Web Exclusive Children's Book Reviews: 11/30/2009

-- Publishers Weekly, 11/30/2009 12:26:00 PM

 Tollins: Explosive Tales for Children
Conn Iggulden, illus. by Lizzy Duncan. Harper, $16.99 (176p) ISBN 978-0-06-173098-6
A deliciously subversive vein runs through this story collection—not surprising coming from the coauthor of The Dangerous Book for Boys. The protagonist, Sparkler, is a tiny winged creature called a “tollin,” which should not be confused with a fairy (“Tollins regard fairies as fluttery show-offs and occasionally use them to wipe out the insides of cups”). Indeed, fairies are a running joke in all three stories in this collection, in which Sparkler’s scientific curiosity shakes up stagnant tollin culture. In one tale, Sparkler’s ingenuity saves the tollins from being used in fireworks for their combustible “tollin dust.” In another, he introduces human medicine, “a sensitive subject. Grunion’s father had cured his son’s athlete’s foot by removing the foot. Grunion senior had also recommended it as a cure for ingrown toenails, tennis elbow and dandruff.” Iggulden’s flair for the ironic and absurd, which recalls Lemony Snicket, should tickle both kids and adults, who will pick up some basic science concepts, such as how hot air balloons and pumps work. Debuting illustrator Duncan is no lesser a comic talent, composing funny scenes using a seamless blend of illustration and photography. All ages. (Oct.) 

Over in the Hollow
Rebecca Dickinson, illus. by Stephan Britt. Chronicle, $15.99 (36p) ISBN 978-0-8118-5035-3
Dickinson (The 13 Nights of Halloween) reprises an earlier theme, recasting “Over in the Meadow” with enough ghoulish creatures to satisfy even the most diehard Halloween fans. Britt, a commercial artist turned illustrator, contributes retro spreads that cross Golden Books with zombie art; he excels in particular at conveying relationships between characters with animated facial expressions. Sixties typography and matte pages carry the nostalgia still further. Dickinson doesn’t have to stretch too far to come up with variants on the song; her rhymes are sturdy and appealing: “Over in the hollow/ in a coffin on the floor,/ live a pale grandpa vampire/ and his little vampires four. ‘Bite!’ groans the grandpa./ ‘We bite!’ groan the four....” Britt smuggles in several jokes, placing a sunscreen called Bonetone (SPF 500) on the grandpa vampire’s nightstand and a “Visit Transylvania” poster on the wall of their cellar. The Frankensteins stomp, the werewolves howl, and the skeletons boogie with an 11-piece band. Thirteen verses might even be a little too much Halloween—but it’s only once a year. Ages 3–7. (Oct.)

By the Light of the Harvest Moon
Harriet Ziefert, illus. by Mark Jones. Blue Apple (Chronicle, dist.), $16.99 (40p) ISBN 978-1-934706-69-5
After their winter-themed Snow Party, Ziefert and Jones return to fete the joys of autumn. The story’s backdrop is Apple Hill Farm, where a wind comes up and “orange, yellow, and crimson leaves swirl and twirl and dance in the sky” until they coalesce into pumpkin-headed “leaf people.” During the rambunctious harvest party that ensues, these cheery humanoids introduce young readers to autumn traditions like bobbing for apples, pumpkin stacking and stringing popcorn necklaces, while a leafy grandma succinctly explains the autumnal equinox: “The hours of daylight and darkness are equal and fall begins. Fruits, vegetables, and grains are harvested, leaves turn the color of jewels.” Luminous pastels capture the vivid colors of the season, from New England–bright foliage to atmospheric details like a cow’s profile softly outlined by harvest moon glow. Eventually the partiers are swept away when “the wind awakens from its slumber and delivers gusty blasts of air.” But thanks to Ziefert’s apple-crisp descriptions and the high energy of Jones’s jubilant creatures, readers may be tempted outside to make some autumn magic of their own. Ages 3–7. (Sept.) 

