedly fooling a makeup artist on the set on a daily basis. There’s plenty of baseball action to distract from the flimsiness of the plot, which ends on such an unlikely note that there must be a sequel planned. Sports fiction seldom branches out into the movies, which may broaden the audience a little.

Pure, escapist fluff. (Sports fiction. 10-14)

FIRST PEAS TO THE TABLE

Grigsby, Susan Illus. by Tadgell, Nicole Whitman (32 pp.) $16.99 paperback | Mar. 1, 2012 978-0-8075-2452-7

When Ms. Garcia’s students emulate Thomas Jefferson and his “first peas to the table” contest, will it bring out the best or the worst in two friends?

With Jefferson’s garden as a model for their own class plot, Ms. Garcia’s students start learning about his agricultural experiments as they prepare to participate in their own contest. Begun by Jefferson and his friends, the neighborly challenge allowed the winner to present his bowl of peas at a dinner. Twenty seeds and a small pot allow the students to get a head start on their gardening at home. Meanwhile, at school, they make garden journals, learn about composting and divide their garden up into three sections—roots, fruits and leaves.

Narrator Maya and her friend Shakayla take the competition especially seriously, but the two have very different ideas and methods for growing their peas. Grigsby’s narrative flows well and strikes a good balance among Maya’s account, pea/gardening facts, the scientific method and a history lesson. Tadgell’s watercolors support this, using both full-page spreads and smaller, inset illustrations of the racially diverse students and their garden, as well as some from Jefferson’s day. The pea vines are appropriately twisty, while the pea blossoms exhibit their trademark paper-like texture.

History, science and a guidance lesson all rolled into one, this could surely be the spark for many a school garden.

(Picture book. 6-10)

2438

|

1 january 2012

|

children

&

teens

|

SIGN LANGUAGE: ABC

Heller, Lora Illus. by Heller, Lora Sterling (32 pp.) $14.95 | Mar. 6, 2012 978-1-4027-6392-2

Clean, digital illustrations depict one word for each letter of the alphabet in sign language.

For example, “F is for Fish” shows a boy catching a fish: The letter F is at the top of the page, and in a circle underneath is the hand sign with the simple sentence printed across the bottom. Most of the letter choices are common, with a few that are less so: J for Juggle; R for Robot; V for Vegetables; Y for Yo-yo.

A one-page pictograph of all of the signs finishes the book. It all seems innocuous enough, but the total de-contextualization of the manual alphabet and sign language in general is breathtakingly irresponsible. The introduction, which is directed to child readers, entices children into the activity by promoting sign-language finger spelling as “your own secret language.”

“Imagine… spelling something to your brother or sister that your parents don’t understand. You can—with sign language!”

Nowhere is there a reference to American Sign Language as a major communication system for people who are deaf or any encouragement to use this skill with them.

Other books do it better (with sensitivity): Handsigns, by Kathleen Fain (1993), and The Handmade Alphabet, by Laura Rankin (1991). (Picture book. 5-8)

WHEN THE SEA IS RISING RED

Hellisen, Cat Farrar, Straus and Giroux (304 pp.) $16.99 | Feb. 28, 2012 978-0-374-36475-5 The scion of a fading magical aristocracy flees an arranged marriage and finds herself caught in a rebellion against her own people.

Felicita is made of stronger stuff than her friend Ilven, who responded to her own betrothal by hurling herself off a rocky cliff. Felicita, instead, flees into the slums disguised as a half-caste prostitute. She’s high-Lammer, one of the much-loathed colonizing overlords of Pelimburg, but she washes dishes for pennies and tries not to starve among the oliveskinned Hobs. She lives on the mercy of Dash, a Hob—squatter? landlord? criminal? charismatic rebel?—who draws Felicita into his anti-Lammer schemes. Dash plans no mere armed revolt, but a manipulation of wild magic older than the entire Lammer occupation. A seeming love triangle among Felicita, Dash and the wellto-do vampire Jannik is more complicated than the usual; Felicita is drawn to Dash but still mourns the lost Ilven, and Jannik courts Felicita while pining after Dash. There’s some clumsy stereotyping in the worldbuilding: Jannik’s people are big-nosed, discriminated-against, exotic, exceedingly wealthy, outsider merchants

kirkusreviews.com

|

who use their great wealth to exploit the poor and manipulate the aristocracy; sound familiar? Nonetheless, the worldbuilding intrigues, and the open-ended conclusion begs a sequel.

Moody, in the spirit of Carrie Ryan’s The Forest of Hands and Teeth (2009), but with a much more likable heroine. (Fantasy. 13-16)

PENNY AND HER SONG

Henkes, Kevin Illus. by Henkes, Kevin Greenwillow/HarperCollins (32 pp.) $14.99 | PLB $15.89 | Mar. 1, 2012 978-0-06-208195-7 978-0-06-208196-4 PLB Penny sings a joyful song that resonates in her happy mouse family.

At first Mama and Papa are reluctant to hear the song that Penny made up, because they fear she might wake the babies. So she sings to herself in the mirror and to her collection of glass animals, but that’s not very satisfying.

Finally, after dinner she sings her song, and her parents make a real show of it, wearing costumes and singing with her again and again. All this excitement tires everyone and puts the babies to sleep in their basket. At bedtime, Penny worries that she will forget her song by morning, but when she wakes up, her special song is still with her. Penny joins Lilly and Owen in Henkes’ pantheon of mouse children. She is delightfully human as she seeks to divert her parents’ attention from the new babies.

Henkes’ signature crisp and bright watercolor-and-ink illustrations depict every action and emotion and appear in a variety of shapes and sizes, centered in line with large print text and surrounded by white space. He has visited this theme before, in Julius the Baby of the World, but here there is no overt jealousy, and the sweetness level is higher.

A charming, child-friendly take on the ever-popular new-baby theme. (Early reader. 3-8)

BRAVE MUSIC OF A DISTANT DRUM

Herbstein, Manu Red Deer Press (182 pp.) $12.95 paperback | Feb. 1, 2012 978-0-88995-470-0 Clearly still aiming to shock, Herbstein recasts but does not tone down his debut novel, originally published for adult audiences as Ama: A Story of the Atlantic Slave Trade (2001).

Punctuating her narrative with rapes (some of which are explicitly described) and other atrocities, from forced cannibalism to a flogging that leaves her scarred and one-eyed, blind old Ama relates her life’s hard story to her increasingly disturbed son Zacharias. He, though still enslaved, had been raised in a white official’s household and forced to suppress memories of |

his earliest years on the Bahian engenho (sugar plantation). Writing in terse, simple language, the Ghana-born author zigzags between points of view—injecting notes of irony (the slave ship that carries Ama to Brazil is named The Love of Liberty, for instance) and acidly matter-of-fact indictments of the brutality and hypocrisy of white slaveholding Christians. Callously ordered away just as his mother is dying, by the end Zacharias sheds his self-righteous naiveté, returns to calling himself by his birth name Kwame Zumbi and vows to share his true heritage with his own young daughter. Readers will be moved as much by Ama’s intelligence and unwavering sense of self respect as by her hideous experiences.

The agenda is never less than obvious, but it’s a powerful tale nonetheless. (map, cast list, glossary) (Historical fiction. 15 & up)

TORN

Hocking, Amanda St. Martin’s Griffin (336 pp.) $8.99 paperback | Feb. 28, 2012 978-1-250-00632-5 Series: Trylle, 2 The second installment of the Trylle trilogy picks up right where the first (Switched, 2012) left off, with 17-year-old Wendy Everly returning home to her “host brother” after disappearing without a trace almost a month prior.

Before Matt has time to digest the fact that his little sister is actually a changeling Trylle princess with “mild superpowers,” they are kidnapped, and Wendy finds herself once again at the center of an “epic troll battle.” Fans of the series will enjoy watching on as Wendy continues to wrestle with issues of belonging, particularly when both the Trylle and the Vittra claim her as their chosen one. Though she is stronger in this installment and gradually learning to harness and control her powers, there is still plenty Wendy must overcome. Not only are there big-time mommy/daddy issues to resolve, but also matters of the heart that will keep both Wendy and readers happily entertained. While the writing certainly lacks the depth and polish it takes to win major literary awards, there is no denying that Hocking knows how to tell a good story and keep readers coming back for more.

More is exactly what they will be looking for once they’ve turned the last page. (Paranormal romance. 14 & up)

kirkusreviews.com

|

children

&

teens

|

1 january 2012

|

2439

GARMANN’S SECRET

Hole, Stian Translated by Bartlett, Don Illus. by Hole, Stian Eerdmans (50 pp.) $17.00 | Feb. 1, 2012 978-0-8028-5400-1

After tackling the neighborhood bully (Garmann’s Street, 2010) and the impending death of his elderly aunts (Garmann’s Summer, 2008), Garmann returns in his third discovery of life’s universal truths, this time exploring secrets—and first love.

While many call the redheaded identical twins, Hannah and Johanna, first introduced in Garmann’s Summer, two peas in a pod, Garmann has begun noticing their differences, which are slyly played out through illustrations. One day Johanna leads the young Norwegian boy into the woods, where she shows him a rusted, hidden space capsule. As the children realize their mutual fascination with space, they decide to make the capsule their secret hideout. Just as he did in his previous books, Garmann turns to the adults in his life to help make sense of his world.

After discovering that “everyone has secrets” from his mother, he opens up to Johanna, exposing a few of his secrets and learning some of hers. In this quiet give and take, Garmann and Johanna learn what many adults never do: A fine blend of vulnerability and trust can lead to love. The woods’ lush greenery, mystical lighting that subtly changes as night falls and tiny white flowers that dot the ground like stars all form the perfect place for keeping secrets.

Fans of Hole’s mixed-media collages, rendered in a retroinfused, surreal style, will find this book his most beautiful yet. (Picture book. 6-9)

TITANIC Voices from the Disaster

Hopkinson, Deborah Scholastic (304 pp.) $17.99 | Mar. 1, 2012 978-0-545-11674-9 In what’s sure to be a definitive work commemorating the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the RMS Titanic, Hopkinson offers a well-researched and fascinating account of the disaster.

On Monday, April 15th, 1912, the magnificent Titanic sank after striking an iceberg in the North Atlantic. Of the 2,208 people on board, only 712 survived. It’s a well-known story, though maybe not to young readers, who, if anything, might have seen the movie.

Hopkinson orchestrates a wealth of material here, using a thirdperson narrative voice to tell the story while incorporating eyewitness accounts of people on the “most luxurious ship the world had ever seen.” A huge number of archival photographs and reproductions of telegrams, maps, letters, illustrations, sidebars and even a dinner menu complement the text, yielding a volume as interesting 2440

|

1 january 2012

|

children

&

teens

|

for browsing as for through-reading. The voices include a stewardess, a science teacher, a 9-year-old boy, the ship’s designer, the captain and a mother on her way to a new life in America. Best of all is the author’s spirit: She encourages readers to think like historians and wonder what it would have been like on the Titanic and imagine each character’s story. Fifty pages of backmatter will inform and guide readers who want to know even more.

A thorough and absorbing recreation of the ill-fated voyage. (Nonfiction. 8-16)

ISLAND OF SHADOWS

Hunter, Erin Harper/HarperCollins (304 pp.) $16.99 | PLB $17.89 | Feb. 7, 2012 978-0-06-199634-4 978-0-06-199635-1 PLB Series: Seekers: Return to the Wild, 1 The wildly popular writing team (writing collectively as Hunter) sends its team of bears out for another episodic adventure, but the object of this quest is less than clear.

Brown bear Toklo, black bear Lusa and white bear Kallik have accomplished the long trek to Star Island and destroyed the threats to its fragile ecosystem, but at the cost of the life of their friend, the shape-shifting Ujurak, reunited with his mother in the stars. Now accompanied by the white bear Yakone, they turn their paws homeward, unsure of both route and destination. After enduring quarrels and hunger, nearly fatal accidents and harrowing encounters with humans, the foursome stumbles across the abandoned Nanulak. Will caring for this strange bear cub fill the empty place in Toklo’s heart? Or does Nanaluk conceal dangerous secrets of his own? The authors do a fine job recapping previous events, making this an accessible entry point for new readers. Unfortunately, the characters seem to have lost much of their accumulated growth and nuance as well: Toklo is angry and guilt-ridden, Lusa is wise but weak, Kallik is the nurturing peacemaker and Yakone exists mainly to be big and strong and have things explained to him.

Scheming Nanaluk is a caricature of a villain, while the dreamlike visions of the ascended Ujurak only underscore the shift in theme from environmental awareness to a plea for interspecies tolerance.

Lacks the urgency and coherence of the bears’ first series, but fans will demand this follow-up. (Animal fantasy. 10-14)

kirkusreviews.com

ONE DOG AND HIS BOY

Ibbotson, Eva Scholastic (288 pp.) $16.99 | Mar. 1, 2012 978-0-545-35196-6

In Ibbotson’s final book, all 10-yearold Hal Fenton has ever wanted is a dog of his own, but his wealthy, shallow parents think a brief dog-rental will resolve his yearning. |

“Some young listeners may be charmed into giggles by the ‘missiles of poop’ launched by the Scandinavian fieldfare in an effort the keep predatory crows from their nests.” from bird talk

Every aspect of the Fenton household’s appearance is perfect, and a dog is an unwelcome addition. Mr. Fenton rents Fleck, a white mutt inappropriately placed at the Easy Pets agency, run by the evil Carkers, a couple interested only in making money. Fortunately for the 50 purebred dogs they rent out, gentle, impoverished Kayley runs the kennel. Bereft after his parents slyly return Fleck to the agency, Hal steals the dog and sets out for his grandparents’ cottage in the north of England.

He’s joined unexpectedly by a motley gang of five other kennel escapees and Kayley’s kind-hearted younger sister, Pippa, who has released them. In a series of remarkably fortunate encounters, the dogs’ sagacious skills help the children on their perilous journey. Characters are painted with a broad brush; they are either very, very good or quite nasty, although some of the latter, like Hal’s parents, have the opportunity for atonement. The amusing hyperbole Ibbotson employs to great effect turns this pet story into a classic Dahl-like adventure.

A rousing, slightly surreal tale of rescue and redemption, this effort will appeal to animal lovers everywhere.

(Adventure. 9-14)

BIRD TALK

Judge, Lita Illus. by Judge, Lita Flash Point/Roaring Brook (40 pp.) $17.99 | Mar. 13, 2012 978-1-59643-646-6 A simple ornithological discourse for very young readers offers several examples of feathered nonverbal communication.

Over two dozen bird species—most, but not all, with North American ranges, and many fairly familiar—are shown communicating essential messages via calls, displays of plumage and other, less well-known behaviors. Birds from distant parts of the world may appear in the same opening describing behaviors that accomplish similar aims: wooing mates, camouflage, encouragement to fledglings, protection. Judge’s art is clear and understandable, as well as subtly funny, letting the birds speak for themselves. Her bright-eyed birds—in many cases both the male and female are shown—and briefly sketched surroundings against plenty of white space look natural, even as several of her subjects seem to twinkle expressively along with the humor in her clear, direct text. Some young listeners may be charmed into giggles by the “missiles of poop” launched by the Scandinavian fieldfare in an effort the keep predatory crows from their nests.

Adult readers may enjoy reading about the Northern gannet, with its unique way of determining who goes fishing for food and who tends the nest. Further information about each of the species, including their habitats and ranges, appears on several pages at the back, along with a brief glossary and list of sources.

Delightfully straightforward and accessible. (Informational picture book. 3-8)

|

A BEAUTIFUL EVIL

Keaton, Kelly Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster (304 pp.) $16.99 | Feb. 21, 2012 978-1-4424-0927-9 A gorgon and her aristocrat vampire boyfriend wage battle against the goddess Athena in this action-filled paranormal romance set in New 2—a futuristic, crumbling New Orleans.

This follow-up to Darkness Becomes Her (2011) again features Ari, an appealingly tough heroine, schooled in the techniques of bail bondsmen by her foster parents. Picking up where the first left off, Ari hurries to learn all she can about mastering her gorgon power so she can rescue both her father and Violet, one of the ragtag group of misfits with whom she lives in New 2, from Athena’s realm. Interesting reworking of Greek myth and deft plotting will intrigue and engage readers, though the use of trite phrases may pull them out of their immersion in the story: Ari’s love interest, Sebastian, is described as having “…pale skin, raven hair, and naturally dark red lips paired with a rebel attitude and a poet’s soul,” and Athena commands her at one point to “Chill, gorgon…or you’ll miss the best part.” Ari’s gruff but introspective narration serves to nicely flesh out her character, allowing her to be both brave and vulnerable. While secondary players remain onedimensional, including bad-boy-with-a-heart-of-gold Sebastian, fans of the first will enjoy this and clamor for the next.

Interesting ideas, flawed execution. (Paranormal romance. 14 & up)

SEÑORITA GORDITA

Ketteman, Helen Illus. by Terry, Will Whitman (32 pp.) $16.99 | Mar. 1, 2012 978-0-8075-7302-0

A sassy gordita attempts to outwit a bevy of desert creatures in this retelling of “The Gingerbread Man.” Ketteman and Terry (The Three Little Gators, 2009) reteam for this cumulative tale centered on the escapades of a fleetfooted, deep-fried corn cake. From her humble beginnings in the oven of Araña (spider), Señorita Gordita sets off across the Southwestern desert, besting the spider, a lizard, a rattlesnake, a scorpion, a javalina and a coyote. All of these animals are eager to enjoy a taste of the feisty, chatty snack, but “with a flip and a skip and a zip-zoom-zip,” Señorita Gordita manages to escape them all. When she arrives at the saguaro where Búho (owl) awaits, she may have finally met her match. The author introduces young readers to Spanish vocabulary through desert geography, flora and fauna, including all of the animals in the tale. Although saguaros and regional clichés abound, the illustrator’s use of brilliant colors and humor will hold the attention of younger and older readers, as will Señorita Gordita’s parting

kirkusreviews.com

|

children

&

teens

|

1 january 2012

|

2441

“A rich vein of wisdom runs through this highly entertaining, swashbuckling series debut.” from the case of the deadly desperados

words to each of the animals she escapes. The author’s inclusion of a recipe for gorditas rectifies the story’s abrupt ending.

