A sensitive and evocative novel from Pelgrom (Little Sophie and Lanky Flop, 1988, etc.), who recounts the story of a young peasant boy growing up in Andalusia immediately following the Spanish Civil War. Santiago—nicknamed Curro—has grown up in nearly unimaginable poverty; he recalls how, at age eight, he often risked being burned alive by the Guardia Civil, the oppressive and ruthless police force, for stealing twigs for a fire to warm the small dirt cave where he and his extended family live (where the scent of the fire mingles with those of wet diapers, the animal's dung, and the family's toilet, a pail). Curro cannot relieve his chronic hunger with watery garlic soup or bellotas, the large acorn nuts he devours. But there is always the abundant love and support of his parents, who find the strength to go on, and whose resourcefulness is passed on to their children. The unflinching narrative follows Curro as he leaves elementary school at an early age to work and eventually up to his first sexual experience. An atmosphere of obscene poverty informs most of the book, but it is the novel's final image, of the boy in his home, brimming with love for his family, that resonates. (glossary) (Fiction. 12-15)
Pub Date: Oct. 31, 1997
ISBN: 0-374-30029-1
Page Count: 211
Publisher: Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1997
A good story with some unexpected twists
After saving the life of a famous model, a 14-year-old Mexican-American boy learns the pressures of popularity and the definition of true heroism.
Dallas freshman Rawly Sánchez knows that life is not perfect. His older brother Jaime is in prison, while his mother’s Mexican restaurant is barely staying afloat. Now, he can’t even visit his brother on Saturdays anymore, or he will miss the required tutoring for the algebra class he is failing. Small bursts of happiness come in the comic books he loves and in hanging out with his nerdy, often-annoying, wisecracking Jewish best friend Nevin Steinberg. Things take a turn for the worse when someone accidentally sets a pig loose in his mom’s restaurant, and the incident makes the local news. Then, Nevin talks Rawly into performing as a duo at the school talent show, where he makes a fool of himself in front of his crush, Miyoko. Everything changes when Rawly misses his bus stop and ends up rescuing 22-year-old model Nikki Demetrius when her car plunges into a river. Instantly, Rawly is on the local and national news, hailed as a hero for saving Nikki’s life. The third-person narration follows Rawley’s journey as he learns who his real friends are and the difference between comic-book and real-world heroes.
A good story with some unexpected twists . (Fiction. 12-15)Pub Date: Oct. 31, 2011
ISBN: 978-1-55885-711-7
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Arte Público
Review Posted Online: Aug. 30, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2011
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A wry sequel to The Silent Treatment (1988): here, summer jobs put high-school seniors Ricky and Nate through a mystery from the past, as well as through some timeless rites of passage. Having to clean toilets and listen to gloomy, sex-obsessed Norman the Foreman seems like a fair exchange for a free stay at Quiver Lake resort, especially with all the college women around; Nate moves into hot (and eventually successful) pursuit of a Berkeley student, but Ricky is more inclined to watch from a distance. Meanwhile, what appear to be new but genuine artifacts of the long-integrated Miwok tribe begin to turn up, and Ricky almost loses his life in a primitive deer trap. Is there still a Miwok alive in the wild? Or, as someone suggests, is it the spirit of a young Miwok who never completed his manhood ritual and is unable to find the Aimah, an anthropomorphic rock formation? Carkeet's characters are portrayed sympathetically but broadly enough to keep the story light. The climax is big and dramatic: Ricky wakes one morning to find that the whole lake has suddenly drained away, exposing not only a field of slick mud but the Aimah, with piles of warm ashes at its crotch and armpits. There's no ghost to be seen, but readers can draw their own conclusions. (Fiction. 12-15)
Pub Date: Oct. 30, 1991
ISBN: 0-06-022453-3
Page Count: 256
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 1991
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