The Penalty

November 1, 2007
Gr 10 Up-Eighteen-year-old Ricardo Gomes de Barros's extraordinary soccer skills have garnered him fame, but his disappearance after a critical game leads sportswriter Paul Faustino to investigate. When Faustino asks too many questions, he is kidnapped and taken into the rural countryside where Barros grew up; there he learns of the ancestor worship and "Veneration" that the displaced slaves brought with them to the New World. The narrative is divided between Paracleto, a Loma slave of the 1700s who has come to be thought of as a god, and Faustino. Peet uses Paracleto's voice to expound some vital information, but the divided narrative detracts from the modern-day mystery and reduces the cohesiveness of the work as a whole. The lack of background information leaves questions about ancestor worship and other religious traditions among displaced Africans. Similar to Tamora Pierce's "Immortals" quartet (S & S), Peet's god characters appear, provide cryptic insight, and fade back out; however, they are the most interesting characters in the book. The way in which Faustino eventually discovers Barros reduces the mysterious element of the story to a mere side note in the plot, which had previously suffered from a lack of suspense. Between the disjointed narrative and unappealing characters, this novel will have difficulty attracting readers, and should be a strictly supplemental purchase."Chris Shoemaker, New York Public Library"

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2007
This companion novel to Keeper (2005) picks up the story of South American sports journalist Paul Faustino, who is drawn into a wild, esoteric mystery after a young soccer prodigy disappears. Although Peets decision to set the story in a generalized fictional South American country may spark controversy, once again, he tells a fascinating, complex tale that incorporates sports, the occult, and South American history and culture. For me time is folded, like cloth, says one character, and the same is true of Peets experimental narrative, which leaps between Faustinos contemporary viewpoint and the historical voice of an African man who survived the Middle Passage and the graphic brutality of slave life. Jerky transitions between story lines and some clich'd language distract from the frequent lyricism, vivid magic, and rich, unsettling themes. The surface mystery will intrigue readers, but its the deeper questions about religious belief, salvation, and how best to confront the pasts shocking inhumanity that will linger. For another novel that blends twentieth-century life with African history and voodoo, suggest Susan Vaughts Stormwitch (2005).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)