A welcome retelling, particularly suited for reading aloud to groups. (Spanish glossary, recipe) (Picture book. 4-7)

THE DISENCHANTMENTS

LaCour, Nina Dutton (304 pp.) $16.99 | Feb. 16, 2012 978-0-525-42219-8

Colby and Bev plan to forgo college in favor of a brief tour with Bev’s band, The Disenchantments, followed by a year traveling through Europe. But only hours into the trip, Bev makes an announcement that changes everything.

Even among their alternative, artsy friends, Bev and Colby’s decision to chase their dreams is a bold move. Following in his father’s and his uncle’s musical footsteps, Colby borrows Melinda, his uncle’s beloved van, to ferry The Disenchantments from one seedy venue to the next. As they travel, the band mates are forced to face some difficult truths about each other and themselves.

Each member of the band chronicles their trip in a unique way: journaling, taking photographs, drawing, even with a tattoo. Colby’s continued devotion to the self-centered and dishonest Bev is at times irritating, but it is also completely real. Long-held secrets strain friendships and forge new bonds. The old friends quickly realize that dreams are a combination of holding on and letting go. Quirky characters, each with his or her own story, are woven into the narrative, creating a rich tapestry that will make readers confident that they are in the hands of a master storyteller.

Hauntingly beautiful. (Fiction. 14 & up)

THE CASE OF THE DEADLY DESPERADOS

Lawrence, Caroline Putnam (272 pp.) $16.99Feb. 16, 2012 978-0-399-25633-2 Series: Western Mysteries, 1 Twelve-year-old P.K. “Pinky” Pinkerton was born with a poker face—he can’t show or read emotion—but it’s not until he lands in Nevada Territory’s silver-mining country that he comes to terms with the hand he’s dealt.

This fast-paced and deadpan-funny Wild West adventure is Pinky’s first-person account, scrawled out as “last words” on ledger sheets in a mine shaft while three desperados hunt him down. These outlaws, seeking something valuable Pinky’s Sioux ma had left behind, murdered his foster parents. Pinky narrowly escapes, jumping a stage to “Satan’s Playground,” or Virginia City of 1862, with its 2442

|

1 january 2012

|

children

&

teens

|

colorful mix of greedy gunslingers, “Celestials,” “Soiled Doves” and even Sam Clemens with the occasional jarring witticism. Best of all, he runs into Poker Face Jace who teaches him how to read people’s feet, “the most honest part of a man’s body.” Pinky is likable. A wannabe detective, he’s resourceful and smart, gutsy but not foolhardy… and partial to black coffee. Jace’s detailed lessons in human “tells” drag on a smidge, but readers will fully grasp how thirsty Pinky is for this information that’s more precious to him than silver. Wonderfully dry humor, vivid sensory descriptions of the mountain town and a genuinely appealing protagonist make this a stand-out.

A rich vein of wisdom runs through this highly entertaining, swashbuckling series debut. (1862 map of Virginia City, glossary) (Historical fiction. 10-14)

SEABABY

Levine, Ellen Illus. by Van Zyle, Jon Walker (32 pp.) $16.99 | Mar. 13, 2012 978-0-8027-9808-4 A baby sea otter tells the story of his rehabilitation after a storm separates him from his mother.

Lifted and examined in a place of strange smells, the little otter gradually relaxes into the care of humans. After he being fed from a bottle, he is placed in a gently moving pool that rocks him to sleep. Within several days, he meets his new mother. This adoptive mom teaches the baby the skills he will need in order to feed himself. Ending with his ocean release, readers leave him tethered in seaweed and fast asleep among a group of other otters. Backmatter includes a list of Web and print resources, as well as a final note that serves to fill in the human side of the baby otter’s rescue. This fascinating note describes the Monteray Bay Aquarium’s stranded– sea otter program and how it has changed and improved based on the research scientists have done on the animals already released.

As does the text, Van Zyle’s acrylics keep the point of view with the baby otter. He is large and central to the illustrations, while the humans are reduced to either onlookers or purple latex gloves. It’s a shame the science described in the author’s note was not more incorporated into the text, but that is a small quibble.

This gentle and moving portrait of animal rehabilitation stands out for its unusual, animal-centric point of view. (Picture book. 4-8)

WE’VE GOT A JOB The 1963 Birmingham Children’s March Levinson, Cynthia Y. Peachtree (176 pp.) $19.95 | Feb. 1, 2012 978-1-56145-627-7

Triumph and tragedy in 1963 “Bombingham,” as children and teens pick up the flagging Civil Rights movement and give it a swift kick in the pants.

kirkusreviews.com

|

C H I L DR E N

& TE E NS

Bartleby: The Future of Digital Storytelling B Y VIC K Y SMI T H

A year ago, when we began to review iPad apps, an apparently unassuming little book called Bartleby’s Book of Buttons struck us as one of the best story apps available in the then-infant market.

We were captivated by the story of this button-collecting gentleman, because it actively engaged readers in advancing the story through the technology. It didn’t just give them a story with interactions to play with. “It’s remarkably different in look, tone and structure from most story apps, a true original in an App Store filled with cartoon tie-ins, princess programming and retrofitted children’s classics,” we said. Then we waited eagerly for volume two.

We were not disappointed. The Button at the Bottom of the Sea maintained the disarmingly appealing retro vibe of the first volume while also expanding on its interactions in ways that keep the experience fresh and exciting. The secret to these books’ success? The remarkable collaboration between Honolulu-based authors Henrik and Denise Van Ryzin (Henrik is the illustrator, too) and Seattle-based developers Kyle Kinkade and Nate True of Monster Costume.

From the beginning, Bartleby was conceived as a story unique to the tablet medium. The idea took root when Henrik Van Ryzin saw Steve Jobs’ presentation that introduced the iPad to the world. “I remember thinking that this opens up so many possibilities for storytelling,” he says. “I wanted to rethink the way stories are put together.”

“One of the appeals that made us [at Monster Costume] want to make Bartleby was that it crosses the line between game and book,” Kinkade adds. “But |

more importantly, [it] is a level of interactivity in a children’s story that could only exist on a multitouch device such as the iPad.” But where the relationship between creators and developers began typically— the Van Ryzins had been working with Monster Costume on another project and went to them with Bartleby—the line between the two became so blurred with The Button at the Bottom of the Sea that the collaborators now see themselves as one creative team, with story and illustration ideas both informing and being informed by the app development.

“I board out a conceptual story arc with proposed button actions, and we run through the book in a big team meeting,” Henrik says. “At this point Kyle and Nate are able to suggest things that I had not considered, and we rethink the story and how the interaction affects it.”

Denise Van Ryzin adds, “Henrik and I don’t know anything about coding. And sometimes our ideas push Nate and Kyle to make something totally different and new. And sometimes their ideas make us go, ‘Oh yeah! Wouldn’t that be COOL?!’ “ Cool it undoubtedly is. From the option to use Apple’s AirPlay feature to broadcast the app’s action on a TV, which turns the iPad into, literally, Bartleby’s book of buttons, to a basketful of “Easter eggs” that will keep poking fingers busy for months, to a range of interactions that challenge readers young and old, it is one surprising app.

Henrik and Denise have experience in the world of educational apps, and the team takes care to field test it every step of the way with children. “Our kid testers do a great job of playing it at least one page at a time, which is good for usability,” Kinkade says. “I think honestly it’s very humbling to have a 4- or 6-year-old tell you, ‘This page is boring,’ and force you to think of what you can add.”

Predictably, children have an easier time with the app than their elders. “We get most of our ‘I’m stuck’ e-mails from grandparents,” Denise says. “Usually, if they give the iPad or iPhone to their grandkids, they solve it in seconds.” kirkusreviews.com

|

children

Interestingly, everyone on the team refers to the Bartleby apps as “books” without hesitation. Kinkade says that they’ve heard from people that what children do with Bartleby isn’t really reading, “but ‘book’ is the closest word. We’re defining a new medium here, so we have to work with something.”

They may not be on paper, but both books harken back to traditional print, from the consciously Tintin-esque illustrations to the “To Be Continued” at the end of The Button at the Bottom of the Sea. “As a young reader,” Henrik says, “I always enjoyed a good cliffhanger.”

Fortunately for those children and adults on tenterhooks for Bartleby 3, the team swears it won’t be as long in coming as volume two was. And there’s plenty more of the “Buttonverse” to explore. For those wondering what shape stories will take in the future, the Bartleby series serves as a damn good model.

THE BUTTON AT THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA

Van Ryzin, Henrik & Denise Illustrated by: Van Ryzin, Henrik Developed by: Monster Costume Monster Costume $3.99 | Oct. 11, 2011 1.0.0; Oct. 11, 2011 &

teens

|

1 january 2012

|

2443

Levinson builds her dramatic account around the experiences of four young arrestees—including a 9-year-old, two teenage activists trained in nonviolent methods and a high-school dropout who was anything but nonviolent. She opens by mapping out the segregated society of Birmingham and the internal conflicts and low levels of adult participation that threatened to bring the planned jail-filling marches dubbed “Project C” (for “confrontation”), and by extension the entire civil-rights campaign in the South, to a standstill. Until, that is, a mass exodus from the city’s black high schools (plainly motivated, at least at first, almost as much by the chance to get out of school as by any social cause) at the beginning of May put thousands of young people on the streets and in the way of police dogs, fire hoses and other abuses before a national audience. The author takes her inspiring tale of courage in the face of both irrational racial hatred and adult foot-dragging (on both sides) through the ensuing riots and the electrifying September bombing of the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church, then brings later lives of her central participants up to date.

A moving record of young people rising at a pivotal historical moment, based on original interviews and archival research as well as published sources. (photos, timeline, endnotes, multimedia resource lists) (Nonfiction. 11-15)

ZIP IT!

Lindaman, Jane Illus. by Carlson, Nancy Carolrhoda (32 pp.) $16.95$12.95 e-book | Mar. 1, 2012 978-0-7613-5592-2 978-0-7613-9198-2 e-book Dad charges off to run errands with his fly unzipped, oblivious to the efforts of his son to clue him in.

Grownups, at least, will definitely find the joke stretched too thin here, as young Joe somehow finds himself somehow unable to get his father’s attention on the drive, at the laundry and post office, during a layover for a nap with a spot of fishing and then on to some shopping. Adding to Lindaman’s frequent double-entendres in her mostly dialogue narrative—”Let’s zip through this list, okay?”—Carlson supplies a confused-looking housefly (a fly, get it?) along for the ride, plenty of peeks at Dad’s colorful jockey shorts showing through and a succession of amused (but silent, the crumbs) adult observers. The art, as overworked as the premise, is a busy muddle of sudden changes in angle or scene separated by too-thin borders, dialogue balloons that elbow their way into adjacent panels and angular vignettes set off by zipper lines. Dad does get the message in the end, though it has to be delivered through a grocery store’s public-address system.

A visual jumble, but a probable source of high-fives and hilarity for children old enough to be embarrassed by their parents. (Picture book. 5-8)

2444

|

1 january 2012

|

children

&

teens

|

10 HUNGRY RABBITS Counting & Color Concepts

Lobel, Anita Illus. by Lobel, Anita Knopf (24 pp.) $9.99 | PLB $12.99 | Feb. 24, 2012 978-0-375-86864-1 978-0-375-96864-8 PLB

Lobel, no stranger to gardening—or concept books—serves up a feast once again.

It’s dinnertime, and Mama Rabbit doesn’t have anything to put in her soup pot. Ten little rabbits whine, “We are very, very, VERY HUNGRY!” Papa Rabbit suggests they hop to the garden to find good things to eat. Each rabbit brings back a fruit or vegetable (or fungus) for the pot, counting from one to 10. Each rabbit also chooses a particular color of food, appropriately matching his or her brightly patterned frock. The scrumptious garden finds are boldly placed front and center, perfect for tiny fingers to point and count. Vignettes across the bottom show the rabbits digging and gathering. Besides the obvious rabbitin-the-garden connection, Lobel’s leafy borders and beady-eyed bunnies are reminiscent of Beatrix Potter. Never one to miss a detail, Lobel delicately shades the whisper-thin onion skins and every bump on the potato and also carefully lines up 12 little bowls in the background cupboard (assuring Mama and Papa are accounted for, of course). With gardens cropping up in schools and farmers’ markets on every corner, these hungry bunnies are teaching more than just numbers and colors.

Good, basic food to feed the youngest of minds. (Picture book. 2-5)

THE FAIRY RING Or Elsie and Frances Fool the World

Losure, Mary Candlewick (192 pp.) $16.99 | Mar. 27, 2012 978-0-7636-5670-6

The remarkable, true story of a fairy hoax successfully perpetrated by two young girls in the early 1900s offers a fascinating examination of human nature.

It began innocently enough; cousins Frances, 9, and Elsie, 15, took pictures of cutout paper fairies in order to get their families to stop teasing Frances, who claimed to have seen real ones in the woods behind their house. It escalated when Elsie’s mother mentioned at a Theosophist meeting that her daughter had taken a picture of fairies, perhaps not anticipating the ensuing furor. Eventually, a number of otherwise intelligent adults came to believe these photos were real, most prominent among them Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. It’s an incredible story, but this compelling account explains step-by-step how the situation escalated; as time went on, more people became personally and financially invested, and it was increasingly difficult for the girls

kirkusreviews.com

|

“No big gestures or overt drama about the effects of climate change here, but a focused, simple look at how polar bears survive during so much of the year…” from waiting for ice

to consider coming clean. The narrative is matter-of-fact and reserves judgment on the perpetrators as well as their credulous public. The fairy photos are reproduced, allowing readers to see exactly what people at the time saw.

This addition to the pantheon of great hoaxes, such as The War of the Worlds Halloween broadcast, reveals a perpetual human fascination with the supernatural and a strong desire to believe in the unseen. (Nonfiction. 10-14)

THE WOOD QUEEN

Mahoney, Karen Flux (336 pp.) $9.95 paperback | Feb. 8, 2012 978-0-7387-2662-5 Series: Iron Witch, 2 The Iron Witch (2011) ended with the restoration of Donna Underwood’s friends and the death of the monster that haunted her nightmares. However, Donna’s first journal entry in this sequel states that her “dreams are still full of fear and pain, even though it is a different sort of fear and a new kind of pain,” promising an exciting installment in this fantasy series.

Saving her friends has serious consequences among the secret company of alchemists her family belongs to. During the trial for her so-called offenses against the Order of the Dragon, Donna is approached by a messenger of the Wood Queen, who—in a later meeting—promises to restore her mother to health if she opens the door to Faerie. Characters from the previous book are joined by a few (possibly) minor additions.

With the exception of her friend Navin and the is-he-or-isn’t-he boyfriend Xan, she never knows whom she can trust. This additional stress doubles the story’s tension and adds to the uncertainty of her success. The shocking climax and many unresolved plot threads predict at least one more novel to come.

Readers of the previous book will welcome this addition and wait impatiently for the next book in the series.

(Urban fantasy. 13-16)

BAMBINO AND MR. TWAIN

Maltbie, P.I. Illus. by Miyares, Daniel Charlesbridge (40 pp.) $15.95 | $9.99 e-book | Feb. 1, 2012 978-1-58089-272-8 978-1-60734-072-0 e-book The story of Mark Twain as a newly widowed, grieving, 69-year-old man holed up in his Manhattan apartment in 1904 is frankly a peculiar subject for a children’s picture book.

Granted, there’s a black cat named Bambino to capture the attention of younger readers, but will the picture-book set be familiar enough with Twain to appreciate this morose glimpse |

into the twilight years of “sad old Samuel Clemens”? Twain did own a cat named Bambino. True story: When Bambino escaped from an open window, the devastated Twain put a “LOST: MARK TWAIN’S CAT” ad in the paper and offered a reward for his safe return… a move that spawned such a heartwarming public response (and influx of cats) that he cast off his housecoats and rejoined the world in his legendary white suit. (As for whether Bambino was really responsible for that, the author says, “Only Sam and Bambino would know.”) The lugubrious tale is captured commendably in atmospheric, expertly composed mixed-media and digital illustrations, often of the scowling, long-faced Twain in various slumped positions. Unusual perspectives add visual variety and effectively highlight the apparent bond between the bereft author and his cat.

A rather obscure human-interest story that, while beautifully illustrated, is not very enlightening on the topic of Mark Twain, mourning the death of a loved one nor cats. A puzzler. (author’s note, bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 8-10)

WAITING FOR ICE

Markle, Sandra Illus. by Marks, Alan Charlesbridge (32 pp.) $15.95 | $9.99 e-book | Feb. 1, 2012 978-1-58089-255-1 978-1-60734-086-7 e-book Markle provides an uncommon look at polar bears, the largest hunters on land, in this narrative that follows an orphaned cub barely old enough to survive on her own.

Trapped on Wrangel Island in the Arctic Sea, waiting late into the fall for the annual floating pack ice to form, she and other polar bears subsist on the few animals they can find—typically only birds and walruses, as a note on global warming explains at the back. No big gestures or overt drama about the effects of climate change here, but a focused, simple look at how polar bears survive during so much of the year, when there’s no ice to help them in their hunt for seals in the Arctic waters. Marks’ realistic watercolor-and-pencil illustrations in blues and grays show a spare landscape and just enough detail to link the bear cub with the text. Bright spots of red on a walrus calf captured and killed by an older bear and on the dead bird found by the cub are subtle reminders that the bears are predators and carnivores. The language is straightforward, simple and clear, offering only the hope that the cub will survive the winter. An author’s note, polar bear facts, sources for more information and a discussion of global warming provide extensions to the story.

Sturdy and well-put-together nature writing for younger readers. (Informational picture book. 4-8)

kirkusreviews.com

|

children

&

teens

|

1 january 2012

|

2445

“Widdershins’ journey from acted-upon victim to acting-upon protagonist is a classic adolescent journey.” from thief’s covenant

THIEF’S COVENANT

Marmell, Ari Pyr/Prometheus Books (280 pp.) $16.95 | $9.99 e-book | Feb. 14, 2012 978-1-61614-547-7 978-1-61614-548-4 e-book Series: The Widdershins Adventures, 1 Marmell, known for RPG manuals and tie-ins as well as adult fantasy novels, here ventures into the teen market.

