children’s & teen DARK COMPANION
These titles earned the Kirkus Star:
Acosta, Marta Tor (368 pp.) $17.99 | Jul. 3, 2012 978-0-7653-2964-6
TIGER LILY by Jodi Lynn Anderson............................................ p. 1156 TIMELESS THOMAS by Gene Barretta...................................... p. 1157 OUT ON THE PRAIRIE by Donna M. Bateman......................... p. 1158 DAY BY DAY by Susan Gal.......................................................... p. 1163 SERAPHINA by Rachel Hartman.............................................. p. 1164 SMALL DAMAGES by Beth Kephart.......................................... p. 1165 FLYING THE DRAGON by Natalie Dias Lorenzi...................... p. 1167 MONKEY COLORS by Darrin Lunde........................................ p. 1168 SUCH WICKED INTENT by Kenneth Oppel.............................. p. 1169 LIAR & SPY by Rebecca Stead...................................................... p. 1174 JACK AND THE BAKED BEANSTALK by Colin Stimpson....... p. 1174 MOM, IT’S MY FIRST DAY OF KINDERGARTEN! by Hyewon Yum...................................... p. 1179 PETE’S ROBOT by Heartdrive Media........................................ p. 1181
This enjoyable, chick-lit update of undead culture gives vampires and their victims a long-overdue makeover. It’s a breath of fresh air in a genre marked by creaky gender relations and unchallenged class stratification. Smart, ambitious and now aged out of foster care, Jane Williams is thrilled with her free ride to Birch Grove, a prestigious private high school. Her scholarship includes a cottage of her own, courtesy of headmistress Radcliffe and her family. Jane’s streetwise toughness conceals a naive, inexperienced heart that’s soon given to self-centered but gorgeous Lucian Radcliffe. (His musician brother, Jacob, has his own disturbing appeal, but he’s no Lucian.) While Jane recognizes that Lucian harbors his own sinister agenda, she thinks she’s willing to pay the price, which buys other compensations. Despite her lack of pedigree, she’s befriended by upper-crust classmates and encouraged by teachers who recognize her potential. Still, Jane can’t avoid asking troubling questions—she’s no meek Eyre apparent. Any resemblance to Brontë’s governess is purely cosmetic; this Jane’s true peers are the heroines of the historical gothic romances. Quotes from such deathless classics as The Monk and The Castle of Otranto, among others, begin each chapter, making the book something of a survey of the genre all by itself. Acosta’s savvy take on sexist vampire traditions is refreshing even if much of its bracing astringency gets lost in the melodramatic resolution. Young readers won’t mind, and all can look forward to the inevitable sequel. (Paranormal romance. 14 & up)
LOVE, AMALIA
Ada, Alma Flor; Zubizarreta, Gabriel M. Atheneum (125 pp.) $14.99 | Jul. 10, 2012 978-1-4424-2402-9 Ada and Zubizarreta (Dancing Home, 2011) reunite to focus on a young Latina girl coping with loss. Sixth-grader Amalia lives in Chicago with her Mexican-American mother and Puerto Rican father. While making |
kirkusreviews.com
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children ’s
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teen
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1 june 2012
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