Julie Just
Full of authentic detail from Scaletta's own childhood experiences in Liberia, the novel is both entertaining and touching.
—The New York Times
VOYA
- Etienne Vallee
Twelve-year old Linus is accustomed to moving; his father is in the military. However, a career change to the foreign service brings his parents, his brother, Lawrence, and himself to the country of Liberia, where everything is different. Linus, often called "blanket boy" due to his connection to a more famous namesake, wishes to start anew, just like his brother has—becoming "Law" instead of "Larry." Because he is plagued with insecurities and panic attacks, his parents worry about Linus and wonder if he can survive this new environment. Once in Africa, however, Linus blossoms, thanks to new friends but especially to a kaseng with black mambas. A kaseng is a strong connection between a person and a type of animal. Linus, who was deathly afraid of snakes, attracts one of the deadliest, and sometimes feels as if he can see through the snake's mind. His relationship with the snake evolves from fear to keeping it as a pet, a potentially deadly problem for his family. Slowly, the old Linus evolves into a confident and proud boy. He does things that he would never have done before. He grows throughout the novel, coming to terms with his older brother and gaining a new understanding of the world around him. In a similar way to V. M. Jones's Out of Reach (Marshall Cavendish, 2008/VOYA December 2008), the hurdles and difficulties faced by the protagonist allow him to discover who he really is. Reviewer: Etienne Vallee
Children's Literature
- Ellen Welty
When his dad gets a job at the U.S. Embassy in Liberia, Linus and his family relocate to Monrovia. Linus sees it as an opportunity to become the Linus he wants to be, bold and super-cool. He keeps seeing a black mamba snake, a rare and deadly native of Liberia and it seems to be attracted to him. Rather than avoiding the snake, he constructs a terrarium for it in his closet and starts treating it like a pet, forgetting that it is a dangerous wild animal. One weekend while his parents are away, the snake escapes from his closet and tragedy is narrowly averted. Linus learns a valuable lesson about trusting local legends and making decisions. The character of Linus is appealing and the setting is based on the memories of the author who had spent some time in Monrovia as a youngster. The secondary characters are a bit more problematic, particularly the parents. Linus' older brother and his friends routinely engage in bullying Linus, causing him at one time to ingest contaminated swimming pool water and contract an intestinal illness from it. Linus' parents' reaction to his illness borders on nonchalance and his brother is never held accountable for his treatment of Linus. Despite the weak secondary character development, middle-school readers will enjoy the story as it describes life in an exotic setting. Reviewer: Ellen Welty
School Library Journal
Gr 5–8—Linus and his family have moved to Monrovia, Liberia, where his father works for the U.S. embassy. Shy and anxious, the 12-year-old keeps seeing a friendly black mamba, one of the deadliest snakes in the country, and he discovers that he has a kaseng, a connection with this particular animal. As weeks pass, Linus begins to treat the snake as a pet, hidden from everyone, and he feels that he is changing, becoming more confident and bold, perhaps taking on the mamba's characteristics. When he sets up a dry terrarium in his closet for it, he forgets that he is putting others in danger. With parents away, his older brother locks him out because he is having a party, and the inevitable occurs. Fortunately all ends well. In this absorbing novel, Linus is trying to find out who he is so he can leave behind the anxious child he recognizes in himself. Set in 1982, the novel portrays life in an American embassy, separate from and yet part of a city quite different from mainstream America. Scaletta writes about Monrovia in real terms, a city whose people, like those everywhere, span many income and social groups, but where poverty is a constant. The novel also looks head-on at various stereotypes of Africa. Though this well-written work occasionally moves slowly, the excellent characterization and the unusual setting will appeal to many readers.—Barbara Scotto, Children's Literature New England, Brookline, MA