In a narrative that jumps between “now” and the recent past, readers meet feisty teen thief Widdershins and her companion Olgun, a god not recognized by the church as one of the 147 deities worshipped in Widdershins’ world. Four years ago, Widdershins was Adrienne, a scampy street thief adopted into the nobility. Two years ago she was the sole survivor of a massacre (aftermath described in gory detail) that left the rest of Olgun’s worshippers dead and Adrienne wanted for the murders. Now, everyone is after her: the thieves’ guild, a surprisingly sympathetic City Guard and a mysterious figure called The Apostle who commands a truly demonic creature. This is classic fantasy, both embracing and mocking the genre. Some humor goes astray: Belabored quips and overwrought descriptions can read more like bad writing than skewered tropes (“…ambient sound thick enough to ladle into soup bowls and serve as a soup course…”), but the plot is relentless and the characters likable enough. And Widdershins’ journey from acted-upon victim to acting-upon protagonist is a classic adolescent journey.

For teens already reading adult fantasy but wanting something a bit more on their level, this hits the spot perfectly, flaws and all. (Fantasy. 13 & up)

FAERY TALES AND NIGHTMARES

Marr, Melissa Harper/HarperCollins (432 pp.) $17.99 | Feb. 21, 2012 978-0-06-185271-8 Short stories focusing mainly on Marr’s previous novel series crowd out other interesting tales in this uneven collection.

Beginning with an intriguing vampire tale and an affecting love story involving seal-people (“selchies”), the author continues by using most of the book for a multi-chaptered novella plus more stories that deal directly with her earlier Wicked Lovely series but never provides any exposition for them. Instead, these stories, comprising about two-thirds of the book, demand knowledge of her already created faerie world. Absent that knowledge, the faerie stories, especially the novella, are virtually incomprehensible. Two or three have tenuous plot lines, but most appear to be filling in possible loose ends from the series. Other, much shorter stories provide better impact, especially “Flesh for Comfort,” a nicely 2446

|

1 january 2012

|

children

&

teens

|

creepy tale. However, one wonders why the standalone stories have been included here. Wouldn’t a final addition to the series and a separate short-story book have served readers better? Add to that the author’s fondness for italicizing emphatic statements and such eccentric sentences as, “The tangles of panic and fear and guilt hit Irial like an unwelcome banquet,” and readers will understand another of her statements: “Excess is normalcy.”

For dedicated fans only. (Fantasy suspense. 12 & up)

THE WHITE ZONE

Marsden, Carolyn Carolrhoda (192 pp.) $17.95 | $13.95 e-book | Feb. 1, 2012 978-0-7613-7383-4 978-0-7613-8724-4 e-book Young Iraqi cousins face their religious differences in war-torn Baghdad.

Shiite Nouri is devastated when a Sunni martyr kills his uncle. Hakim’s death is the first personal tragedy the boy has suffered since the Americans came to Iraq. He begins to take out his anger on his half-Sunni cousin, Talib. Although the two boys have always been close, Nouri and his mother soon begin ostracizing Talib and his Sunni mother, Fatima. Talib is also isolated from his friends at school, where his cousin is intent on highlighting his cousin’s Sunni heritage. After the Sunni bombing of a Shiite mosque, Talib is banned from his school altogether. Nouri’s final destructive (and anonymous) action is enough to convince Talib’s family to move to the market where Talib’s bookseller father plies his trade—and which is bombed, causing the devout Talib’s faith to wobble, with potentially catastrophic consequences. As with many of Marsden’s works, the ending is tidy and hopeful, while some of the child characters (particularly Talib) seem wise beyond their years. Timely though this effort is, the differences between the two factions of Islam may prove too subtle for many readers.

A decently executed exploration of the American presence in Iraq and the tensions between Shiites and Sunnis. (author’s notes, glossary) (Fiction. 9-13)

SOMEBODY, PLEASE TELL ME WHO I AM

Mazer, Harry & Lerangis, Peter Simon & Schuster (160 pp.) $15.99 | Feb. 7, 2012 978-1416938958 Ben Bright’s senior year seems a prelude to a gloriously successful life, with college, loving girlfriend and an acting career spread out in front of him.

Except for his plan to join the army first. Stubbornly committed to being the patriot he thinks ethics demand, Ben can’t explain it to anyone—especially not Ariela, the girl he plans to marry when he returns. As Ben departs

kirkusreviews.com

|

for basic training and then serves in Iraq, Ariela heads to college, and best friend Niko, along with Mr. and Mrs. Bright and autistic younger brother Chris hold to normality. When the inevitable call comes, informing them that Ben is injured, no one knows exactly what to do or how to help. With the effective use of italics to indicate Ben’s thoughts, the contrast between what the outer world sees and how he processes it is clear. Progress happens, but it’s slow, and the toll on all is plain. Chris’ reactions are particularly unblunted. In a spare 148 pages, the complexity of the aftereffects of modern war is laid bare. The tight focus on one soldier does not oversimplify but rather captures the human drama in the personal: The Brights’ marriage is more than challenged, Ariela is pulled away by her college friends and Chris’ restricted, defined universe has to expand to encompass Ben’s new condition. The book’s power is in the honesty and hope conveyed.

As illuminating as a hand grenade, and just as powerful.

(Fiction. 12 & up)

MAL AND CHAD Food Fight!

McCranie, Stephen Illus. by McCranie, Stephen Philomel (224 pp.) $9.99 paperback | Jan. 19, 2012 978-0-399-25657-8 Series: Mal and Chad, 2 There are some literary characters you wish were real, so that you could be friends with them, and Mal and Chad may belong on that list.

Talking dogs are the subject of a lot of jokes, but they have feelings, too. Chad, for example, has two shameful secrets: He’s frightened by his dreams, and he’s afraid of cats. Every night, he dreams he’s being chased by a cat of monstrous size. Luckily, his best friend is Mal, who’s invented a machine that lets them walk into dreams, and the two of them can face the monster together.

Dream sequences are a gold mine for a cartoonist. McCranie has seized the chance to fit every item in his sketchbook into the story. The high point is a forest made out of snack food.

Mal immediately starts making snow angels in the chocolatechip ice cream. The inventions and talking animals may remind some readers of Calvin and Hobbes, but surprisingly, the graphic novel doesn’t suffer much from the comparison. The timing isn’t quite as sharp as Bill Watterson’s, but some panels achieve a poignancy that makes this its own kind of story.

Some readers will come for the heartbreak, others will come for the forest of cupcake trees, but everyone will be cheered by the happy ending, which involves the “biggest, bestest bark ever!” (Graphic novel. 8-11)

|

STINK AND THE MIDNIGHT ZOMBIE WALK

McDonald, Megan Illus. by Reynolds, Peter H. Candlewick (160 pp.) $12.99 | Mar. 13, 2012 978-0-7636-5692-8 Series: Stink,

An all-zombie-all-the-time zombiefest, featuring a bunch of grade-school kids, including protagonist Stink and his happy comrades.

This story covers the few days preceding the much-anticipated Midnight Zombie Walk, when Stink and company will take to the streets in the time-honored stiff-armed, stiff-legged fashion. McDonald signals her intent on page one: “Stink and Webster were playing Attack of the Knitting Needle Zombies when Fred Zombie’s eye fell off and rolled across the floor.” The farce is as broad as the Atlantic, with enough spookiness just below the surface to provide the all-important shivers. Accompanied by Reynolds’ drawings—dozens of scene-setting gems with good, creepy living dead—McDonald shapes chapters around zombie motifs: making zombie costumes, eating zombie fare at school, reading zombie books each other to reach the one-million-minutes-of-reading challenge. When the zombie walk happens, it delivers solid zombie awfulness. McDonald’s feel-good tone is deeply encouraging for readers to get up and do this for themselves because it looks like so much darned fun, while the sub-message—that reading grows “strong hearts and minds,” as well as teeth and bones—is enough of a vital interest to the story line to be taken at face value.

A playful salute to those who (kind of…well, not really) like things that go bump in the night. (Fiction. 5-8)

SHOW & TELL

McKinley, John & Klein, Abby Scholastic (96 pp.) $5.99 paperback | Feb. 1, 2012 978-0-545-29494-2 Series: Double Trouble, 1 For readers who enjoy the slapstick humor of the Ready, Freddy! chapterbook series, there’s now a female perspective in the new spin-off series, Double Trouble, featuring Freddy’s identical twin cousins, Kasey and Kelly.

Kasey narrates this first installment, in which the twins, who like to finish each other’s sentences, begin a study on pets and (unrealistically) convince their teacher to hold a show-and-tell– style Pet Day. Because their dad is a veterinarian, the girls easily discuss various types of pets, from cats and hamsters to tarantulas and geckos. Graphite illustrations heighten the comedic results as Kasey and Kelly become entangled in one antic after another.

They give their little brother, Kenny, doggie treats while he pretends to be a dog (after first sampling the treats themselves) and

kirkusreviews.com

|

children

&

teens

|

1 january 2012

|

2447

set up a race to determine which of their large stock of pets will accompany them to school. A classroom full of pets? Of course, it’s an accident—and hilarity—waiting to happen. In this case, it’s Kasey’s gecko that escapes when her bubble gum fails to secure a broken cage door lock. As in the Freddy titles, an activity page concludes the book. The twins’ second escapade, April Fool’s Surprise, will be released simultaneously.

Simple reading before moving on to the more sophisticated Ivy + Bean. (Fiction. 6-9)

THE FAMILY TREE

McPhail, David Illus. by McPhail, David Henry Holt (40 pp.) $16.99 | Mar. 27, 2012 978-0-8050-9057-4

The love of an ancient tree leads a boy to unlikely activism.

When the pioneers cleared the land to settle the western wilderness, one young man decided to leave one special tree standing to shade his new home. The years go by, and the land is further developed, but the tree remains, until a proposed highway threatens it. The great-grandson of the original settler calls on animals to help save the tree. Young environmentalists will cheer when the tree is saved, and they will enjoy the family story. McPhail’s familiar watercolor-and-ink spreads capture the bucolic setting, especially effective when showing the wide swath of cleared land while the oxen are helping to build the house. Right from the start, though, the tone of the book is muddled by confusing and redundant graphic elements. Speech bubbles seem oddly out of place in the 1800s, especially when the main character is speaking to no one and the narration is clear and complete. The final illustration shows the boy, triumphantly swinging from his beloved tree—but the proximity of the new highway and the vehicular traffic makes this victory seem hollow at best. The graveyard at the right edge seems to indicate the fight against progress may be futile. Classes studying ecology and activism might find something to discuss here.

Good intentions; confusing execution. (Picture book. 5-8)

ITSY-BITSY BABY MOUSE

Meadows, Michelle Illus. by Cordell, Matthew Simon & Schuster (40 pp.) $15.99 | Mar. 6, 2012 978-1-4169-3786-9

|

1 january 2012

|

children

&

ROCK GOD The Legend of B.J. Levine

Miller, Barnabas Sourcebooks Jabberwocky (288 pp.) $7.99 paperback | Feb. 1, 2012 978-1-4022-5962-3

Here’s a quick test to find out if this is your kind of book: “You blokes just happen to be on tour with Terry the WünderDwarf and the Pirates of Munchausen!”

B.J. Levine has a small, black book. It’s called The Legend of the Good Supreme, and it’s an instruction manual on becoming a “full-on, fire-breathing MEGALORD OF RRRRROCK.” Because this is rock and roll, the book is missing all but six pages.

So it doesn’t tell B.J. he’s going to meet a dwarf or be chased by elderly bikers. It just tells him his first step: Start a band. The story makes as much sense as your average Queen song, and it’s just as much fun. The logic doesn’t always track, chapters jump from first to third person without warning and some sentences go right off the rails: “He screamed like a little girl. Or not exactly like a little girl—more like some sort of frightened monkey. Like a frightened, heavy metal–singing monkey who’d stepped on a rusty nail.” But no one knows what a pompatus of love is, either, and the Steve Miller Band managed just fine.

This book teaches kids to spell “rock” with five Rs, and anyone who thinks that’s good advice will find it an excellent instruction manual for life. (Fiction. 10-14)

DEAR CINDERELLA

“Itsy bitsy baby mouse” gets very lost and must find his way in this home-away-home mouse adventure for the wee set.

“Itsy bitsy baby mouse” euphorically whirls and twirls around the house, chasing a fly up a table leg and sampling apple-pie crumbs until he suddenly realizes he’s lost. Panic grips baby mouse as he frantically darts about looking for his parents and 2448

weeping, “Mama, Papa!” When he spies “teensy-weensy ladybug,” he follows her up a “fuzzy mound” that’s “soft and round”—and turns out to be a sleeping cat. Beating a hasty retreat, baby mouse and ladybug bump into a friendly mouse, who directs them to baby mouse’s front door, but not before he imagines the cat’s got his tail. Simple, rhyming text relates baby mouse’s almosttragic foray into the wide world inside the house, while charming pen, ink and watercolor illustrations track his frantic little journey across the pages, often marking his route with a dashed line.

Comic close-ups expressively emphasize baby mouse’s changing moods, while distance shots highlight his diminutive stature in relation to furniture—and cats.

Another appealing mouse hero likely to tickle toddlers embarking on their own adventures. (Picture book. 3-7)

teens

|

Moore, MarianKensington, Mary Jane Illus. by Olson, Julie Orchard (32 pp.) $12.99 | Feb. 1, 2012 978-0-545-34220-9 Cinderella and Snow White engage in vapid correspondence.

If these two fairy-tale characters lived in modern times and wrote in the voices of preteen girls, they

kirkusreviews.com

|

“Moranville transforms the Grimms’ classic ‘The Frog Prince’ into a humorous environmental tale.” from the hop

WINGS OF THE WICKED

might sound like these letters. Given that they use phrases like “Yippee!” and “Best friends forever” and ending with a double wedding, readers’ suspension of all previous knowledge of these iconic tales is critical. Would either of these despised stepdaughters have been able to read and write? How would the letters have been delivered to different kingdoms so speedily? How would they have known about each other? Readers familiar with the traditional tales will have many arguments with the structure.

(For example, Snow White would not have been invited into the cottage by a “sweet little man… to stay and be safe,” and Cinderella was never thought to be perpetually happy in her servitude.)

With illustrations in a coloring-book style with dark outlines and Disney-like clothing, young readers will probably recognize all the scenes from repeated viewings of those movies. Reading more like a school assignment than a story (“Pretend Cinderella and Snow White are pen pals”), this one is only for children who love the movies and other pink princess books utterly uncritically.

Even the glittery cover can’t save Cinderella and Snow White from this treatment. (Picture book. 4-7)

Moulton, Courtney Allison Katherine Tegen/HarperCollins (528 pp.) $17.99 | PLB $18.89 | Feb. 14, 2012 978-0-06-200236-5 978-0-06-200237-2 PLB Series: Angelfire, 2 After many reincarnations, the Archangel Gabriel has emerged as a spoiled, wealthy, 17-year-old fashion-addicted girl who fights demons. The combination does not convince.

Nevertheless, the story of Ellie and her guardian, Will, continues in this second installment of the Angelfire saga. Beginning in near–chick-lit mode, most of the story focuses on various romantic entanglements with occasional action sequences until the climactic scenes finally emerge. Ellie knows she loves Will completely and forever, yet she’s still extremely attracted to several others, including Cadan, a demon (but she trusts him). Will, besotted with Ellie for over five centuries, constantly turns up to save her from danger.

Once the narrative takes a dramatic turn, suspense struggles to take precedence over the romance, with Moulton pausing two major fights for kissing scenes. Much of the story frankly seems thrown together. Drenched in emo, everything is extreme, with frequent use of italics. Extreme fights, extreme romance, extreme clichés (“I couldn’t lose them both tonight. I couldn’t lose Will. I couldn’t lose him”) combine with such silly dialogue as “This is not right! Annihilating the human and angel races is not right” to lend the book a distinctly pulp-fiction flavor. Depictions of some of the demons are rather imaginative, however. Even demons can fall in love, it seems.

For dedicated fans only, and with more coming. (Paranormal romance. 12 & up)

THE HOP

Moranville, Sharelle Byars Disney Hyperion (288 pp.) $16.99 | Mar. 20, 2012 978-1-4231-3736-8 Moranville transforms the Grimms’ classic “The Frog Prince” into a humorous environmental tale.

It begins with a prophecy. Tad, a young toad, Bufo americanus, has a dream during his winter sleep, in which he sees “Rumbler” (a backhoe) burying all the residents of Toadville-by-Tumbledown. In order to save Tumbledown from becoming a mini strip mall, Tad must kiss the (human) Queen of the Hop. That human turns out to be Taylor, who frequently stays with her grandmother Eve, whose property borders Toadville-by-Tumbledown. Embracing Eve’s stories of Vietnam-era protests, Taylor embarks on a plan to stop the development. The quick-paced, humorous narrative shifts between Tad and Taylor. Readers will eagerly follow these two unlikely heroes as they share their first, then second kiss, and Taylor wins the title of Queen of the Hop. Tad’s transformation from toad to boy and back again is convincing. A subplot gently addresses Taylor’s concerns as Eve undergoes and recuperates from chemotherapy. Moranville writes about the complex world of toads and the importance of preserving wild areas with a light hand, and the happy ending, which moves several years into the future, is satisfying.

An enchanting adventure. (Fantasy. 8-12)

|

FISH ON A WALK

Muggenthaler, Eva Illus. by Muggenthaler, Eva Enchanted Lion Books (32 pp.) $16.95 | Feb. 1, 2012 978-1-59270-116-2 A German surrealist debuts on this side of the Atlantic with a set of independent scenes that will give wings to flights

of imagination.

Small figures of dressed animals, animated mushrooms and the occasional gnome stroll or scuttle through indoor and outdoor settings over word pairings that are sometimes opposites and other times not (quite): “Scared – Brave,” “Cranky – Kind,” “Tricky – Truthful.” A teeter-totter with an elephant on one end and a wobbly-looking pyramid of smaller creatures on the other illustrates alone/together; a “Brave” frog guitarist serenades an audience of attentive veggies while a “Scared” bunny cellist suffers an attack of stage fright; a table of monkeys going “Wild” in a restaurant as a family of “Polite” pigs studiously looks away.

