Isaac Campion Book

Nací en Hardacre en 1888. En aquel entonces sólo había caballos, las calles no estaban asfaltadas como ahora. Mi padre comerciaba con caballos y se odiaba con el vecino. Pero lo que quiero contarles es lo que ese odio le hizo a mi hermano Daniel en 1901. En ese momento comenzó la historia...

School Library Journal

Gr 7 Up On April 17, 1901, ``our Dan'' died, laughter changing to horror as he slipped and impaled himself on a railing. Dan was only 18 at the time and his brother, Isaac, was 12. Eighty-three years later, Isaac tells the story of that world, long gone, and what happened in the weeks afterward. Isaac's life changed overnight; he was told to leave school and work with his father, an insensitive, humorless man with whom Isaac never felt at ease. His growth came in finding the courage to leave and the compassion to understand what he left behind. Howker's ability to introduce the very taste and smell of a place as well as to write superlative dialogue and to show sensitivity to the needs and secret longings of old and young alike make her one of the most exciting young writers working today. In Isaac Campion, she offers the voice of a 95-year-old man, sharp-witted and somehow not quite bitter, and brings the tragedy and simple fortitude of his life into focus. Unlike her earlier two books, however, (Badger on the Barge & Other Stories and The Nature of the Beast both Greenwillow, 1985), this is such a mature, reflective story that it gives little natural entrance for young readers. Too good for those who read these reviews to miss and too mature for most of the children we serve, it probably belongs in the adult market but mustn't be lost for the sheer delight and perfection of the writing. Sara Miller, White Plains Public Lib . , N.Y.