Bear-ly There
Rebekah Raye. Tilbury House, $16.95 (32p) ISBN 978-0-88448-314-4
When a black bear ventures out of the woods and tears apart Charlie’s family’s storage shed to get to the birdseed inside, Charlie and his parents have to figure out how to get the bear back where he belongs. Both in text and art, Raye (The Very Best Bed) offers a realistic portrayal of the ursine protagonist (“His big claws dug deeper to find a few buried acorns and some tasty plant roots”), though her human characters and some of the other featured animals don’t fare as well. While most of the images of the bear are detailed and true-to-life, Charlie and his family look rough and unfinished by comparison, and even the most active scenes have a static quality. The story itself is straightforward (the family eventually drives the bear away by clanging pots and pans and using an air horn); a list of precautions for keeping bears in the woods (“Clean your barbecue grill right after using it”) is awkwardly sandwiched in the middle of the story in the form of a poster Charlie creates. Ages 6–10. (Oct.) 

Leaving the Bellweathers
Kristin Clark Venuti. Egmont USA, $15.99 (256p) ISBN 978-1-60684-006-1
This amusing if flawed debut vacillates between third-person narrative and the journal entries of Tristan Benway, whose great-great-great-grandfather “pledged the loyalty and service of his descendants for the next two hundred years” to the insufferable Bellweather family. As Benway endures the final days of his contractual servitude, he comforts himself with his plans for liberation, which include moving to a place “Far, Far Away,” and publishing a tell-all book about the family. In somewhat tedious and repetitive fashion, Benway recounts the difficulties of running the Bellweathers’ household, especially the horror of keeping tabs on the five Bellweather children: Spider (“a lover of endangered animals... but only the sort who have the ability to poison, maim, or kill people”), budding radical Ninda, and troublemaking triplets Spike, Brick, and Sassy. Venuti has created a unique setting (the Bellweathers live in a lighthouse in the village of Eel-Smack-by-the Bay); some may find it difficult to relate to an unsympathetic, albeit well-drawn, cast of characters, but those who like humor with a slightly misanthropic bent should be entertained. Ages 8–12. (Sept.)

Taken
Norah McClintock. Orca, $12.95 paper (176p) ISBN 978-1-55469-152-4
Just a few pages into McClintock’s (Dooley Takes the Fall) fast-moving thriller, teenage narrator Stephanie becomes the third girl in two months to be abducted near her rural town, as she crosses through a vacant field. Awakening in a deserted cabin, Stephanie is both terrified and level-headed, managing to free herself and venture into the forest (“They say that when you’re lost in the woods and don’t know where you are, the smartest thing you can do is to stay put.... But staying put wouldn’t help me”). Luckily, Stephanie has a wealth of survivalist information at the ready—her “hermit” grandfather taught her everything from “how to use the sun as a compass” to how to find food (such as grubs and the inner bark of birch trees). While Stephanie’s preexisting wilderness knowledge feels convenient, it doesn’t detract from her emotional turmoil nor does it guarantee an easy escape. McClintock’s dialogue feels genuine, though readers spend the majority of the novel in Stephanie’s head, as she uses clear thinking and a substantial reserve of inner strength to find her way home. Ages 12–up. (Oct.) 

Confessions of a First Daughter
Cassidy Calloway. HarperTeen, $8.99 paper (224p) ISBN 978-0-06-172439-8
Being a member of the first family isn’t all glitz and glamour for high-school senior Morgan Abbott, daughter of the first woman president of the United States. In this humorous account of her woes and public humiliations, Morgan loses a class election to her nemesis, “Practically Perfect Brittany Whittaker” (“Leave it to me to snatch defeat out of the jaws of victory”) and gets assigned a new secret service agent after Morgan and her boyfriend sneak off to make out. While Morgan is wallowing in misery, she gets a chance to reclaim self-respect and simultaneously do something good for her country. All she has to do is successfully play the role of her lookalike mother while the president sneaks off to attend an important secret meeting in Africa. The improbability of the successful masquerade runs high, but Morgan emerges as a sympathetic, somewhat klutzy character readers will embrace. Her romantic encounter with her secret-service replacement is likely to make hearts flutter, and the fall of her number one enemy evokes a sense of justice being served. Ages 12–up. (Sept.) 