These central scenarios can be seen in a glance, but further

kirkusreviews.com

|

children

&

teens

|

1 january 2012

|

2449

“With about one percent of the population fitting somewhere on the autistic spectrum, accurate insight into this condition is welcome.” from raising martians: from crash landing to leaving home

examination reveals smaller and often more ambiguous side business that, properly, invites questions (Why do those ants have shopping bags? Is that a shark’s fin in that puddle of spilled soda?) and speculative answers. Though Muggenthaler’s art, painted with small strokes and daubs of muddy, generally lowcontrast colors, is subdued, her lively imagination and tonguein-cheek sense of humor provide a redemptive shine.

Pleasant diversions for younger talespinners. (Picture book. 5-8)

RAISING MARTIANS: FROM CRASH LANDING TO LEAVING HOME How to Help a Child with Asperger Syndrome or High-Functioning Autism

Muggleton, Joshua Jessica Kingsley Publishers (240 pp.) $19.95 paperback | Feb. 1, 2012 978-1-84905-022-9

With about one percent of the population fitting somewhere on the autistic spectrum, accurate insight into this condition is welcome.

Muggleton, in his debut, is particularly well-suited to comment on Asperger syndrome, since he was diagnosed with it at age 15 and is studying to be a psychologist. In concise, logically arranged chapters, he provides a brief history of autistic spectrum disorders and then offers experience-based insight into a number of aspects of AS, including ritual behaviors, problems making friends and dealing with difficult social situations, increased sensitivity to sensory input, bullying, dealing with changes in normal routine, etc. While many of his comments about schooling are Britain-centric, American audiences will, nonetheless, find this a useful work. The combination of personal experience and helpful, research-based suggestions is especially welcome. Particularly poignant and thought provoking is his description of his grade-school ritual of pacing athletic-field marking lines, with his parka zipped up and hood raised—in all weather—just to find relief from stressful recess problems and bullying, a behavior that made good sense to him given the situation but must have seemed highly dysfunctional to anyone watching.

Although mostly intended for parents, many teens will also find this to be a very enlightening, often optimistic work on a challenging topic. (foreword by Tony Atwood, not seen) (Nonfiction. 12 & up)

2450

|

1 january 2012

|

children

&

teens

|

UTTERLY LOVELY ONE

Murphy, Mary Illus. by Murphy, Mary Candlewick (32 pp.) $16.99 | Feb. 14, 2012 978-0-7636-5267-8

There are many lovely babies in the world, but only one belongs to Mama…

A mother bird lovingly introduces her child to various creatures, great and small, in this paean to baby animals of the Australian variety. All are “utterly lovely” and unique in one way or another; Frilled Lizard is “perky even in the midday sun”; Elephant has gentle eyes and a wonderful nose; Snail is “slow and careful”; and Crocodile has “a grin that takes up his whole head.” Most animals have their own spreads, and while the descriptions focus on the animal’s attributes, they sometimes branch out to anthropomorphism. Armadillo, for example, is “usually so shy… [but] suddenly brave enough to make friends.” All is safe, comforting and positive in this pastel-hued animal world. American readers may not be familiar with numbats or bush babies, but the simple ink-and-watercolor illustrations show the right amount of detail to provide a visual and pique children’s interests. Though the text feels a bit cloying at times and is occasionally overwhelmed by the use of exclamation marks, it is infused with warmth and affection, much like the sound of a mother’s voice.

A nice choice to share at bedtime or cuddled close, this provides a good introduction to animal babies for the youngest children, who will recognize the differing fledglings as being not unlike themselves. (Picture book. 1-4)

LIFE IN THE OCEAN The Story of Oceanographer Sylvia Earle

Nivola, Claire A. Illus. by Nivola, Claire A. Frances Foster/Farrar, Straus and Giroux (32 pp.) $17.99 | Mar. 13, 2012 978-0-374-38068-7

Young explorers will be happy to dive into this captivatingly illustrated biography of the renowned oceanographer.

Blue is everywhere, as is the marvelous diversity of undersea life, as Nivola recounts Earle’s passion for the oceans. From early childhood, she cultivated her love of nature; her family’s move to Florida, close to the Gulf of Mexico’s enthralling depths, clinched things. From then on, Earle’s explorations took her further and deeper. She helped design devices that allowed dives to profound underwater depths and witnessed the extraordinary phenomenon of bioluminescence. She lived for two weeks beneath the waves in a deep-sea station. Studies of whales yielded nearly magical observations. The detailed, richly colored, jewellike illustrations capture the majesty of the undersea world and its astonishingly beautiful inhabitants. Nivola is careful to show

kirkusreviews.com

|

Earle in perspective, so readers can fully comprehend the ocean’s vastness and understand that humans are merely a part of the amazing richness of life on Earth and under its waters.

A delicious invitation to swim with the fishes. (author’s note, bibliography) (Picture book/biography. 5-9)

TANGLED

O’Rourke, Erica Kensington (336 pp.) $9.95 paperback | Feb. 1, 2012 978-0-7582-6705-4 Series: The Torn Trilogy, 2 Mo finds returning to normal life after the events of Torn (2011) difficult, especially because she’s attracted attention from powerful forces both human and supernatural.

When Mo stumbles on her dead best friend’s sister having a bad reaction to magic, she has no choice but to summon Luc for help. But help for Constance comes with a price—the Quartoren, leaders of the Arcs, want Mo to repair the ley lines from which they draw their power. The magic is acting strangely, endangering Arcs and anyone near the lines. Trying to fix it is dangerous, but not trying is deadly. Dealing with the magic world—and Luc—means alienating her bodyguard, Colin, right when Mo wants to develop their fledgling relationship. While Mo tries to figure out what secret is holding Colin back and keeping him loyal to her Mafioso uncle, a mysterious new source wants to trade information about how dark Mo’s family really is.

Additionally, the Russian mob has noticed Mo, and they would like a mutually beneficial relationship. Everyone wants something from Mo, and everyone wants to keep important—possibly deadly—secrets from her. The plot sags somewhat in the middle, but set-ups are paid off when the tension rises through well-placed revelations.

The ending is surprisingly satisfying for a middle book in a trilogy, resolving immediate conflicts while leaving enough for the next installment. (discussion questions, preview chapter of next book) (Paranormal romance. 13 & up)

PANDEMONIUM

Oliver, Lauren Harper/HarperCollins (384 pp.) $17.99 | Mar. 6, 2012 978-0-06-197806-7 It’s been six months since readers first met 17-year-old Lena Haloway, desperately in love in a world that considers such feelings an infection to be permanently and irrevocably “cured.”

This much-anticipated sequel to Delirium (2011) picks up right where the first novel left off, with Lena and Alex’s only partially successful attempt to escape to “the |

Wilds.” Lena, alone, heartbroken and near death, must reach deep within herself to find the strength and the will to survive. “Step by step—and then, inch by inch,” she is reborn. The story of Lena’s new life as a rebel Invalid, determined to honor the memory of Alex by fighting for a world in which love is no longer considered a capital offense, is told through a series of flashbacks and presentday accounts that will leave readers breathless. The stakes only get higher when Lena realizes she has feelings for someone new.

The novel’s success can be attributed to its near pitch-perfect combination of action and suspense, coupled with the subtler but equally gripping evolution of Lena’s character.

From the grief-stricken shell of her former self to a nascent refugee and finally to a full-fledged resistance fighter, Lena’s strength and the complexity of her internal struggles will keep readers up at night. (Dystopian romance. 14 & up)

MILES TO GO FOR FREEDOM Segregation and Civil Rights in the Jim Crow Years Osborne, Linda Barrett Abrams (128 pp.) $24.95 | Feb. 1, 2012 978-1-4197-0020-0

Cogent and stirring, this very readable book focuses on the Jim Crow era, that period between 1896 and 1954, a shameful time in U.S. history framed by two landmark Supreme Court cases.

From the time of Plessy v. Ferguson, in which the Court sanctioned “separate but equal,” until Brown v. Board of Education, a case that found school segregation unconstitutional, African-Americans, even post-slavery, were subjected to injustice, brutality, humiliation and discrimination in education, housing, employment and government and military service. Osborne expertly guides readers through this painful, turbulent time of segregation, enabling them to understand fully the victims’ struggles and triumphs as they worked courageously to set things right. The seamless narrative benefits from handsome design: Accompanying the author’s excellent text, which is illuminated by many quotes, are superb contemporary photos, set into the text, scrapbook-style, and other primary-source documents from the archives of the Library of Congress. The visuals and captions add much to readers’ comprehension of the period, the difficulties African-Americans endured and their hard-won victories.

Readers will come away moved, saddened, troubled by this stain on their country’s past and filled with abiding respect for those who fought and overcame. (timeline, notes, bibliography, note on sources) (Nonfiction. 11-14)

kirkusreviews.com

|

children

&

teens

|

1 january 2012

|

2451

A PATH OF STARS

O’Brien, Anne Sibley Illus. by O’Brien, Anne Sibley Charlesbridge (40 pp.) $15.95 | $6.99 e-book | Feb. 1, 2012 978-1-57091-735-6 978-1-60734-079-9 e-book Because of her close relationship with her grandmother, young Dara is the one who can comfort her when her only surviving brother dies in Cambodia.

Dara’s grandmother, Lok Yeay, tells her tales of her happy prewar life in Cambodia, remembering childhood activities such as climbing trees, eating mangoes and stargazing from the platform in their yard. She makes Cambodian food for the family and for special meals at their Buddhist temple. Oil paintings with oilcrayon accents show the woman’s memories floating in clouds over images of Dara’s family and their home in Maine. The swirling lines and relatively dark palette of blacks and orange are suggestive of her longing. There is brief mention of the war and the survivors’ trek to a refugee camp in Thailand, where they made an altar for the Buddha with pictures of family members who had died—just like the one Dara helps her grandmother make when her brother dies. O’Brien (After Gandhi, 2009, etc.) was commissioned by the Maine Humanities Council to create a picture book reflecting the lives of Cambodian-Americans there, but this moving depiction of the special relationship between a grandmother and a grandchild has broad appeal.

The Cambodian particulars are intriguing, but the satisfaction that a child can also help a grieving adult is what readers will take away from this sympathetic story. (Picture book. 5-9)

THE LION BOOK OF TWO-MINUTE PARABLES

Pasquali, Elena Illus. by Smee, Nicola Trafalgar (48 pp.) $12.99 | Feb. 1, 2012 978-0-7459-6201-6

This brightly illustrated collection of 10 parables from the New Testament is intended as a first introduction to the stories for children in preschool and the earlyelementary years.

Each parable is introduced with one or two sentences putting Jesus in the setting and often pointing to the embedded lesson.

Several of the most well-known parables, including the story of the Prodigal Son, are included, but one of the most famous, that of the Good Samaritan, is not, perhaps because of its inherent violence. The parables are briefly recounted in contemporary language with short sentences and lots of dialogue, with additional short lines of dialogue and humorous sound effects integrated within the illustrations on each page. The moral or lesson of the parables is not spelled out, only implied. Charming watercolorand-ink illustrations are the book’s greatest strength, with a wide 2452

|

1 january 2012

|

children

&

teens

|

variety of characters and costumes adding additional interest. An author’s note would have been helpful, as some of the parables are alternatively titled in terms more accessible to young children, and there are no Biblical text references.

As a starting point for understanding the stories Jesus used to teach his followers, this collection is best used with young children in conjunction with an adult’s additional interpretation of their meaning. (Picture book/religion. 3-7)

THE KNIFE AND THE BUTTERFLY

Pérez, Ashley Hope Carolrhoda Lab (216 pp.) $17.95 | Feb. 1, 2012 978-0-7613-6156-5 The lives of two teens become inexplicably intertwined in this gritty novel with a paranormal twist.

Fifteen-year-old Salvadoran Martín “Azael” Arevalo awakens in a cell remembering bits and pieces of a fight in a Houston park between his gang, Mara Salvatrucha or MS-13, and Crazy Crew. Yet he cannot recall how the fight ended or why he is behind bars again. Azael narrates his life in chapters set alternatively in the present and at various points in his past, giving readers glimpses of a childhood of love and loss. In the present, Azael finds himself assigned to the secret observation of a white 17-year-old girl named Alexis “Lexi” Allen, although he fails to see any connection the two might have had on the outside. While Azael hates Lexi at the beginning, he finds himself beginning to empathize with the struggles she has faced over her life. Pérez creates two nuanced characters in Azael and Lexi, both of whom could have easily become caricatures. The use of profanity and descriptions of violence add realism to the novel, although the backmatter could have benefitted from a Spanish glossary. The author demonstrates why gangs appeal to many teens with family problems without glorifying the violence that often accompanies their activities.

An unflinching portrait with an ending that begs for another reading. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14 & up)

AVA’S POPPY

Pfister, Marcus Illus. by Pfister, Marcus NorthSouth (32 pp.) $16.95 | Feb. 1, 2012 978-0-7358-4057-7 This trite and simplistic tale of friendship and the life cycle offers little that is new.

A translation of the German Lisa’s Mohnblume, in this version a small girl named Ava asks a poppy growing in a field in front of her house to be her friend. The poppy does not respond, of course, but red-haired Ava continues to visit

kirkusreviews.com

|

“[Rapp] continues to push the boundaries of fiction for teens by providing an unrelentingly real and intensely powerful voice for the disenfranchised youth who dangle on society’s edge…” from the children and the wolves

“her” red poppy. She is “always there” for her friend, which she protects from cold wind, drought and heavy rain. But (surprise!), the poppy nevertheless loses its petals, shrivels up and dies. The grieving Ava buries the pod and surrounds its grave with a memorial circle of stones. As snow falls, Ava continues to mourn her flower friend, but she realizes that it could not have survived the cold. In spring she is delighted to find a “tender little plant” reaching up to the sky. The images are large, mainly red and green, and Ava’s mouth is a single line that curves up and down, depending on her feelings. To Be Like the Sun, by Susan Marie Swanson and illustrated by Margaret Chodos-Irvine (2008), covers much the same territory with far greater art.

Bury this one. (Picture book. 3-7)

LOUISE THE BIG CHEESE AND THE OOH-LA-LA CHARM SCHOOL

Primavera, Elise Illus. by Goode, Diane Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster (40 pp.) $16.99 | Feb. 7, 2012 978-1-4424-0599-8 Series: Louise the Big Cheese, The ever-ambitious Louise is back for another adventurecum–life lesson, accompanied by her adorable dog PeeWee. As in previous outings, Louise has high hopes of improving her status that don’t quite work out as planned. This time around there’s also a villain of sorts who leads her astray: snooty Claire Eclaire, in town to visit her grandmother. Claire’s from Paris (no, really—though not the one in France, as Louise eventually discovers), and she uses the promise of “charm school” lessons to coerce Louise into doing her chores and letting her win at games. In the process, Louise ignores her faithful BFF Fern (again) and embarrasses herself in front of family and friends as usual. It all works because Primavera’s deadpan delivery and Goode’s over-the-top illustrations emphasize the sheer silliness and thus manage to keep Louise entertaining rather than annoying (though her older sister Penelope might not entirely agree with that assessment). Fans of the series will be happy to see that the essential elements are present: Louise’s fantasies are explosions of cotton-candy pink, dialogue balloons further the plot and the pictures provide plenty of amusing details to pore over. Those new to Louise’s “sleepy town” will likely be eager to catch up on her previous escapades.

Tongue-in-cheek humor balances the bling to make this a fancy series that both adults and children can enjoy.

(Picture book. 5-8)

|

TRAFFICKED

Purcell, Kim Viking (400 pp.) $16.99 | Feb. 16, 2012 978-0-670-01280-0 Before her parents died in a terrorist bombing, Hannah was an ordinary Moldovan teen, dreaming of becoming a doctor. Now she sells carrot salad in the market and watches her future recede while her peers plan for college.

Offered a way out—false documents and a high-paying job as a nanny in California—Hannah accepts. Her terrifying journey nets her unpaid slavery as nanny and housekeeper in a house she’s forbidden to leave. Her room is a windowless garage without privacy; her letters home are stolen. Smart yet naive, crushed yet resilient, nearly but not entirely powerless, Hannah grows attached to the children. But their mother abuses Hannah, and their father and his predatory associate stalk her. She finds some consolation watching the boy next door; he’s her age, but they live in utterly different worlds. Hannah’s world, in which men have the power and freedom to treat her body as their property, where any small kindness is expected to be returned in sexual currency, is chillingly credible and unflinchingly revealed. Halfway through this debut, a distracting, melodramatic subplot featuring complicated political intrigue is introduced, but Hannah herself, compelling and believable, keeps readers focused on her plight and that of other de facto slaves worldwide.

After this, readers won’t find them so easy to ignore: One could be the nanny next door. (author’s note) (Fiction. 12 & up)

THE CHILDREN AND THE WOLVES

Rapp, Adam Candlewick (160 pp.) $16.99 | Feb. 1, 2011 978-0-7636-5337-8

Two wayward teens fall under the evil thrall of a third in this disturbing tale by the Printz Honor–winning author of Punkzilla (2009).

Fourteen-year-old amoral honors student Bounce convinces two socially challenged and drugaddicted seventh graders, Wiggins and Orange, to kidnap a 3-year-old girl and imprison her in Orange’s basement. Then the three manufacture posters of the girl they have dubbed the Frog and use them to collect “donations” for the missing child. In reality, Bounce is saving up to buy a gun, which she intends to use on a local author who offended her during a class visit. Orange is all in, but sensitive Wiggins, who imagines his soul as “a little perfect crystal egg floating in your chest,” begins to question the plan, especially when Bounce hints that the Frog’s time is running out.

Though the slim novel’s premise is profoundly unsettling, Rapp’s poetic use of language makes for a brutally beautiful read. There

kirkusreviews.com

|

children

&

teens

|

1 january 2012

|

2453

is a drug dealer with “a face like a rubber shark” and buildings that “look perfect, like they got baked in a oven with some brownies.”

The author continues to push the boundaries of fiction for teens by providing an unrelentingly real and intensely powerful voice for the disenfranchised youth who dangle on society’s edge, forgotten until they commit random acts of violence because they have been shown no other way.

Hard to read, impossible to forget. (Fiction. 14 & up)

ABOVE WORLD

Reese, Jenn Candlewick (368 pp.) $16.99 | $16.99 e-book | Feb. 14, 2012 978-0-7636-5417-7 978-0-7636-5958-5 e-book In a future world in which habitable space has been exhausted, Humans have physically modified to survive in the skies, oceans and deserts.

