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图书馆 | 资料类型 | 排架号 | 子计数 | 书架位置 | 状态 | 图书预约 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
正在检索... Central | Juvenile Book | YA TALBERT M. | 2 | Juvenile Collection | 正在检索... 未知 | 正在检索... 不可借阅 |
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摘要
摘要
-- "Gripping... a resonant, coming-of-age story". -- Publisher's Weekly, starred review
评论 (5)
《学校图书馆杂志》(School Library Journal)书评
Gr 7 UpTalbert sets Heart of a Jaguar in the period just after the time when the great Mayan city Chichén Itzá was deserted by its populace. It is the story of Balam, a 14-year-old boy on the verge of manhood, and the struggle of his family and village to cope with a protracted drought. Lack of rainfall has caused the village leaders to invoke the gods in every sacred ritual they know. Richly described details of daily life, including clearing ground for planting, hunting, and especially the relationships between men and women and between children and adults, will give readers insight into Mayan culture. The author immerses himself in Balam's thoughts and dreams, and squarely faces the issues of bloodletting and human sacrifice, revealing them within the totality of the culture and the Mayan understanding of the universe. A fascinating and worthwhile read.David N. Pauli, Missoula Public Library, MT (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
出版社周刊评论
PW's starred review deemed this tale of a 13th-century Mayan youth willing to become a human sacrifice for his village "a resonant coming-of-age story," adding that graphic descriptions reserve this novel for "non-squeamish readers only." Ages 12-up. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
《儿童读物杂志》(Horn Book)书评
Readers interested in ancient Mayan culture and mythology will be the only audience for this gory, long-winded novel about a Mayan adolescent who has mystical experiences as he waits both for manhood and for the end of the drought gripping his village. Having the main character become a human sacrifice at the book's end -- even if it is a realistic fate -- seems a sensationalistic ploy. From HORN BOOK 1995, (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus评论
For readers who believe that ancient civilizations make for dry and dusty realms, Talbert (The Purple Heart, 1992, etc.) offers a heart-stopping story of mythic proportion. Balam can no longer remember the taste of maize, the grain that once served as his people's primary source of nourishment. In these lean times, the villagers have tried everything to appease the gods--short of the prescribed human sacrifice--and have begun speaking out against their holy man. When raiders from a nearby village steal first Balam's betrothed and later the precious maize kernels that are the village's future, the bachelors follow them into the forest. Balam, too, goes into the forest intending to join the bachelors, but the gods give him a different mission--to slay a jaguar and bring back his heart as a gift of appeasement. Balam comes across a greatly weakened jaguar and, with the aid of a herd of peccaries and his own cunning, returns to the village draped in the jaguar's skin, clutching its heart. Readers will feel their own hearts gripped as the story hurtles toward its terrible, inevitable conclusion. In carefully honed language, Talbert reverently captures the violent beauty of the ancient Mayan culture and creates a hero of extraordinary courage and generosity. (glossary, bibliography) (Fiction. 12+)
《书目》(Booklist)书评
Gr. 7^-10. In this unusual and arresting offering, Talbert takes the reader deep into the heart of a Mayan village, where a death-inducing drought is taking its toll. Balam, a boy on the verge of manhood, is trying to find his way in a complicated world filled with signs, portents, rules, and special conduct to appease the gods. When Balam kills a jaguar, it seems that this may be the sacrifice that will finally bring rain. But in a horrific final scene, it is not the heart of the jaguar that is offered to the gods, but the heart of the village's best and brightest, Balam himself. Talbert's research of the late Mayan period is obvious (and well documented in notes and a bibliography). He writes vividly and uncompromisingly of a life very foreign to ours, butreaders will need a strong stomach for this one. Throughout he pulls no punches. Among other graphic moments is an opening scene of childbirth, another of penis and tongue piercing, and the final moment of Balam's life in which he sees his heart being pulled from his chest. This is difficult, sometimes brutal reading. Young people who are ready to make the unflinching commitment the book requires will come away both fascinated and full of questions they will have to answer for themselves. --Ilene CooperYO Holdiay Books As part of our ongoing attempt to help librarians select holiday-related books for young people, we are offering our annual roundup of new and forthcoming titles celebrating Halloween, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, and Christmas; curiously, Thanksgiving books are not in supply this year. The books in this special section represent the recommended titles received in our offices in time for inclusion in this issue. As the season progresses, we will continue to review holiday titles received too late for the issue. --Sally Estes