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MIDDLE SCHOOL
FICTION
her talent, and God. The text is a mix of
traditional fiction and bolded cyberspeak; the
latter is used to represent on-line chats. A “Net
Acronyms” list at the beginning of the book
defines terms the girls use during their chats.
Each book in the series is about a different girl
and, though each book stands alone, it’s helpful
to know the characters as they’re shown in
Portrait of Lies. Readers will find the final
spread, providing background details (age,
screen name, interests) and photos of each girl,
a plus. The book concludes with an afterword
about Internet safety and wise use of chat rooms,
complete with scripture references. A great
addition to series book sections and a welcome
alternative to popular “cyber-related” series
such as Cyber.Kdz, Danger.com, and Internet
detectives.
Lisa Wroble, Freelance Writer/Library Aide, Plymouth, Michigan
★
Promise breaker, by Robert Elmer.
(Promise of Zion; 1.) LCCN 99051014.
Minneapolis: Bethany House, 2000. ISBN
0764222961, PAP, $5.99.
F. Refugees, Jewish--Fiction; Palestine--History--
1917-1948--Fiction. 171 p.
Peace rebel, by Robert Elmer. (Promise of
Zion; 2.) LCCN 99051015. Minneapolis:
Bethany House, 2000. ISBN 76422297X,
PAP, $5.99.
F. Palestine--History--1917-1948--FictionJews--
Palestine--Fiction. 158 p.
Middle school (Elementary).
Following the lives of two very different
thirteen-year-olds, Promise Breaker sets the
stage for the series by giving the reader a
glimpse of them in 1940, at age five. Dov
Zalinski, a Polish Jew, is being left at an
orphanage by his mother. Emily Parkinson, the
pampered only child of a British officer, moves
to Israel that same year. Seven years after the
close of World War II, Dov begins looking for
his family. Uri, a member of the Jewish
Mossad, helps Dov board a boat bound for
Israel. Dov and Emily cross paths when the boat
is boarded by British officials. Emily has
accompanied her father to help translate. When
a riot begins, Emily and Dov fall overboard.
Emily saves Dov’s life by helping him ashore.
Peace Rebel picks up the story immediately
with Emily and Dov reaching the shore.
Grabbed by the Jewish underground and
transported to a Kibbutz, Emily and Dov find
themselves in a place they don’t want to be.
Emily wants to get home to her parents, who
think she is dead. Dov wants to leave the
Kibbutz to try and locate his family in
Jerusalem. When members of the violent
Jewish group, Irgun, discover who Emily is,
they kidnap her. Dov unwittingly discovers the
plot and rescues her before travelling to
Jerusalem.
Author Robert Elmer has written a fast-paced
series that even adults would enjoy reading.
Many difficult vocabulary words are introduced.
The author, however, does a great job of
explaining them or sounding them out through
the character of Dov, who doesn’t speak English
or Hebrew well. At the end of each book, Elmer
explains which parts of the story are true and
which parts are fiction. He also includes a brief
list of books and websites for further research.
This is an exciting series that will get even
reluctant readers reading.
Elizabeth Coleman, Freelance Writer, Tumwater, Washington
Rare and endangered, by John Dowd. (A
Caribbean Island adventure.) LCCN
99086976. Atlanta, Ga.: Peachtree
Publishers, 2000. ISBN 1561452173, PAP,
$5.95.
F. Turks and Caicos Islands--Fiction; Poaching--
Fiction; Hurricanes--Fiction; Drug traffic--Fiction.
170 p. Middle school.
Author John Dowd takes the reader on a
Caribbean adventure with poachers in Rare and
Endangered. He spins the tale of an
environmental and animal preservation research
group on Caicos Island that unearths an illegal
poaching operation.
Fifteen-year-old Jim returns to the research
center, Bottle Creek Station, for the summer,
and soon finds himself and his friend, Julia,
kidnapped by poachers and taken to the
Dominican Republic. With the help of a fellow
researcher, Miles, who’s also been kidnapped,
they gather evidence to expose the operation
while trying to survive during a hurricane.