Living in the hidden City of Shifting Tides, 13-year-old Aluna heroically strives to save the ocean-dwelling Coral Kampii when their lives are threatened by destructive forces in the Above World. Feisty Aluna and her techie pal Hoku have the Kampii’s “thick bones and tough skin, adaptable vision, [and] breathing necklaces.” Even though Aluna will soon trade her legs for a swimming tail, she doesn’t fit with the isolated Kampii and defies them by secretly training to be a hunter. When their breathing necklaces mysteriously fail, causing Kampii to die, Aluna opts to leave before receiving her tail and journeys with Hoku to the Above World to try to find some answers. Along the way, Aluna and Hoku encounter deadly Dragonfliers, aquatic Deepfell demons, winged female Aviars, half-horse Equians and brutal Upgraders. Fighting every step of her perilous quest, Aluna enlists help from creatures of the air, land and sea. A warrior heroine with a caring heart, stalwart friends, an edgy futurist subtext and the suggestion of a possible sequel make this a thrilling sci-fi adventure.

Imaginative and riveting. (Science fiction. 10-14)

TAKE YOUR MAMA TO WORK TODAY

Reichert, Amy Illus. by Boiger, Alexandra Atheneum (40 pp.) $16.99 | Mar. 20, 2012 978-1-4169-7095-8

A feisty, 7-ish girl informs readers what to expect when a snow day, babysitter snafu or “Take Your Child to Work Day” necessitates accompanying a parent to the office.

From the “hop hop hop” across the lobby floor on “just the black squares,” it’s clear that Violet’s visit will be a topsy-turvy experience for her mom’s bemused and beleaguered co-workers.

2454

|

1 january 2012

|

children

&

teens

|

Reichert embellishes a narrative style reminiscent of Laura Numeroff’s in the If You Give… series and presents a sturdy heroine evocative of Kay Thompson’s Eloise (as a member of the proletariat). Violet’s helpful advice interprets coffee breaks (snack time, with doughnuts) and networking (distributing your rampantly photocopied face, appended with your name and title). She helps the boss with his staff presentation (show-and-tell) and revels in office supplies. Boiger weaves her own daughter’s persona into these pencil-and–mixed-media illustrations, depicting Violet and her mother in color, while co-workers are rendered in pale bluegrays and ochres, and office equipment is outlined in similarly sere tones. Violet sports a green, pom-pom–topped cap, red sweater, denim shorts, striped tights and black low-top sneakers. Mom’s cranberry-colored umbrella figures visually in Violet’s day, whether it’s skewering doughnuts or delivering a shower of confetti adeptly fashioned from shredded paper and punched holes.

Many families will enjoy the interplay here between mother (efficient and loving) and daughter (sky’s the limit).

(Picture book. 4-8)

WHAT THE DOG SAID

Reisfeld, Randi with Gilmour, H.B. Bloomsbury (256 pp.) $16.99 | Feb. 28, 2012 978-1-59990-702-4 A talking service-dog–in-training may relieve 13-year-old Grace’s crushing grief after her father’s death.

It’s a project Grace’s older sister Regan has begun merely to enhance her college applications. After choosing a dog from the animal shelter, she enrolls it in service-dog training. Grace, forced to help, naturally selects the rangy mutt, Rex, that shouts, “Pick me!” in a voice only she can hear. Rex insinuates himself into her life, an aimless existence since her father, a police officer, was murdered in an unsolved shooting six months earlier. Grace has dropped out of her own life, failing school and shutting out her friends. When a young gang follower Grace suspects was involved in the shooting joins the dog training class, she takes the opportunity to investigate and finds out—quite a bit too easily—who killed her father. Reisfeld resorts to telling rather than showing too often: “I needed to uncoil the knot of loss inside me, to unlock the dark cell I’d been living in since Dad died,” for example, resulting in a voice that never rings quite true. Other characters, too, seem trite, with the best voice being that of the enthusiastically inquisitive dog, leaving this an imaginative but not fully realized concept.

This dog tale will, nonetheless, appeal to animal lovers, who may “hear” their pets’ voices just as clearly. (Fantasy. 10-14)

kirkusreviews.com

|

THE FOURTH STALL: PART TWO

Rylander, Chris Walden Pond Press/ HarperCollins (288 pp.) $15.99 | Feb. 7, 2012 978-0-06-199630-6

Someone’s out to destroy Mac’s middle school, and Mac must find a way to stop him.

Christian Barrett, called “Mac” after the television secret agent MacGyver, is a problem-solver, operating out of the fourth stall in the East Wing boys’ bathroom in his middle school. For a price, he helps fellow students with their problems: taking care of a bully, forging hall passes, selling test answers, providing completed homework and selling prewritten research papers. And now an eighth-grade girl comes walking into Mac’s “office” and wants Mac to take care of a mean teacher trying to get her expelled. But there’s “something almost predatory” about this girl, like a rattlesnake, and Mac feels “like a small white mouse or whatever it is that rattlesnakes eat.” Her story doesn’t quite add up, and in trying to solve her problem, Mac both uncovers larger evil afoot and finds Vice Principal George breathing down his neck. This second installment does better than its predecessor at building and sustaining intrigue, as Mac and his right-hand man Vince must put a stop to Dr. George’s evil machinations, even if it means putting himself and his business in jeopardy.

Readers will be flushed with excitement to follow Mac’s operations from the fourth stall. (Fiction. 9-13)

ONE SPECIAL DAY A Story for Big Brothers and Sisters Schaefer, Lola M. Illus. by Meserve, Jessica Disney Hyperion (40 pp.) $16.99 | Mar. 20, 2012 978-1-4231-3760-3

The never-ceasing flow of new-baby books gets an imaginative jolt in this clever and creative title.

Spencer may be a boy, but in him you’ll find qualities worthy of the entire animal kingdom. He’s fast as a horse, tall as a giraffe, funny as a monkey and more. Yet when his parents come home with a new arrival, Spencer finds a new way to describe himself. He may be like animals in many respects, but now he’s gentle, just as a big brother should be. One would be right to question whether it’s possible to create a wholly original new-baby picture book, but Schaefer’s device of making the title part animal story, part sibling tale is a winning one. The text allows readers to guess what animal Spencer will come to resemble next, until finally there is only one thing left to be. To accomplish this, the tone effortlessly slides from raucous and rebellious to quiet and awe-filled (aww-filled too, to be honest) with nary a hitch. Meserve’s digital oil pastels of |

idyllic grass and trees successfully conjure up both the wild bestiary of Spencer’s id and the pastoral calm the new baby brings.

In a market glutted with books for newbie brothers and sisters, this is one that stands apart. (Picture book. 3-8)

PETUNIA GOES WILD

Schmid, Paul Illus. by Schmid, Paul Harper/HarperCollins (40 pp.) $12.99 | PLB $13.89 | Feb. 1, 2012 978-0-06-196334-6 978-0-06-196335-3 PLB Petunia decides she’s more animal than girl (RARH!).

Human behavior requires too much structure: cleanliness, clothing, combing, quiet. Petunia enacts all these banalities, all these “hafta[s],” in an effective spread of c-sounds and frownyfaces. Tiny expressions relay her utter exhaustion with people rules (as well as her joy in running bare-bottomed!). Children will empathize, as they know what it’s like to have a wild impulse crushed for millionth time. Careful! After gobbling breakfast off the floor, growling at neighbors and bathing in a mud puddle, Petunia asks to become the family pet, helpfully holding up a leash and collar. Her parents’ response suffocates an entire page, filling it with fuming type and angry large letters that gradually dwindle in size but not quantity. This visual tune-out of a parental rant works well optically and rings true to young ears, too.

Schmid’s suggestive charcoal drawings and purple watercolor accents enjoy lots of white space and clever compositional placement. A mellow orange highlights the animal kingdom (Petunia’s pinned-on tiger tail, stuffed animals and the scrawled words MAIL TO AFRICA on a child-sized box). Her mother’s singing in the kitchen draws Petunia back to her human house, but readers sense Petunia will always remain a little feral.

Simple illustrations convey a simple truth: children love to run wild! (Picture book. 3-7)

OUT OF THIS WORLD Poems and Facts about Space

Sklansky, Amy E. Illus. by Schuett, Stacey Knopf (40 pp.) $17.99 | Feb. 14, 2012 978-0-375-86459-9

Each of these 20 short poems for young readers is accompanied by information on the geography of space and its human exploration, exemplified by the Apollo 11 mission.

A cover showing an old constellation map and endpapers with a Hubble-like image of a spiral galaxy set the stage for this combination of facts and poetry. Sklansky (Skeleton Bones and Goblin Groans, 2004) uses a variety of simple forms, some rhyming, some free verse. She touches on superstition (wishing on a star), science (the sun is “[f]usion profusion”) and mythology. There’s an acrostic

kirkusreviews.com

|

children

&

teens

|

1 january 2012

|

2455

“Stampler paints a ruthless portrait of wealthy Los Angeles, but she finds the occasional human being there, too.” from where it began

about the moon and a shape poem about the universe. Each poem is set on a digital-and-gouache image which extends most of the way across a spread or page, leaving a narrow column of black for a paragraph or so of related information. Though science terms are used (but not defined), the narrative sometimes talks down to the reader. “In order to reach space, a spaceship has to go really fast to break free from the powerful pull of Earth’s gravity.” Similarly, all the astronauts shown in the illustrations are children.

Likely to appeal to a younger audience than Douglas Florian’s Comets, Stars, the Moon and Mars (2007), this would be a satisfactory, if rather mundane, companion. (Informational picture book/poetry. 5-9)

CURVEBALL The Year I Lost My Grip Sonnenblick, Jordan Scholastic (304 pp.) $17.99 | Mar. 1, 2012 978-0-545-32069-6

When Peter Friedman injures his arm the summer before starting high school, and the doctors tell him he will never pitch again, his life is turned upside down.

Not only has Peter’s pitching career gone down the tubes, his beloved grandfather is showing signs of Alzheimer’s disease. Grampa, a well-known photographer, has taught Peter much of what he knows about the craft, which comes in handy when Peter takes a photography elective at school. There he meets Angelika, a girl with the most amazing pale blue eyes, and she becomes Peter’s on-and-off-again girlfriend and moral compass throughout the story as he learns to handle high-school life, his disappointment over not playing ball, his grampa’s decline and his first relationship with a girl.

The first-person point of view works well for getting readers inside Peter’s head, and his narration is poignant and frequently humorous, but the story as a whole doesn’t quite cohere: Grampa’s words of guidance and wisdom eventually feel didactic; it’s never quite believable that it takes months for Peter to tell his best friend his arm will not heal, and he’ll never play ball again; and Angelika is, oddly, too off-camera as the story ends.

Still, Peter is a likable narrator for a satisfying story with heart. (Fiction. 12 & up)

BORN WICKED

Spotswood, Jessica Putnam (336 pp.) $17.99 | Feb. 1, 2012 978-0-399-25745-2 Series: The Cahill Witch Chronicles, 1 Ever since their mother died, Cate has been responsible not just for raising her sisters, but for making sure that they stay safe and undiscovered by the Brotherhood priests as witches.

2456

|

1 january 2012

|

children

&

teens

|

Protecting her sisters, who chafe under her too-watchful eye, was the last request that Cate’s mother, a fellow witch, asked of her before dying. Unfortunately, her mother neglected to leave much guidance. A discovered witch is subject to terrifying penalties, and the Brotherhood has been intensifying its witch-finding efforts. Cate is pulled between family obligations and societal pressures—she has only a few short months to find a husband lest the Brotherhood assign one, but marriage will take her away from her sisters. The lukewarm love triangle between her and two generic suitors is just formulaic, especially when compared to the more compelling relationship with society. By keeping the sisters away from their town’s social scene, Cate meant to keep their secrets safe, but their absence has attracted attention. The two plots tie together through the arrival of governess Sister Elena, tasked with smoothing the girls’ rough edges and matchmaking. Searching for answers while hiding under everyone’s noses, Cate discovers pieces of a prophecy revealing an immediate danger and that she isn’t the only one keeping secrets.

An imperfect heroine, strong female supporting cast and measured tension counter underdeveloped male characters. (Fantasy. 12-17)

WHERE IT BEGAN

Stampler, Ann Redisch Simon Pulse/Simon & Schuster (384 pp.) $16.99 | Feb. 21, 2012 978-1-4424-2321-3 A poor little not-quite-so-rich girl tries to keep her privileged boyfriend after a car accident that can get them both into serious legal trouble in this acerbic take on the phoniness of Bel Air, Brentwood and Beverly Hills.

The relentlessly wry and sarcastic tone of this first-person yarn instantly grabs readers’ interest and propels the story forward. Gabby has learned survival skills growing up among the super-wealthy. The story begins with Gabby in the hospital, recovering from a car accident she can’t remember. It seems, judging by the keys found in her hand, that she stole her boyfriend’s BMW and crashed it into a tree. Gabby’s only concern is saving her relationship with Billy, her richer-than-rich boyfriend, against the wishes of his aggressive lawyer mother.

Whatever Billy wants, Gabby willingly does, as she shrewdly trims her behavior according to her finely tuned instincts that keep him involved with her. When an actual friend finally proves the truth to her, she still feels trapped in a system that rewards only the power of money. Stampler paints a ruthless portrait of wealthy Los Angeles, but she finds the occasional human being there, too. Readers will find much cynicism but also humor and insight into a corrupt system not necessarily confined to the rich.

Clever and constantly interesting, this is as much a winner as Gabby. (Fiction. 14 & up)

kirkusreviews.com

|

“Chap’s spare, first-person narration intensifies this taut, psychological thriller…” from double

THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION

Staton, Hilarie N. Kingfisher (32 pp.) $9.99 paperback | PLB $19.89 Feb. 1, 2012 978-0-7534-6670-4 978-0-7534-6712-1 PLB Series: All About America, Shot through with vague generalities and paired to a mix of equally generic period images and static new art, this overview remorselessly sucks all the juice from its topic.

This survey of the growth of industries in this country from the Colonial period to the post–World War II era is written in the driest of textbook-ese: “Factories needed good transportation so that materials could reach them and so that materials could reach buyers”; “The metal iron is obtained by heating iron ore”; “In 1860, the North said that free men, not slaves, should do the work.” This text is supplemented by a jumble of narrative-overview blocks, boxed side observations and terse captions on each thematic spread. The design is packed with overlapping, misleadingly seamless and rarely differentiated mixes of small, heavily trimmed contemporary prints or (later) photos and drab reconstructions of workshop or factory scenes, along with pictures of significant inventions and technological innovations (which are, in several cases, reduced to background design elements). The single, tiny map has no identifying labels.

Other new entries in the All About America series deal similarly with Explorers, Trappers, and Pioneers, A Nation of Immigrants and Stagecoaches and Railroads.

Utilitarian, at best—but more likely to dim reader interest than kindle it. (index, timeline, resource lists) (Nonfiction. 8-10)

UNCHAINED

Tillit, L. B. Saddleback Educational Publishing (198 pp.) $8.95 paperback | Jan. 1, 2012 978-1-61651-7-922 In an unnamed city, the son of drugaddicted parents finds a loving foster home, then loses everything.

Part of the publisher’s Gravel Road line, which produces a junior version of “urban street lit” aimed at reluctant readers, the book is attractively packaged with a photographic cover, a small trim and plenty of white space on its pages. Sentences are short and vocabulary simple, but narrator TJ’s voice is expressive, even though some complexity is sacrificed to move the story forward. TJ’s ambivalence toward his family is clear from the first evocative scene, in which a fight between 5-year-old TJ and his father ends in laughter. His relationship to the Hillside Vipers, a gang that recruits TJ when he is 13, also rings true: TJ |

joins the gang because he is afraid not to. The emotional center of the book is Miss Dixie, the boundlessly warm proprietor of a group home where TJ lives after the state separates him from his family. Although the redemptive relationships TJ builds at Miss Dixie’s are compelling, Miss Dixie’s promise that TJ “will always have a place here” seems hard to believe, given how many young people need foster care.

Despite a few oversimplifications, this is a thoughtful and accessible story about the many meanings—positive and negative—of family. (Fiction. 12-15)

DOUBLE

Valentine, Jenny Hyperion (256 pp.) $16.99 | Feb. 21, 2012 978-1-4231-4714-5 What are the odds of two identical missing boys?

The possibility will haunt readers in this British import by Morris Award finalist Valentine. When 16-year-old runaway Chap, named by his reclusive grandfather, gets locked up for fighting in a London hostel, detectives are certain that they’ve found missing Cassiel Roadnight, who disappeared two years ago on the firework-filled Hay on Fire fall festival. Longing for a real family, Chap assumes Cass’ identity and tries to ingratiate himself with the Roadnights as he moves into their home. Weighed down by his lies and the family’s doubts (“Your eyes used to be blue”), his ruse is not as easy to carry out as he imagined. Chap’s spare, first-person narration intensifies this taut, psychological thriller as he also begins to wonder why and how Cass disappeared. Flashbacks, fraught with identity, loss and betrayal, fill in the back story on Chap’s own life, which is just as mysterious as Cass’. Piecing together clues from his and Cass’ lives, Chap can’t help but believe that he may be living with Cass’ killer. With the next Hay on Fire quickly approaching, will Chap meet the same fate as Cass?

Readers who like the quick pace of Gail Giles’ mysteries and the dark, finely crafted suspense of Kevin Brooks will find the perfect combination here. (Thriller. 12 & up)

WHAT HAPPENS TO OUR TRASH?

Ward, D. J. Illus. by Meisel, Paul Harper/HarperCollins (40 pp.) $16.99 | paper $5.99 | Feb. 1, 2012 978-0061687563 978-0-06-168755-6 paperback This low-pressure look at public-waste disposal and small-scale recycling avoids controversy in favor of consciousness-raising.

