This unabashed collection joins Sidman’s (Eureka!, not reviewed, etc.) verse with new-to-children’s-books Mindell’s photographs and essays from teens to celebrate the wonders of all things canine. Divided into thematic chapters under the headings “Awakening,” “Tag,” “Understanding,” and “Happiness,” the writings explore the relationship between dog and human and seek to plumb the depths of doggy psychology: “Watching you / greet strangers / is like watching a diver / spring off the board / humbly and with grace / trusting the blue air / and the depths / of love.” For the most part, the verse avoids the trap of mawkish sentiment, treating with humor such canine epiphanies as a roll in a skunk, and moving at times into inspiration, as with “Dog and Squirrel: Steps in a Flirtation,” and the comparison of human to dog “Noses”: “Mine / is an afterthought, / a molehill, / a period between two sentences of eyes. / Yours / is the main event: / a long, elegant, / labyrinthine / echo chamber of smell.” The teen offerings do not fair quite so well, often and unsurprisingly showing a beginner’s tendency to use stilted syntax and unnecessary three-dollar words. They nevertheless are clearly written from the heart (and are frequently accompanied by photos of their beloved subjects) and can serve to inspire teen readers to try their own hands. The professional photographs frequently display an annoying tendency toward artistic blurriness, but by and large suit the worshipful mood of the volume. As a whole, dog lovers will likely lap it up eagerly, budding writers will snuffle it with interest, and teens who combine the two tendencies might even roll ecstatically. (Poetry/essays. 12+)
Pub Date: March 24, 2003
ISBN: 0-618-17497-4
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2003
A well-loved author brings together, on a Maine vacation, characters from two of her books. Peter's parents have assured him that though Sheila ("The Great") Tubman and her family will be nearby, they'll have their own house; but instead, they find a shared arrangement in which the two families become thoroughly intertwined—which suits everyone but the curmudgeonly Peter. Irrepressible little brother Fudge, now five, is planning to marry Sheila, who agrees to babysit with Peter's toddler sister; there's a romance between the grandparents in the two families; and the wholesome good fun, including a neighborhood baseball game featuring an aging celebrity player, seems more important than Sheila and Peter's halfhearted vendetta. The story's a bit tame (no controversies here), but often amusingly true to life and with enough comic episodes to satisfy fans.
Pub Date: Jan. 1, 1990
ISBN: 0-525-44672-9
Page Count: -
Publisher: Dutton
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2000
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Troubled teen meets totemic catalyst in Mikaelsen’s (Petey, 1998, etc.) earnest tribute to Native American spirituality. Fifteen-year-old Cole is cocky, embittered, and eaten up by anger at his abusive parents. After repeated skirmishes with the law, he finally faces jail time when he viciously beats a classmate. Cole’s parole officer offers him an alternative—Circle Justice, an innovative justice program based on Native traditions. Sentenced to a year on an uninhabited Arctic island under the supervision of Edwin, a Tlingit elder, Cole provokes an attack from a titanic white “Spirit Bear” while attempting escape. Although permanently crippled by the near-death experience, he is somehow allowed yet another stint on the island. Through Edwin’s patient tutoring, Cole gradually masters his rage, but realizes that he needs to help his former victims to complete his own healing. Mikaelsen paints a realistic portrait of an unlikable young punk, and if Cole’s turnaround is dramatic, it is also convincingly painful and slow. Alas, the rest of the characters are cardboard caricatures: the brutal, drunk father, the compassionate, perceptive parole officer, and the stoic and cryptic Native mentor. Much of the plot stretches credulity, from Cole’s survival to his repeated chances at rehabilitation to his victim being permitted to share his exile. Nonetheless, teens drawn by the brutality of Cole’s adventures, and piqued by Mikaelsen’s rather muscular mysticism, might absorb valuable lessons on anger management and personal responsibility. As melodramatic and well-meaning as the teens it targets. (Fiction. YA)
Pub Date: Feb. 28, 2001
ISBN: 0-380-97744-3
Page Count: 256
Publisher: HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2001
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