Eventually they escape their captors and flee to
safety with enough evidence against the
poachers to break-up the operation and send the
culprits to jail.
Although he provides an interesting plot, Dowd
fails to fill the reader in adequately as to the
previous exploits of Jim and Julia from an
earlier book. This leaves the reader wondering
exactly what went on since he references that
book heavily in the initial pages of Rare and
Endangered. His views on the environment and
animal protection are made quite clear as the
book progresses. Dowd also uses profanity in
about a quarter of the dialogue.
Eileen Zygarlicke, Freelance Writer/Editor, Grand Forks, North
Dakota
★
The savage damsel and the dwarf, by
Gerald Morris. LCCN 99016457. Boston:
Houghton Mifflin, 2000. ISBN
0395971268, HBB, $15.00.
F. Gareth (Legendary character)--Fiction; Knights and
knighthood--Fiction; Magic--Fiction; England--
Fiction; Humorous stories. 213 p. Middle school.
The Lady Lynet , the damsel of The Savage
Damsel and the Dwarf, has two problems. The
most pressing difficulty is a knight who has
sworn to besiege their castle, kill all would-be
rescuers, and take possession of Lady and lands.
Lynet’s second problem is that her vainly
beautiful older sister, Lyonesse, is the Lady in
question; and she is rather intrigued with the
whole scenario. Before they find themselves
completely at their attacker’s mercy, Lynet takes
their future into her hands and sneaks out of the
castle, destined for the Court of King Arthur.
But, instead of a knight in shining armor, Lynet
is granted a kitchen knave nicknamed “Pretty
Hands” and a mysterious dwarf called Robert,
whose only weapon is his wry humor. This very
unlikely trio soon finds that none of them are
who they seem, surprising even themselves. As
Lynet leads them home, her disenchantment
with her “heroes” ebbs, flows, and finally takes
its proper course as she learns to see past
appearances and tradition and into the realm of
the heart.
The Savage Damsel and the Dwarf is Gerald
Morris’s third foray into retelling tales from Sir
Thomas Malory’s Le Morte D’Arthur. In the
process, he expands upon Malory’s sketchy
characterizations, providing background and
motivation for the oft strange behavior of the
principals involved in the original story. But the
reader must not expect a tale that echoes
Malory’s High Romance. Rather it is told with
a satirical eye bent upon the conventions of the
Romance and with a distinctly modern,
skeptical attitude. Although this may be jarring
to some aficionados of the genre, it will capture
the attention of readers who have long had no
use for “fairytales,” and provides a humorous
commentary on the exaggerated civilities of
High Romance.
Morris’s characters are sharply drawn and
unfailingly amusing. Turning the tale of a
damsel in distress on its head (The Savage
Damsel..)is not new, but the transformation of
Lynet from a sarcastic (ie. savage), observer of
life into a young woman who chooses obscurity
and service over glory is a welcome innovation.
Unfortunately, a significant factor in this change
is her discovery near the end of the book that she
is an “enchantress.” It is this “otherness” which
inclines her to quiet service rather than showy
fame. Incredible in a story of High Romance,
references to Christ or the things of faith are
glaringly absent.
Pamela A. Todd, Librarian/English Teacher, Chalcedon Christian
School, Cumming, Georgia
The $66 summer, by John Armistead;
illustrated by Fran Gregory. LCCN
99045464. Minneapolis: Milkweed
Editions, 2000. ISBN 1571316256, PAP,
$6.95.
F. Prejudices--Fiction; Friendship--Fiction; Afro-
Americans--Fiction; Race relations--Fiction;
Grandmothers--Fiction. 213 p. Middle school.
John Armistead portrays racism in the 1950’s
South in this novel of relationships. In The $66
Summer, George comes to Obadiah, Alabama,
to work for his grandmother, hoping to earn
enough to buy a used Harley-Davidson
motorcycle. He and friends Esther and Bennett,
children of Elizabeth, Grandmother Tilly’s black
employee, fish, seek to earn extra money to
meet their dreams, and discover evidence that
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