“An average kitchen-size bag of trash contains enough energy to light a 100-watt lightbulb for more than 24 hours.” Endpapers

kirkusreviews.com

|

children

&

teens

|

1 january 2012

|

2457

open and close with this and other unsourced but probably inthe-ballpark statistics. The book proper begins with a basic definition of “trash” and moves on to descriptions and tidy cartoon views of landfills and of collection sites for batteries and other hazardous household waste, then concludes with a few simple suggestions for reducing, reusing and recycling. Meisel’s sunny scenes of adults and children playing in a park laid over a landfill, re-using paper goods, presenting eco-science projects and watching garbage trucks roll by reflect the relaxed tone of Ward’s discourse. If topics like garbage-dump–related groundwater pollution and health issues or industrial- and nuclear-waste disposal receive scant or no attention, newly independent readers will at least come away with the basic notion that reducing trash production is a good idea. This latest entry in the venerable Let’sRead-and-Find-Out Science series lays some groundwork for promoting responsible use of resources.

Save the strident and scarier appeals for later. (website list, composting instructions) (Informational picture book. 7-9)

MAC AND CHEESE AND THE PERFECT PLAN

Weeks, Sarah Illus. by Manning, Jane Harper/HarperCollins (32 pp.) $16.99 | paper $3.99 | Mar. 1, 2012 978-0-06-117082-9 978-0-06-117084-3 paperback Series: Mac and Cheese, In this offering for emerging readers, Mac and Cheese, two cat friends, prove that opposites attract, even in the feline world.

Cheese, a grumpy marmalade tabby, would rather sleep on his trashcan than join Mac for a day at the sea. The day is hot, the bus will be by soon and the only thing standing between the cats and the beach is a little preparation. Despite Mac’s encouraging song (or perhaps because of it), Cheese does not want to go. When Mac agrees to stop singing, Cheese relents, sort of.

Insisting a trip to the beach includes packing just about everything (food, clothing, toys, books, a boat), Cheese slows the process until the bus heads down the road and the friends are left behind. Though Mac’s little song (“Please, Cheese, please, / Come to the sea, / Come to the sea, Cheese, / Please with me”) does not trip easily off the tongue, the rest of the text is rhythmic, at times pleasantly reminiscent of Dr. Seuss, making it easy to read. Humorous watercolor illustrations, including full- and double-page spreads and such little details as allowing the whiskers and eyebrows to reflect feline feelings make this one new reader that will be eagerly read over and over.

Please, let there be more adventures of Mac and Cheese, the Felix and Oscar of the early-reader world. (Early reader. 4-8)

2458

|

1 january 2012

|

children

&

teens

|

YOKO LEARNS TO READ

Wells, Rosemary Illus. by Wells, Rosemary Disney Hyperion (32 pp.) $15.99 | Feb. 21, 2012 978-1-4231-3823-5

Wells’ winsome kitten experiences a milestone sure to bring smiles to the faces of teachers and librarians everywhere.

Learning to read is a momentous development in a child’s life, but it can be difficult to depict in an interesting way. Luckily, previous familiarity with Yoko’s can-do spirit should ensure that readers will be rooting for this clever kitten. Like her classmates, Yoko yearns to see her name on the “book tree” at school.

She gets credit for the three stories that she and her mother share at home but despairs of adding any more. Her mother only reads Japanese, and, oddly, they own just the three books. A trip to the library solves at least one of these problems, and Yoko’s determination carries her along as she sounds out words and uses pictures to predict plot. Cross-cultural details add interest: sushi for dinner, cozy on-the-floor seating at the tea table and the fact that books in Japanese read back to front. The final picture shows Yoko beginning to teach her mother the English alphabet. As always, Wells’ illustrations enchant. Oil pastels and collage showcase rich colors and beautiful designs, evocative of traditional origami papers, while emotions shine through the characters’ expressive eyes and energetic body language.

A perky paean to the joys of literacy, with a bit of library love thrown in for good measure. (Picture book. 4-7)

BLUE SKY

Wood, Audrey Illus. by Wood, Audrey Blue Sky/Scholastic (32 pp.) $16.99 | Mar. 1, 2012 978-0-545-31610-1 This depiction of the stratosphere in its ever-shifting splendor offers a catalog of concepts for young readers.

Arms outstretched, smiling face raised and backlit with the rising sun’s glow, the child on the cover radiates infectious joy.

Readers follow him (and his family and stuffed monkey) through a series of double-page spreads during which the firmament changes from “Cloud Sky / Rain Sky / Storm Sky” to the eventual “Wish Sky / Sleep Sky / Dream Sky.” There is no particular rhythm or rhyme scheme; the text (shaped, colored and decorated to support the message) simply declares possible and imagined changes in a 24-hour period. Wood’s decision to use pastel paper in deep colors for the backgrounds and compose with gouache highlights and colored pencils contributes to the sensory delight. Vibrant and marvelous as her lines are, it is the texture and tint of the underlying paper that maximizes the sizzle of the sunset and the connection between the lavender moonlight and its reflection in

kirkusreviews.com

|

african-american history picturebook round -up

the sea. Compositions vary from scenes in which the dramatic patterns of natural phenomena overwhelm viewers to spacious spreads offering visual rest. The cycle and book close when the cover image is paired with “New Sky.” A high-voltage stimulus package that encourages close observation of and imaginative thinking about nature, not to mention playing with print to express ideas. (Picture book. 18 mos.-6)

BENEATH A METH MOON

WHAT COLOR IS MY WORLD The Lost History of African American Inventors

Woodson, Jacqueline Nancy Paulsen Books (192 pp.) $16.99 | Feb. 2, 2012 978-0-399-25250-1 Fifteen-year-old Laurel attempts to understand and move past a year of her life when addiction to methamphetamine nearly cost her family and her life.

Laurel and her family suffered devastating loss when her mother and grandmother were victims of a terrible storm (probably Katrina, from the timeline) in Pass Christian, Miss. Finally, they seem to be settling into a new life, in a new town, with new friends. Laurel joins the cheerleading squad and catches the eye of the school’s star athlete. Unfortunately, he is a methamphetamine, or “moon,” user. Before long, she joins him and begins a downward spiral that results in painful estrangement from all she loves. Life on the streets brings her into the path of Moses, who has known his own loss and uses his artistic ability to pay tribute to young people who are caught in the drug snare. Margaret A. Edwards Award–winner Woodson crafts a story of powerful emotional intensity through her poignant portrayal of a young woman lost and in pain. The depiction of small-town life, with its Dollar Store, Wal-Mart and limited economic opportunities adds texture and authenticity. This is beautifully written, with clear prose that honors the story it tells: “Hard not to think about not deserving this kind of beauty, this kind of cold. This…this clarity.” Most of all, it is populated with fully realized characters who struggle to make sense of tragedy. Laurel’s friend Kaylee urges her to “[w] rite an elegy to the past….and move on.”

A moving, honest and hopeful story. (Fiction. 14 & up)

Abdul-Jabbar, Kareem & Obstfeld, Raymond Illus. by Boos, Ben & Ford, A.G. Candlewick (44 pp.) $17.99 | Jan. 24, 2012 978-0-7636-4564-9 A handyman named R.E. Mital teaches a pair of twins about great African-American inventors and scientists as they explore their new house.

The authors interweave the story of the brother and sister and their unusual house guide with facts about men and one woman whose achievements have become part of our everyday lives. Each room they explore provides Mr. Mital with an opportunity for a biographical presentation. Thus, turning on a light bulb opens a discussion about Lewis Latimer, while cleaning the bathroom cabinet leads to information about Drs. Percy Julian, Daniel Hale Williams and Charles Drew. Time in the kitchen segues into facts about George Crum and the potato chip. A cell phone leads to details about Dr. Mark Dean and computer graphics, Dr. Valerie L. Thomas and 3-D and James West and microphones. Information is set apart from the narrative of the squabbling siblings through the use of page flaps, page backgrounds of varying colors, the boy’s hand-written notes and occasional graphic presentations. Each biographical entry, through brief, pays equal attention to the discrimination that the innovators faced. Unfortunately, the lack of an index and a table of contents make this problematic for homework assignments A purposeful but appealing presentation of information about accomplished lives. And the guide?

Examine his name. (authors’ notes, bibliography) (Informational fiction. 8-12)

WORDS SET ME FREE The Story of Young Frederick Douglass Cline-Ransome, Lesa Illus. by Ransome, James E. Paula Wiseman/Simon & Schuster (32 pp.) $16.99 | Jan. 3, 2012 978-1-4169-5903-8

For the enslaved child who grew up to be Frederick Douglass, learning to read led to freedom and a life of activism committed to abolition. |

kirkusreviews.com

|

children

&

teens

|

1 january 2012

|

2459

“Enslaved African-Americans voice the weariness, drudgery, agony and dreams of their lives in a beautiful and informative collection of poetry and paintings.” from i lay my stitches down

Cline-Ransome has based her story on Douglass’ autobiography, giving the gravitas and formality of the adult to the child.

She describes his childhood on a Maryland plantation, including his separation from his mother and the ill treatment he and all the other enslaved children received. Sold to his owner’s relatives, the Aulds, in Baltimore, Frederick Bailey, as he was then known, was taught to read from the Bible by Auld’s kindly wife.

When her good deed was discovered by her husband, she was forced to close her library to Frederick. Undeterred, he practiced reading on the streets and along the waterfront. Ransome uses acrylic and oil paints to create a palette rich in the blues and greens of the Chesapeake region. The portrait on the back cover is particularly striking. Husband and wife have been frequent, successful collaborators, and this title is equally commendable.

One caveat, though: Ending with Douglass’ successful escape rather than a failed one would have been preferable.

A solid effort that offers young readers a glimpse into the lives of children in the time of slavery and appreciate the development of a most notable life. (author’s note, bibliography, timeline) (Picture book/biography. 6-10)

JUST AS GOOD How Larry Doby Changed America’s Game Crowe, Chris Illus. by Benny, Mike Candlewick (32 pp.) $16.99 | Jan. 1, 2012 978-0-7636-5026-1

A young boy and his parents gather round their brand-new radio, purchased just for the occasion, to listen anxiously and, finally, exultantly as Larry Doby leads the 1948 Cleveland Indians to World Series victory.

The boy, African-American, had been told that there was no future for him in baseball because of segregation, even though Jackie Robinson now played with the Brooklyn Dodgers and Doby had signed with the Indians. Larry Doby? Doby integrated the American League and was a brilliant hitter and fielder who got lost in the Robinson accolades. Crowe’s story captures a slice of baseball life for a family enjoying the old-time radio play-by-play and seeing in Doby’s accomplishments a sign of better times to come. Benny’s full-page acrylic paintings are cheery and portray a comfortable home setting. There’s also a dramatic double-page spread of Doby’s Game Four home run.

More importantly, Benny reproduces the newspaper photograph of Doby and the Indians’ white pitcher, Steve Gromek, joyfully hugging each other cheek to cheek. It’s a photo that should stand in importance alongside the one of PeeWee Reese putting his arm around Robinson, as remembered so well in Peter Golenbock’s Teammates (1990).

A fine story about baseball that makes its point quietly and effectively. (historical note, bibliography) (Picture book/ biography. 4-8)

2460

|

1 january 2012

|

children

&

teens

|

WE MARCH

Evans, Shane W. Illus. by Evans, Shane W. Neal Porter/Roaring Brook (32 pp.) $16.99 | Jan. 17, 2012 978-1-59643-539-1 An African-American family awakens before dawn to prepare for the historic March on Washington in August, 1963.

In this stirring companion to Underground (2011), Evans captures a pivotal event in the struggle for equality and civil rights in America. The family joins neighbors to pray at their church, paint signs and travel by bus to Washington. They walk and sing and grow tired but “are filled with hope” as they stand together at the Washington Monument to listen to Dr. King speak of dreams and freedom. With just one line per page, Evans’ text is spare but forceful. The March has become synonymous with Dr. King’s grandiloquent speech, but Evans reminds readers that ordinary folk were his determined and courageous audience.

The full-page paintings depict a rainbow of people holding hands and striding purposefully. One illustration in particular, of the father holding his son high on his shoulders, echoes a painting in Underground, in which a father holds his newborn child high up toward the sky. The strong vertical lines used for the arms of the marchers mirror the intensity of the day.

Share with readers of all ages as a beautiful message about peaceful protest and purposeful action. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-8)

I LAY MY STITCHES DOWN Poems of American Slavery Grady, Cynthia Illus. by Wood, Michele Eerdmans (34 pp.) $17.00 | Feb. 15, 2012 978-0-8028-5386-8

Enslaved African-Americans voice the weariness, drudgery, agony and dreams of their lives in a beautiful and informative collection of poetry and paintings.

In her debut title, Grady structures free verse to mirror the patterns of traditional American quilt blocks, variations on a square. In the poems, each 10 lines with 10 syllables per line, the words and thoughts read seamlessly and build to heart-rending finales. They speak of daily lives made bearable by the words of a preacher, the joys of singing and the quiet rhythms of stitching. A woman bent over her basket of scraps can see her “troubles fall / away.” A man calming a horse can find a “patchwork field of freedom.” Children outside a school building scratch out the alphabet because “[i]t gives us hope; it sings us home.”

Each poem is accompanied by brief background information on slavery and on the quilt-block pattern that inspired it. Fullpage paintings by Wood, a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Award

kirkusreviews.com

|

winner, pulsate with vibrant colors and intensity. Each incorporates the quilt pattern that served as Grady’s inspiration into a collage-styled portrait. Readers will find themselves poring over the many details in the art and connecting them with the verses.

A powerful grouping of thought-provoking poems and brilliantly designed paintings. (author’s note, illustrator’s note, bibliography) (Poetry. 10 & up)

ELLEN’S BROOM

Lyons, Kelly Starling Illus. by Minter, Daniel Putnam (32 pp.) $16.99 | Jan. 5, 2012 978-0-399-25003-3

Ellen cheerfully watches as her parents, former slaves, legally register their wedding at a Freedman’s Bureau during

Reconstruction.

There’s happiness in the air for Ellen, her family and all their neighbors as they attend church services celebrating the end of slavery and the beginning of freedom. The announcement from the pulpit that slave marriages can now be recognized brings more joy to Ellen’s parents, who share stories with their children of the forced separation of families and the importance of the broom that was used in their own wedding, a broom with a place of honor over the fireplace. It is Ellen’s idea to weave flowers through that broom for the new ceremony. The broom will stay with the family now as a symbol of the past and as a part of family tradition. Stories for young children set during Reconstruction are not common, and Lyons has called upon her own family stories and marriage to shine a spotlight on the period. Minter uses hand-painted linoleum block prints for a bright, sunny and upbeat accompaniment. Scenes of slave times are colored in sepia to set them apart.

A spirited story filled with the warmth of a close family celebrating a marriage before God and the law. (author’s note) (Picture book. 4-7)

TWICE AS GOOD The Story of William Powell and Clearview, the Only Golf Course Designed, Built, and Owned by an African-American Michelson, Richard Illus. by Velasquez, Eric Sleeping Bear Press (32 pp.) $16.95 | Jan. 15, 2012 978-1-58536-466-4

home after World War II from England, where he golfed as much as possible, William was barred from the local greens, denied membership in the whites-only (until 1961) PGA and turned down for financing from the GI loan program. Nonetheless, he found a piece of land where, with private financing, he designed and built the first integrated golf course in the United States. Clearview opened in 1948 and is now a National Historic Site. When his daughter was born, he designed a golf club just for her. Michelson, the author of As Good As Anybody (illustrated by Raul Colón, 2008), has written a straight-forward narrative spiced throughout with inspirational thoughts. At one point, Willie’s principal tells him that in order to succeed he must be “twice as good” as the white children. Velasquez, the award-winning illustrator, paints his figures in linear poses that are unfortunately more static than active.

A useful title in which young readers can gain an appreciation of a ground-breaking African-American sports figure. (author’s note) (Picture book/biography. 5-10)

WHEN GRANDMAMA SINGS

Mitchell, Margaree King Illus. by Ransome, James E. Amistad/HarperCollins (40 pp.) $16.99 | PLB $17.89 | Jan. 1, 2012 978-0-688-17563-4 978-0-688-17564-1 PLB

Belle joins her beloved grandmother, a jazz singer, on a summer tour of Southern towns and sees that segregation is everywhere—not just at home in Mississippi.

Holding tight to her uncle’s lucky rabbit’s foot, Belle watches as Grandmama and the musicians face the ugliness of Jim Crow in diners and theaters and on the road. In Alabama, the police dump their belongings on the roadside, a state’s welcome. She also listens as her grandmother shares her dreams for an integrated society and thrills to her resounding performance on stage in Atlanta, one that leads to an offer to make recordings for a company up North. It’s a moment that inspires Belle to dream, because “the promise of her song helped me believe in myself.” As in Uncle Jed’s Barbershop (1993), for which Ransome won a Coretta Scott King Illustrator Honor, Mitchell has crafted another compelling story of an African-American family both strong and determined despite the all-powerful clamp of racism. Ransome uses watercolors in warm tones of yellows and browns to reveal nuances of expression and the warmth of family and community.

A gentle story that shows the everyday realities of segregation through the observant eye of a child. (Picture book. 5-9)

Despite growing up in a community that was racially segregated, William Powell persisted in playing the game he loved, golf.

Young Willie could only caddy on the golf course near his Ohio home, although one white man did let him play. Returning |

kirkusreviews.com

|

children

&

teens

|

1 january 2012

|

2461

“Painter and poet previously collaborated on We Troubled the Waters (2009), and in this volume they have created a focused narrative that is troubling, violent and soul-stirring.” from freedom’s a- callin me

FREEDOM’S A-CALLIN ME

(2007). Nonetheless, this stands as another excellent, accessible account of the harshness of slavery. An excerpted letter written by the recipient of Henry “Box” Brown is included.

The desire to live free is powerful, and this story celebrates one man’s amazing journey to achieve that end. (author’s note) (Picture book/biography. 5-10)

Shange, Ntozake Illus. by Brown, Rod Amistad/HarperCollins (32 pp.) $16.99 | PLB $17.89 | Jan. 1, 2012 978-0-06-133741-3 978-0-06-133743-7 PLB One slave is the poetic voice for those who toil on a cotton plantation and look to the North Star, following the Underground Railroad to freedom.

Shange wrote the poems in response to Brown’s paintings and provides a sound stage for not only the many men and women who sought freedom but also those who were fearful of leaving. The dramatic oil paintings open in the stark white of the cotton fields. In the following tableaux, slaves are whipped, run through swamps, barely ahead of trackers and their dogs, and receive help from white abolitionists and Sojourner Truth. One powerful double-page spread shows a runaway hiding under floor boards, with slivers of light coming through. The end of the road finally comes in Michigan, where white snow on ground and trees serves as a beautiful counterpoint to the opening scene. Painter and poet previously collaborated on We Troubled the Waters (2009), and in this volume they have created a focused narrative that is troubling, violent and soul-stirring. In the title poem, the man says “ah may get tired / good Lawd / ah may may be free.”