Rosie and Skate
Beth Ann Bauman. Random/Lamb, $15.99 (224p) ISBN 978-0-385-73735-7
This is a quiet novel, though the lives of Bauman’s narrators, two sisters, are anything but. Rosie, 15, and her 16-year-old sister, Skate, are temporary orphans, their alcoholic father having just landed himself in jail for several months after stealing money to buy booze. Rosie attends meetings for children of alcoholics and yearns for her father to shape up, while Skate retreats from the pain of abandonment by jumping from place to place, crashing wherever she can. With dad gone, both girls live rather nomadic lifestyles, taking love wherever they can get it, sometimes through sex—encounters that leave them lost more than anything. Eventually, the girls begin to reestablish roots with each other and those who truly care for them, but the abrupt ending leaves several threads unresolved. The Jersey shore boardwalk setting also feels like a missed opportunity—while the characters quickly become intriguing and three-dimensional, the boardwalk and all it offers are underdeveloped. There are heartening, thoughtful moments along the way, but at times, Bauman’s (Beautiful Girls) novel feels more like a series of loosely connected narrative sketches. Ages 12–up. (Sept.)

The Other Girl
Sarah Miller. St Martin’s Griffin, $16.99 (304p) ISBN 978-0-312-33415-4
Miller picks up where she left off with Inside the Mind of Gideon Rayburn, as Molly continues to be able to see the world—and hear the thoughts—of Gideon, her boyfriend at Midvale Prep boarding school. This allows her to know how to keep him happy (like which underwear to don when he sneaks into her room). But there are disadvantages, too, and when he conjures up a sexy image of school hottie Pilar at an inopportune moment, Molly decides she must break up with him. But then she finds herself in someone else’s head: Pilar’s. Readers will again find Molly’s Midvale world full of bawdy talk, pot smoking, and naughty pranks, but they will appreciate the smart insights, too. As Pilar and Gideon start a relationship—and Molly bounces from her head to his—she learns that being the girl every boy dreams of has some serious disadvantages, and that she needs to stop trying to “make myself into whatever Gid was going to like.” Some plotting is a bit farfetched, but mostly this is fun fare—and deeper than a typical prep school series. Ages 14–17. (Sept.) 

Panama
Shelby Hiatt. Houghton Mifflin, $16 (256p) ISBN 978-0-547-19600-8
At 15, the unnamed narrator of Hiatt’s first novel hungers for a dramatic change from her dull existence in Dayton, Ohio, early in the 20th century. Inspired by her neighbors—the Wright brothers—she declares, “I am resolved above all else to be less sensible.” When her father is offered a job with the Canal Commission during the dredging of the Panama Canal, she believes her moment has arrived (“The fantasy is out there. I’ll find it”). Searching for adventure beyond the Zone (a replica of an American town), she goes on night hikes with a policeman and later meets Federico, an enchanting Spanish worker, with whom she begins a passionate affair (years have passed by this point, and she’s now 17). He teaches her about corruption in Madrid, she brings him books that they discuss, and their romance soon turns steamy. The question of whether their relationship—and the canal—will be able to withstand forces of nature that range from illness to floods makes for gripping reading. Hiatt’s writing is understated yet seductive in this alluring coming-of-age story. Ages 14–up. (Sept.) 

Devoured
Amanda Marrone. Simon Pulse, $9.99 paper (304p) ISBN 978-1-4169-7890-9
Finding inspiration in classic fairy tales, Marrone (Revealers) crafts a creepy and thoroughly captivating story of love and jealousy. Megan takes a summer job at Land of Enchantment, the local fairy tale–themed amusement park, to keep an eye on her boyfriend. Playing Snow White isn’t bad, despite the weird and excessively cheery family that runs the park. In fact, it could almost be a normal teenage summer for Megan, including being attracted to hunky artist Luke, except for the fact that she has been haunted by the ghost of her dead twin, Remy, for the past 10 years. Remy is upset by Megan’s working at the park, and she starts warning Megan of bad things to come, showing her horrifying visions, and even talking to Luke (“It’s no big deal really. I’m kind of a ghost magnet—runs in the family,” he says). Marrone takes the typically complicated geometry of young love (interconnected crushes and professions of love abound) and follows the threads through an eerie mystery that readers should gobble up even while it gives them shivers. Ages 14–up. (Sept.)