Fast hands / John Pappenheimer ; illustrations by Kate Thompson.
Record details
- ISBN: 9781935347316
- ISBN: 1935347314
- Physical Description: 185 pages : illustrations, map ; 21 cm.
- Edition: 1st edition.
- Publisher: Kenmore, Washington : Epicenter Press, [2014]
- Copyright: ©2014.
Search for related items by subject
Subject: | Coming of age > Fiction. Fishing > Alaska > Fiction. High schools > Fiction. Norwegians > Alaska > Fishers > Fiction. Tsimshian Indians > Alaska > Fishers > Fiction. First nations > Fiction Ketchikan (Alaska) > Juvenile literature. |
Genre: | Action and adventure fiction. |
Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at BC Interlibrary Connect. (Show)
- 1 of 1 copy available at Prince Rupert Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Prince Rupert Library | J Papp (Text) | 33294002077931 | Juvenile Fiction | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2014 April #2
A coming-of-age story set on an Alaskan fishing boat. The title is a wordplay on "fast" as "quick" and the nautical use of "fast," meaning to make secure—and a clever plot summation. Sixteen-year-old Augustus has fast hands. They can play percussion, and they can damage. Their ability to damage has given him a choice: go to juvenile detention or crew on his uncle's commercial halibut-fishing boat in Alaska. Gus chooses the sea, ignorant of the fishing boat's 19-hour workday. Eventually he acclimates and becomes proud of doing a man's work. He also learns more about his scattered family and does some rethinking about a friend he betrayed back home. Gus' narration is often inconsistent in both tone and storyline and relies heavily on telling rather than showing. The commercial fishing jargon will confuse any readers not completely familiar with that trade. Female characters are simply stereotypes. Gus' mother cries. The restaurant owner is motherly, and the love interest is a lap-dancer (briefly) who wants to be a singer, knows self-defense and has no problem shedding her clothes for a hot-springs soak with the guys—an adolescent male fantasy if there ever was one. Fishing, fighting and girls make this a real guy's-guy story in which a fairly solid plot is marred by overwriting, confusing jargon and one-dimensional female characters. (Fiction. 12-16) Copyright Kirkus 2014 Kirkus/BPI Communications.All rights reserved. - School Library Journal Reviews : SLJ Reviews 2014 May
Gr 7 UpâAfter he is arrested for breaking into a yacht (the girl he's with, whose family owns the yacht, disappears when the police arrive), Gus Pedersen has the choice of going to juvenile detention or working on his uncle's fishing boat in Alaska. He chooses the fishing boat. Although the story is interesting enough and the setting realistic, the author throws around a lot of terminology unique to professional fishing without defining or explaining these terms, which is likely to frustrate most readers. The characters are in need of greater development and come across as stock figures. The historical setting is unclear; although it seems to be contemporary, a letter from Gus's friend is dated June 1975. These shortcomings perhaps could have been lessened had Fast Hands been longer and the characters and plot given more room to grow. It seems that this novel is directed toward reluctant readers, but it shortchanges them by providing only half the picture. A few line drawings are included, though they add little to the novel.âNina Sachs, Walker Memorial Library, Westbrook, ME
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