Inspirational pairings of art and verse to read and recite in tribute to those who walked that perilous road. (Picture book/poetry. 12 & up)

FREEDOM SONG The Story of Henry “Box” Brown

Walker, Sally M. Illus. by Qualls, Sean HarperCollins (40 pp.) $17.99 | Jan. 1, 2012 978-0-06-058310-1

When his wife and children are sold away, an enslaved man devises an extraordinary means of escape to the North and succeeds.

Henry Brown worked in a tobacco factory in Richmond, Va. With the help of abolitionist friends, he built a box barely big enough for his large frame and mailed himself to Philadelphia and “freedom-land.” Walker, winner of the Sibert Medal, captures the spirit and resolve of the man through her graceful writing and inclusion of songs of praise. She recounts his childhood, marriage to another slave and the fears, soon realized, that the family would be torn apart. Textured paintings and collage by Qualls express both the depth of Henry’s love and the drama and ordeal of the journey, with dark shadows depicting the closeness of the box. Walker does change one fact. She has Henry cut his finger to get sent home prior to the escape. He actually used acid, as recounted in the award-winning Henry’s Freedom Box, by Ellen Levine and illustrated by Kadir Nelson 2462

|

1 january 2012

|

children

&

teens

|

JAZZ AGE JOSEPHINE Dancer, Singer— Who’s That, Who? Why, That’s MISS Josephine Baker to You! Winter, Jonah Illus. by Priceman, Marjorie Atheneum (40 pp.) $16.99 | Jan. 3, 2012 978-1-4169-6123-9

The African-American singer and dancer was idolized in France because of her extraordinary talent as a stage performer and scorned in the United States because of her color.

Winter recounts Baker’s desperately poor childhood in St. Louis, her breakthrough into show business in New York and her move to Paris at the height of the Roaring Twenties in flight from racial prejudice. There, she dazzled audiences with her risqué musical routines and colorfully scanty costumes, especially the famous fake-banana skirt. Winter, a prolific author of picture-book biographies, uses rhyming couplets and verbal riffs, accentuated by lively typeface, for a highly energetic telling. “It’s the Shake, / the Shimmy, / and the Mess Around! / No one sleeps / when she’s in town!” Priceman, a Caldecott Honor recipient, uses her trademark swirling lines and bright colors in inks and gouache to show off Baker’s fantastic moves at almost cinematic speed. Not in the text but in the author’s note is information about Baker during World War II, when she worked for the French Resistance. That grateful country gave her medals and buried her with honors. More recently, Diana Ross and Beyoncé have copied her moves.

In any consideration of noteworthy lives, Baker stands tall and sparkles as a determined, brave and singular woman of color. (author’s note) (Picture book/biography. 5-10)

This Issue’s Contributors # Samantha Angerame • Elizabeth Bird • Marcie Bovetz • Liesl Bradner • Louise Capizzo • Ann Childs • Julie Cummins • GraceAnne A. DeCandido • Elise DeGuiseppi • Lisa Dennis • Carol Edwards • Brooke Faulkner • Laurie Flynn • Diane B. Foote • Omar Gallaga • Judith Gire • Carol Goldman • Linnea Hendrickson • Heather L. Hepler • Megan Honig • Jennifer Hubert • Shelley Huntington • Kathleen T. Isaacs • Laura Jenkins • Betsy Judkins • Deborah Kaplan • K. Lesley Knieriem • Robin Fogle Kurz • Megan Lambert • Angela Leeper • Peter Lewis • Ellen Loughran • Wendy Lukehart • Lauren Maggio • Joan Malewitz • Jeanne McDermott • Kathie Meizner • Daniel Meyer • Lisa Moore • John Edward Peters • Susan Pine • Rebecca Rabinowitz • Kristy Raffensberger • Nancy Thalia Reynolds • Melissa Riddle Chalos • Erika Rohrbach • Leslie L. Rounds • Mindy Schanback • Dean Schneider • Karyn N. Silverman • Robin Smith • Karin Snelson • Shelley Sutherland • Deborah D. Taylor • S.D. Winston • Monica D. Wyatt • Melissa Yurechko

kirkusreviews.com

|

kirkus indie Kirkus has been keeping an eye on selfpublishing for years, and we’ve never seen anything like the current boom. With the number of self-published titles now pushing 1 million per year, and independent authors utilizing new technologies to sell tens of thousands of copies of their work, the age of indie has truly arrived. Kirkus Indie brings readers the best works by independent authors, and we bring independent authors the crucial tools to get the word out about their books like no one else. We’ll give your book an unbiased, professional review, and then we’ll push that review into the world via our social-media properties, newsletters, website and expanding content. To learn more about Kirkus Indie and start promoting your title, please visit us online at kirkusreviews.com/indie/about.

|

CROSSROADS

Shaila AuthorHouse (203 pp.) $17.23 paperback | $3.99 e-book Oct. 11, 2011 978-1456796105 A young woman details an intense first love in this emotional debut novel.

Two months before a planned aroundthe-world adventure, the narrator meets a friend’s childhood neighbor, a handsome man who quickly sweeps her off her feet. She cuts short her trip to live near him in Melbourne while they both study at the university. In between flashbacks of her childhood in conservative Bangladesh, including the death of her father, the narrator unveils the slow disintegration of her romance. Rather than villainizing her boyfriend (and later fiancé), she offers a balanced view. At turns, he’s sweet and thoughtful, bringing her roses for her birthday or buying her dinner at a favorite restaurant. But increasingly he becomes controlling and abusive, insisting that she stop seeing friends, slapping her and criticizing her family and her looks. The narrator admits her own role in trying to become the perfect girlfriend—buying him expensive gifts, slavishly cooking and cleaning and studying while he sleeps. She understands that relationships require some compromise, but she’s unsure of the degree required. Despite the textbook signs of a toxic relationship, it’s not until after a lavish engagement party in the fifth year of their relationship that the narrator begins weighing potential family shame and her deeply rooted fear of loneliness against the loss of herself if she marries this man. The lack of names for the couple beyond the generic “baby” and “sweetheart,” along with the first-person point of view, make the story read more like a diary—or a psychological case study—than a novel. While the dialogue is occasionally stilted and often overdramatic, the emotional core of the book rings true. Unfortunately, the abrupt ending robs the reader of a comforting sense of closure.

A readable cautionary tale of first love and the boundaries of forgiveness and self-esteem.

kirkusreviews.com

|

kirkus indie

|

1 january 2012

|

2463

“Ice is an ever-present antagonist thwarting all who dare challenge the harsh environment.” from the storied ice

CHOICES 86,400 a Day

Alexander, Lauren CreateSpace (224 pp.) $18.00 paperback | Nov. 14, 2011 978-1463598105 Refinements and distillations on the theme of awareness.

It’s salubrious to witness Alexander as she moves toward a haiku-brief compression in this song of praise to awareness.

She aims to expose “the underbelly of ordinary circumstances” and “retrieves discoveries we discard and uncovers an ever-present option: intended choices.” Yet what these epigrammatic offerings do best of all is simply make the reader pause and think. For Alexander, intentionality is serious business: “If you fall off a horse, hesitate / or risk remounting the wrong one,” or “A split-second decision breeds second thoughts.” An endeavor such as this can easily become cryptic, and Alexander only occasionally falls into that trap—”on a still day, a tree looks like a motionless mime” or “[w]hen we react, we don’t know what we’re doing,” neither of which give the reader anything but gristle to chew upon. Mostly, though, Alexander avoids the Hallmark and the runic. She can be provocative or rueful (“We don’t always see and know / the persons we say and think we love”) or mordant (“We get to know some people after they die”). There are times when her brevities come across like cool thoughts—illusive, toying—but, again, with the capacity to arrest: “Your pen will run out of ink / no matter how hard / you press on the paper.” Other times she pricks pretension: “We learned to pretend in childhood. / We’re still pretending...but back then...we knew we were.” But the lines that leave by far the most lasting impression upon the reader’s imagination are like the fortune cookies of yore, the ones that get at something without fanfare: “A tree unearths its sense of humor when the sidewalk cracks.”

You can’t make an omelet, or a life, without breaking a few eggs.

An often-sparkling show of what in life can be gathered and given an aphoristic squeeze by keeping your eyes and mind open.

THE STORIED ICE Exploration, Discovery, and Adventure in Antarctica’s Peninsula Region

Boothe, Joan N. Regent (373 pp.) $34.95 | paper $24.95 | $14.95 e-book Nov. 1, 2011 978-1587902246 978-1587902185 paperback

A comprehensive, expertly rendered narrative history of Antarctica’s most-visited region.

Owing to numerous nearby islands that aided nautical exploration, the Antarctic Peninsula, jutting 1,000 miles north 2464

|

1 january 2012

|

kirkus indie

|

of the main continental mass, is where humans first explored the last-discovered continent and where most tourists visit today.

Similarly, Boothe uses the Peninsula region to hook readers.

The subtitle notwithstanding, this book doesn’t so much confine itself to the Peninsula as make it the face of Antarctica, the starring character in a geographic drama spanning 500 years— an alluring but indomitable mistress beguiling and frustrating suitor after suitor. The main title is dead-on. Ice is an everpresent antagonist thwarting all who dare challenge the harsh environment, and Boothe tells their stories with such authority, readers forget she was not part of their expeditions. From the legendary—Magellan, Cook, Shackleton, Amundsen, Byrd—to lesser-known sealers, whalers, meteorologists and geologists, she captures their motives, struggles, heartbreaks and triumphs. Men suffer frostbite and scurvy. Pack ice traps, crushes and sinks their ships. They must shoot and eat their sledge dogs.

Those who survive, return, gradually claiming new territory and earning the place-names on today’s maps. Boothe has accomplished a difficult task—producing a historical account scholarly enough for textbook use while engaging enough for a general audience. The feat is all the more remarkable considering this is her first book. Her fascination with Antarctica dates to childhood, and her travels include circumnavigating the continent on an icebreaker. First-hand knowledge is evident, along with impressive scholarship. Literature cited runs to 311 entries, and the endnotes contain (for some readers, “bury” is perhaps more accurate) a wealth of information. Three appendices, a glossary, timeline and “firsts” provide still more information. In-text maps, figures and photographs abound. Large- and small-scale maps of Antarctica thoughtfully placed on the inside covers and end pages facilitate frequent referencing.

For those accustomed to browsing glossy photographic surveys of icebergs, penguins and sea lions, this 373-page tome may loom as a foreboding trek, but serious readers, armchair historians and geography or maritime buffs will find it a most rewarding journey.

THE PERSIAN GAMBIT

Bull, Eugene Silent Rivers Press (376 pp.) $9.99 paperback | Nov. 5, 2011 978-0615547695 A wrongfully accused government employee goes on a global trek, exposing clandestine operations and eluding men who circumvent obstacles with violence and murder.

Peter Graser, an analyst for the U.S. State Department, is at a party, keeping an eye on Irina Belakova, a woman who works for Russian intelligence but is being paid by the State Department for information relating to the Iranian ambassador to the U.N., with whom Irina is having an affair. Also in attendance is the assistant secretary for Intelligence and Research, who collapses and dies mere seconds after speaking with Peter. This is just the beginning of an elaborate series of events that ultimately proves

kirkusreviews.com

|

“Certainly any journalist worth his or her salt will immediately recognize in Farmer an invaluable source whose own investigative and journalistic instincts add weight to what he says.” from down in the dumps

to be a frame-up against Peter: an unsanctioned memo sent from his computer, a failed polygraph test and fingerprints connecting him to a murder weapon. Significant plot points accumulate quickly, but the story never feels convoluted. It’s more like a secret slowly being revealed, as details are introduced but not fully explained until later, such as Peter’s family fleeing Iran when he was young, how his family died and Roya, an Iranian woman he’s known since childhood. Peter’s association with Roya only deepens the suspicion against him. Their relationship is a narrative highpoint, their forbidden love and opposing political ideals making them an international Romeo and Juliet.

Peter absconds to other countries, going first to London, where he investigates the hazy particulars of his father’s death. Once in the Middle East, Peter unravels a potential uprising, but on a much grander scale than he can anticipate. A steady pace is maintained throughout, and while there are more leisurely moments to piece together the ongoing threads of the story, there are numerous revelations and twists to throw readers back into the story headfirst.

Filled with explosions, multiple double crossings and distrust among the characters—all the ingredients for an unyielding political thriller running full tilt.

UNACCOUNTED FOR

Cappo, Nan Willard Tadmar (318 pp.) $14.95 paperback | $3.99 e-book Oct. 26, 2011 978-0983822202 Another teen dealing with consequences of dishonesty and cover-ups from Cappo (Cheating Lessons, 2011), though the stakes are higher in this murder mystery set in a small, blue-collar Michigan town.

We first meet Milo Shoemaker, an upstanding high school senior, the day of his father’s funeral. Milo’s dad was an accountant at Wolverine Motors, manufacturers of fire trucks in the town of Valeene, and the company prides itself on not having taken a government bailout like the big three automakers. The circumstances surrounding the death of Milo’s father are suspicious—was it an accident, suicide for insurance or, worse, murder? Clues pop up that lead Milo to finagle a job at the plant where he can snoop out the truth. Did his dad cook the books to pay off a gambling debt? Or is it something more sinister?

Proving his dad’s innocence could take down the town’s biggest employer and tarnish the reputation of its president, a hero of sorts that Milo holds in high regard for hiring his father when he was down on his luck. Milo is a teen with character and morals; he helps out around the house and takes care of his younger twin siblings. Adding the virginal quality, although commendable, is a tad overdone and predictable in young adult fiction lately.

Cappo’s occasional odd choice of adjectives can seem arbitrary and a bit befuddling, as in “the oily Pearce” when referring to the shady, suspect payroll supervisor, and the line “J’azzmin had stealthily replaced their headsets.” It’s when Milo’s best |

friend—the athletic, charming Zaffer, whose summer job in security and grounds keeping at Wolverine gives him access to off-limit areas of the building—and the boss’ attractive daughter, Ellie, join in on the sleuthing that the plot moves along at a brisk pace with plenty of action, romance and intrigue.

Milo’s unyielding determination to discover the truth and expose corporate fraud will likely make Cappo’s pageturner a hit with those sympathetic to the Occupy Wall Street movement.

DOWN IN THE DUMPS......

What green economy?

Farmer, Marcus J. AuthorHouse (120 pp.) $21.53 paperback | Oct. 7, 2011 978-1456797973

A carter in England’s North West exposes what he belives are blatantly phony recycling claims by a competitor and suggests that the solid waste sector of the United Kingdom’s fledgling green economy may be an empty shell.

The author runs into the nearly absolute inability of bureaucracies and government agencies to act decisively on complaints except in cases where extreme pressure is brought by powerful people or forces. Farmer, the managing director of a carting company in the Manchester area, describes himself as a man of straw, a dust-bin man and the like, and certainly lacks any great influence despite a quixotic run for parliament in 2010 that wins him few votes. Add to this some peculiar laws in the U.K. that make it especially difficult to go after a wrongdoer hammer and tong. For him to accuse a competitor of falsely advertising a 95 percent recycling rate puts him in jeopardy of a defamation charge, and indeed this is what the competitor in question quickly threatens. With the press also constrained by some of the same quirky British laws, Farmer’s story has struggled for a public airing. Certainly any journalist worth his or her salt will immediately recognize in Farmer an invaluable source whose own investigative and journalistic instincts add weight to what he says. In the larger picture, Farmer’s account of false recycling claims is not enough by itself to support an exposé of how bogus “green” claims play out in a marketplace where environmentalism may all too often get lip service while regulators look the other way. But what he alleges would be a very telling case in point for a broader exposé. Farmer is to be congratulated for his dogged efforts to blow the whistle as long and loud as possible—writing this book is the culmination of that. But there is a caveat. Any third-person examination of the charges he raises would require substantial investigation and a full airing of his competitor’s counter-claims. Without further independent investigation, and notwithstanding the documents Farmer includes in the book, the story per force remains one-sided.

An admirable effort to shine a spotlight in places light rarely reaches.

kirkusreviews.com

|

kirkus indie

|

1 january 2012

|

2465

“[Maloney] emerges as a likable, funny, angry, happy, mature, successful young man who just happens to have mild cerebral palsy.” from 26

26 A Behind-the-Scenes Tour of Life with Cerebral Palsy

DUBS GOES TO WASHINGTON AND DISCOVERS THE GREATNESS OF AMERICA

Maloney, Stuart AuthorHouse (236 pp.) $17.09 paperback | Oct. 24, 2011 978-1467007887 An engaging memoir from a man who has lived 26 years with cerebral palsy.

Maloney was born dead after a complicated delivery. He started breathing 26 minutes later, just as doctors were about to give up their resuscitation efforts. After 18 months, he was diagnosed with cerebral palsy and given 16 years to live. His memoir describes his first 26 years of life through a series of historical vignettes, anecdotes, tributes to friends and family and diatribes against a series of apparently incompetent health-care professionals in and around his home of Peterborough, England. He writes frankly about his condition and how it has affected virtually every aspect of his life: his early school years, his friendships and encounters with bullies and other ignorant people, his sex life. He emerges as a likable, funny, angry, happy, mature, successful young man who just happens to have mild cerebral palsy. And a seizure disorder resulting from a bout of whooping cough. And renal vasculitis resulting from sheer bad luck. Maloney never descends into self-pity, preferring instead to highlight the “benefits” of his brand of cerebral palsy (his shaky fingers enhance the pleasure of his lady friends, and police sympathy for his “disability” has saved him from at least one speeding ticket). He saves his anger for those who stereotype people with cerebral palsy as drooling, spastic wheelchair-riders who lack intrinsic value. He relates his almost accidental lawsuit against the National Health Service that eventually brought him a 1 million pound settlement that enables him to live on his own. Maloney remains resilient, strong and hopeful. “I found my life policy when I died at birth,” he writes, “and every day I try to live my life in accordance with words that I wrote and had tattooed on me so I don’t forget them: Forever my spirit breathes from within/Never will it leave or give in.” Readers will know he’s going to keep on striving.

The book tells the story of a young man’s life in a way that will make readers almost forget his cerebral palsy— but they’ll want to remember.

2466

|

1 january 2012

|

kirkus indie

|

Morris, Dick & McGann, Eileen & Liotta, Clayton CreateSpace (44 pp.) $9.99 paperback | Oct. 19, 2011 978-1439280263

A missing tennis ball leads to a lesson in American history for golden retriever Dubs in this children’s book by Morris, McGann and Liotta.

When Dubs discovers that his prized tennis ball has rolled away, he sets off on a mission to find it. The journey takes him throughout Washington, D.C., from the Lincoln Memorial to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and to just about every point-of-interest in between. At each stop, before resuming the search for his tennis ball, Dubs reflects on the meaning or purpose of the site and how it personally affects him. While gazing up at the columns of the U.S. Supreme Court building, Dubs considers how “[i]f another dog took away my ball / the court would get it / back for me after all.” At the Thomas Jefferson Memorial, Dubs thinks, “If people are equal, can it possibly be / That dogs are too,…especially me?” By having Dubs not just recite what each site is and its role in American history but also briefly explain how the buildings or the actions of the people being memorialized personally affect him, the authors make it easier for children to relate to the imposing federal buildings and monuments. The rhyming scheme, though at times a bit clunky (“Dubs stopped by to visit the White House / To see the president and his lovely spouse”) keep the tone light, as does the missing tennis ball. Young readers will have fun searching for the bright yellow ball—always just out of Dubs’ sight—in each of the illustrations. The illustrations, by Liotta, both capture the playful side of Dubs and, at times, the solemnity of the monuments he visits. Each drawn from a different angle, they invite readers in for a closer look. At the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial, for example, Dubs hides beneath the folds of FDR’s cape, growling at Fala, the president’s Scottish terrier, who is also memorialized. At the World War II memorial, with his back to us, Dubs sits peacefully, surrounded by green memorial wreaths. The illustrations, coupled with the breadth of sites that Dubs visits, (15 in all), will keep readers interested while they learn about history and help Dubs find his tennis ball.

A fun adventure that introduces young children to American history.

kirkusreviews.com

|

“The plethora of lives that interweave in Milford-Haven is dizzying at first, but in true serial form, they slowly collide, enticing the onlooker.” from what the heart knows

RAISING ABEL

WHAT THE HEART KNOWS A Milford-Haven Novel

Nash, Carolyn CreateSpace (332 pp.) $15.99 paperback | $3.99 e-book Nov. 5, 2011 978-1466499263 A woman of remarkable resourcefulness single-handedly raises a troubled child all the way to manhood in this intimate and inspiring blog-to-book memoir.

At 38, Carolyn Nash had a good job, no apparent struggles and few conscious regrets—save, perhaps, her weight and her childlessness. She remedies the latter by fostering and then adopting 3-year-old Abel, a victim of unspeakable parental abuse, most of it sexual. The consequences are predictable and agonizing. Abel is charmingly innocent yet uncontrollably violent, and as he grows, so do his PTSD symptoms. He refuses to bathe, he fails in school. Thrown toys become thrown punches, then smashed windshields. Psychiatrists are consulted, police called. Special education, home-schooling, hospitalizations, meds—all resources are tried and exhausted. Yet Nash remains indefatigable, wrestling with her son (literally) and with her inner demons and repressed memories, haltingly revealed in sessions with her therapist. Through the lens of Abel’s trauma, Nash peers into her own nightmares—she too feels deformed and unlovable—and learns their sick source. The book is structured almost entirely in short, dramatic episodes, a technique Nash uses skillfully, though the dialogue at times grows repetitive and similar scenes tend to pile up. A bit of condensing and narrative summarizing would have propelled events more quickly and provided perspective on this 18-year saga. And although Nash faithfully records Abel’s words and behavior, for much of the book he remains a cipher. Only late in the story, when the troubled teen turns violently on Nash herself, do we get a penetrating glimpse into Abel’s beating heart, where his triggers, his alienation and his lifelong struggle come into searing focus. Here Nash gives us Abel in full, and we see with our own eyes how the measure of this young man is also the measure of the woman who raised him—with pure, dogged, unrelenting, overwhelming, at times selfish, often desperate, boundless, evergreen love. This was her treatment and her cure. We know it by its common term—mothering.

A sobering but uplifting tale of love that never gives up; dramatically told, ultimately rewarding.

Purl, Mara Bellekeep (266 pp.) $22.95 | $15.99 e-book | Oct. 10, 2011 978-1936878017 Former Days of Our Lives actress Purl imbues her soap opera finesse into the fictional setting of Milford-Haven, a sleepy California coastal town where a cast of characters balance matters of the head and heart.

It’s the mid-1990s, and nature artist Miranda Jones has left the urban hustle of San Francisco for the quaint allure of Milford-Haven, a town that seduces passersby with its homey aromas wafting from Sally’s Restaurant, and where lighthouses and seashells afford its denizens a quiet serenity. Miranda’s inspiration is her paintbrush, and the town’s seascape is her muse. Sally O’Mally is an Arkansas transplant with a nose in everyone’s business, especially Samantha Hugo’s, the ex-wife of her boyfriend, Jack Sawyer. News reporter Christine Christian goes missing after a secret source leads her to a mansion under construction, and her oil mogul boyfriend, Joseph Calvin, the senior partner of Calvin Oil, is worried. In nearby Santa Barbara, Miranda’s opportunistic manager, Zelda McIntyre, also sets her sights on the eldest Calvin, while Joseph’s son, Zackery, is smitten with the mysterious Miranda. The plethora of lives that interweave in Milford-Haven is dizzying at first, but in true serial form, they slowly collide, enticing the onlooker. Simmering just below the gossip that pervades the resident’s lives are heavy-hitting issues, including Samantha’s deeply held familial secret, as well as her professional commitment to protect the environment from new construction stemming from Jack’s building company. This may be Apple Pie, USA, but hearts are on the line, professions are at stake and a possible murder has tainted the landscape. Ending each plot line in a cliffhanger, Purl closes the saga with a peek at the next installment in the Milford-Haven series.

A whirlwind of juicy drama with dangling-carrot closure.

THE RACING HEART

Roosevelt, Ava Springwood SA (306 pp.) $11.99 paperback | Nov. 1, 2011 978-1466319769 The stakes are high for a young supermodel as she tries to foil a terrorist plot in this high-speed, passionate romance novel.

The 24 Hours of Le Mans, the pinnacle of automotive racing, serves as the backdrop for Roosevelt’s debut novel. Stir in a Middle East terrorist plot to take out the president of the United States, a few torrid one-night stands and one love story, and there is enough to keep the reader turning the pages. The reluctant heroine is supermodel Tygre Topolska. Tygre’s previous—and unfortunate—liaison with the wealthy Saudi owner of Karim Racing

|

kirkusreviews.com

|

kirkus indie

|

1 january 2012

|

2467

k i r ku s q & a w i t h m e l n i c o l a i The third self-published release from Central California resident Mel Nicolai, The Shake—an appealingly unique fusion of noir-nuanced mystery and vampire fiction featuring a deeply philosophical bloodsucking antihero—was recently named one of Kirkus Reviews’ Best of Indie 2011. Here, Nicolai talks to us about the inspiration behind writing an unconventional vampire novel and the future of publishing.

Q: What was the initial inspiration behind writing The Shake?

THE SHAKE

Nicolai, Mel CreateSpace (248 pp.) $12.95 paperback $2.99 e-book September 27, 2010 978-1453748831

A: I liked the idea of a humanlike creature that is stronger, faster, lives longer and so on than humans, but also must somehow integrate itself into human society. Not just to live but to accomplish what we all want to accomplish—to live well. I figured I was taking a chance mixing genres, but since the good life tends to be rather mysteriously elusive, I thought that a more or less conventional mystery was a natural vehicle for such a character. Next thing I knew, I was writing The Shake.

Q: Were there any particular vampire-powered novels or movies that influenced you when you were growing up?

K I R K US M E DI A L L C # K I R K US M E DI A L L C President M A RC W I# NKELMA N President SVP, Finance M A RC WEISNH KU EL LL MAN JA M SVP,Marketing Finance SVP, J AIM LY L M KE E SHH EU JN SVP, Marketing SVP, Online M ILK H EO HFEFJM NA YN PAU

A: I’m really not a vampire aficionado. I’ve seen, I think, a total of five vampire films: Innocent Blood (amusing), Interview with the Vampire (well-acted, but a little thin, conceptually) and the Blade trilogy (number one was entertaining, two and three weren’t). As for books, I’ve read Christopher Moore’s You Suck.

And about 20 years ago, I managed to make my way through a third of Anne Rice’s Interview with the Vampire. But that doesn’t mean I’m not intrigued by the concept of a vampire. It’s just that other people’s ideas of how the concept should be played out in fiction haven’t always tickled my fancy.

Q: And that’s a big part of the appeal of your novel—so much of the new vampire-powered releases on the shelves are fundamentally unoriginal. The Shake was a breath of fresh air. Aside from this unique narrative take on the vampire mythos, why do you think The Shake has resonated so powerfully with readers?

POSTMASTER: POSTMASTER: Send Send address address changes changes to to Kirkus Kirkus Reviews, Reviews, PO PO Box Box 3601, 3601, Northbrook, Northbrook, IL IL 60065-3601.

60065-3601.

Periodicals Periodicals Postage Postage Paid Paid at at Austin, Austin, TX TX 78710 78710 and and at at additional additional mailing mailing offices. offices.

Q: Shake was a brilliantly complex and contradictory protagonist. How much of Shake is Mel Nicolai?

2468

|

A: For some readers, at least, the Shake character is compelling. The force of his personality seems to drive the novel for them. And the nonvampire characters are fairly colorful, too. Also, I think it’s a pretty good mystery novel. I hope the fact that The Shake isn’t formulaic genre fiction has provided readers with some enjoyable surprises.

A: I’m not sure how to answer that. From the standpoint of diet, we have very little in common.

1 january 2012

|

kirkus indie

|

A: I’m pleased that you describe it as an “undercurrent.” I wanted the “existential” concerns to be unmistakable, but not to overpower the story. I was trying to hit a balance that was both entertaining and thought provoking. A vampire character offers a writer something that a human character cannot easily offer—a character who is “rational” in every sense that people are rational, but who exists outside of the parameters of human moral judgment and obligation. Shake is a kind of monster, but a rational one, ensnared in many of the same dilemmas that make human life so interesting.

Q: Any chance of your fans reading a sequel any time soon?

A: I’m working on a sequel, but it may not be finished anytime soon.

Q: With the advent of e-readers and online publishing, the last few years have seen nothing short of a revolution in the publishing industry. As an author of three self-published books, what do you think the landscape of publishing is going to look like, say, a decade from now?

A: It would be nice to be able to answer that question.

I have a kind of tempered optimism about future possibilities. The advent of digital publishing technologies is forcing the traditional publishing houses to evolve, but the effects those changes will have on writers is likely to be a mixed blessing. It has always been difficult for writers to negotiate the demands of the publishing industry. Technologies like POD publishing, though very welcome, are not magic solutions. Second-guessing a publishing company isn’t necessarily any more difficult than second-guessing a search engine algorithm, or maintaining your position inside the public spotlight of viral-driven media buzz. Good writing and effective selfmarketing don’t necessarily pull from the same skill sets.

Q: What would your advice be to an aspiring writer looking to publish a novel?

A: There isn’t one path to publishing that’s right for everyone. Exciting new possibilities have and will continue to open up. Along with these new venues, there will also be all kinds of new ways for a writer to shoot himself in the foot. My advice: write well. There will never be a substitute for good writing. And break a few rules. After all, the rules became rules by breaking their predecessors.

–By Paul Goat Allen

kirkusreviews.com

|

P HOTO C O URT E SY OF T H E AU T HO R

SVP,# Online PAU L H2011 O F by F MKirkus AN Copyright Media LLC. #KIRKUS REVIEWS (ISSN 0042 Copyright 2011 by Kirkus 6598) is published semiMedia LLC. KIRKUS monthly

by Kirkus Media REVIEWS (ISSN 0042 LLC, 6411 Burleson Road, 6598) is published semiAustin, TX 78744. monthly

by Kirkus Subscription pricesMedia are: LLC,Digital 6411 Burleson & PrintRoad, Austin, TX 78744.

Subscription (U.S.) Subscription prices are - 13 Months ($199.00) $169 for professionals Digital & Print ($199 International) and $129 Subscription (International) ($169 International) for - 13 Months ($229.00) individual consumers (home Digital Only Subscription address required).

Single - 13 Months ($169.00) copy:Single $25.00.

All$25.00. other rates copy: onrates request.

All other on request.

Q: Philosophical references abound in this novel—Jorge Luis Borges, Chuang-tzu, Homero Aridjis, Robert Aitken, etc.—can you explain the significance of the powerful existential undercurrent in the book?

“The conflicts between homeopathy and traditional medicine, marriage and celibacy and the eternal struggle for power among the male Separatists are all interwoven in the finely drawn murder mystery.” from cover her body

places her in a unique position to help the FBI prevent an attack on some very high-value targets. But the price she pays is staggering. The novel is peppered with rich, powerful, abusive men who helped determine the course of Tygre’s rise to fame, leading up to the über-villains, epitomized by the pill-popping Khalil Karim and his pathologically malevolent assistant, Malik Youssaf. Flashbacks reveal the personal journey of a romantic, high-spirited teenage girl from Poland who, as a young woman, must find her way back to her core set of values—a task made more difficult while living amid the excitement and glamour of a world filled with private planes, exotic homes and access to the nation’s center of political and economic power. The prose lacks elegance, and the dialogue is a bit thin. Deeper character portrayals would have made the story more engaging. However, the narrative progresses quickly, comfortably vacillating between present and past. The behind-the-scenes details and dangers of Le Mans racing ring true and function well as a compelling foil for the simultaneous life and death drama being taking place off the racecourse.

Perfect as a light beach read or a pleasant escape on a cold winter night by the fire.

COVER HER BODY A Singular Village Mystery Sullivan, Eleanor Yesteryear Press (312 pp.) $14.99 paperback | Oct. 1, 2011 978-1936214556

A Separatist healer is determined to identify a killer, even if it places her under suspicion for incompetence—or even murder—in Sullivan’s (Deadly Diversion, 2009, etc.) historical mystery.

In the strict religious community of Zoar, Ohio, healer and midwife Adelaide Bechtmann is already flirting with disapproval when she goes to her favorite riverside spot to meditate. Instead of finding peace, she discovers the body of 16-year-old Johanna Appelgate floating in the river. When she pulls Johanna out of the water, Adelaide knows the young woman couldn’t have drowned, due to the absence of water in her lungs. The Separatists are all too willing to dismiss Johanna’s death as a tragic accident, so Adelaide’s attempts to find her killer ignite controversy in the closed community. Even her beloved husband, Benjamin, fearing the loss of their comfortable life, refuses to support his wife’s investigation. Adelaide’s knowledge that the young woman was pregnant complicates the situation, and she’s anxious that the “remedy” she prescribed may have contributed to Johanna’s demise. Adelaide struggles to preserve the reputation of the deceased girl, even as her own deteriorates, and she can’t help but remember her husband’s closeness to Johanna. The conflicts between homeopathy and traditional medicine, marriage and celibacy and the eternal struggle for power among the male Separatists are all interwoven in the finely drawn murder mystery. Award-winning Sullivan brings the Zoar community to life, imbuing both real and fictional characters with laudable qualities as well as flaws, although antagonists Simon, Martin and Gerda are unrelentingly |

unsympathetic. While enough background information on the Separatists is provided to prevent reader confusion, Sullivan is a little stingy with her backstory, hinting at Adelaide’s prior tragic error without ever fully explaining it. Sullivan’s otherwise expertly crafted, perfectly paced novel suffers from comparatively underdeveloped relationships between Adelaide and those presumably closest to her—her husband Benjamin and sister Nellie.

Winning first installment in a planned series, sure to be loved by fans of both mysteries and historical fiction.

CROSSING MEDEA My Fight to Remain a Dad Wiederholt, Clair CreateSpace (244 pp.) $14.99 paperback | $9.99 e-book Aug. 31, 2011 978-1461198314

The author’s custody battle highlights the oppression of divorced fathers in this rancorous memoir.

Wesley Weiss, hero of this slightly fictionalized account of the author’s hideous mid-1980s divorce and its aftermath, finds himself in a war for the hearts and presence of his three young daughters. His adversary is his ex, “Dea,” whose vengefulness approaches that of her mythic namesake. The main front is Dea’s efforts to curtail Wes’ access to their kids through tactics manifold and devious—sudden changes in visitation schedules, frosty hand-overs that make every outing between father and daughters feel like a prisoner exchange at the Berlin Wall, the cutting off of phone and mail contact, false charges of child abuse over a skinned knee. Every detail of Wes’ paternal doings is governed by fraught (and often eye-glazing) negotiations and judicial proceedings supervised by expensive lawyers and court-appointed therapists. Worst of all is the “parental alienation” caused by Dea’s poisoning of the kids’ feelings toward Wes; every estranged dad will feel a pang of recognition at his awkward relationship with his once-loving daughters, who grow so sullen, aloof and militantly resistant to his overtures that bystanders mistake him for a predator stalking them. The author, a psychology professor and fathers’-rights activist, hangs on this narrative a lengthy indictment of Wisconsin divorce law and society’s disparagement of the male parental role. (In a subplot, Wes launches a second custody battle when he is misled by a married woman’s promises into begetting a son.) There’s a palpable bitterness at what Wiederholt perceives as female deceit and manipulation, feminism’s double standards and bias in the legal system. Wes resents wives who expect husbands to support them financially and girlfriends who want boyfriends to pay for dates; he takes to filing spiteful nuisance motions and gloats when a judge dies of cancer. The reader senses that there may be another side to the story that isn’t coming through. Still, Wiederholt crafts a moving evocation of a divorced father’s feelings of anguish and ostracism.

A vivid, if one-sided, saga of familial disaffection and twisted justice.

kirkusreviews.com

|

kirkus indie

|

1 january 2012

|

2469