Online version: Zuckerman, Linda. Taste for rabbit. 1st ed. New York : Arthur A. Levine Books, ©2007 (OCoLC)762365215 |
Available:
Library | Call Number | Material Type | Status |
---|---|---|---|
Searching... State Library of Oregon | 813.6 Zucke | 4-Week Loan | Searching... Unknown |
Bound With These Titles
On Order
Summary
Summary
Imagine a world in which foxes are civilized. They wear clothes, they fight, they elect corrupt officials. They eat only lower orders with limited brainpower. Like mice. Or rabbits. Now imagine that the rabbits disappear, and develop their OWN society. What happens when the two groups once again collide? A Taste for Rabbit is a biting look at Harry the Fox, Quentin the Rabbit, the price of honour, and what it really means to be...human.
Author Notes
LINDA ZUCKERMAN wrote I Will Hold You 'Til You Sleep, illustrated by Jon J Muth. She's been an editor for almost forty years, winning Caldecotts and Newbery Honors. This is her first novel. Linda lives in Portland, Oregon.
Summary:
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 7 Up-Zuckerman has created a world in which animals have become "civilized" and a distinct line is drawn between sentient beings and prey. The separate existences of Harry the fox and Quentin the rabbit collide when corrupt rabbits begin killing and selling their own kind to foxes. It is a harsh winter and the rabbits have built a secure fortress; the foxes are running out of food. Harry is sent by his brother, a powerful official, to investigate the rabbit fortress. On the way, he grudgingly befriends a weasel, Elton, whose reticence and integrity endear him to both Harry and to readers. Meanwhile, Quentin and his friends, fearing conscription, escape from the fortress to join the rebels. Harry and Quentin meet after experiencing hunger, betrayal, and violence. Concepts such as justice, bravery, totalitarianism, religion, friendship, and law saturate this fable. The thought-provoking discussion is at times fleeting, perhaps because the concepts addressed are so numerous. The animals are thoroughly anthropomorphized, (they have schools, religion, and they smoke and drink). When apparent, their animalism is somewhat shocking. For example, Harry devours a family of vole, "snapping their spines, then, holding the babies by their tales, biting off their heads." The language is eloquent and, at times, humorous. The plot moves steadily forward, effectively maintaining suspense through the use of the two converging story lines. Harry, Quentin, and their friends, never simple or two-dimensional, are permanently changed from the violence, oppression, and desperation they experience. For those who survive, some return home and some cannot bear to face the prospect.-Amy J. Chow, New York Public Library (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
Don't let the title fool you: veteran book editor Zuckerman's debut novel isn't a wild game cookbook but an allegorical exploration of the primitive elements of human nature and society, a la Richard Adams's classic Watership Down. Set in a realm devastated by an unusually harsh winter, an ensemble cast of anthropomorphic characters-Harry the Fox, Quentin the Rabbit, a weasel named Gerard, etc.-struggle for survival while dealing with individual hardships. Harry, virtually penniless and starving in his apartment in Foxboro, accepts his unscrupulous brother's offer of a lucrative but dangerous job investigating the disappearance of four fox scouts in the Wildwood Forest. Quentin, a student living in the rabbit warren of Stonehaven, must escape the repression and brutalization of an increasingly dictatorial government. Brought together by fate-and desperation-the unlikely duo of predator and prey uncover an abhorrent conspiracy in the depths of the forest. But can an impoverished fox and a timid rabbit stop a gang of morally corrupt murderers? The blend of adventure, mystery and morality in this heroic tale of honor and friendship will appeal to middle-school fantasy fans, especially fans of Brian Jacques's Redwall saga. Ages 12-up. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
(Middle School) The season is bleak midwinter. Foxboro (a community of foxes) labors under a food shortage suffered by everybody except Isaac, the Managing Director, and his friends. Over in Stonehaven (a city of rabbits), the fascist government is plagued by rebels outside its walls and the mysterious disappearances of many of its citizens within. Zuckerman tells her tale by alternating the narratives of fox Harry, Isaac's down-on-his-luck brother, who still nurses his childhood resentment of his parents' favoritism toward the lamed Isaac; and rabbit Quentin, a comfort-loving student who reluctantly decides to dodge the draft by jumping Stonehaven's walls and joining the rebels. These twinned accounts result in a sacrifice of suspense -- the reader learns early on the reprehensible truth behind Stonehaven's disappearances -- in favor of the opportunity to shine a light on the protagonists' souls. Harry and Quentin struggle against their pasts to choose whom they want to become, and the choosing isn't easy. If the dialogue is frequently overblown and the relentless introspection of the characters occasionally tedious, still this bold attempt to rewrite the talking-animal fantasy for the twenty-first century (with such visionary touches as lesbian raccoon innkeepers and a game of checkers to which cheating is intrinsic) is ultimately captivating bunny noir. (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
This uneven allegory will have a difficult time finding an audience. Two societies of polytheistic, sentient, clothed adult animals are suffering the effects of a harsh winter. Quentin is a scholarly rabbit who lives under stringent military laws. Families of rabbits are disappearing, and he and his friends believe the government may be behind it. Harry, a fox, is living in poverty until his rich, cruel younger brother Isaac makes him an offer: If Harry can find out why Isaac's scouts are not returning from their missions to the fortress protecting the rabbit warren, Isaac will pay him generously. Along the way, Quentin and Harry both learn the truth behind the other's deeply corrupt yet intelligent world. In their travels, Harry and Quentin are both helped in their search for the truth by neutral animals like badgers and raccoons, but although their stories intertwine, they only briefly converge. Disguising human nature behind animals works in picture books, but the tween and teen target audience of this book will probably not want to read a book about talking animals, especially talking animals who are parents and business owners rather than teens. The frustrating lack of closure begs for a sequel. (Fiction. 10-14) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Early in this often-violent animal fantasy, a fox lunches on wild vole: Harry . . . snapped the spines of the adults one at a time, then, holding the babies by the tails, he bit off their heads. Such behavior normally signals a villain, but here, the ethical lines are less predictably drawn. Harry wears clothes, speaks, and lives in an organized society, as does Quentin, a sentient rabbit who has defected from his oppressive city-state. Intelligent rabbits are unimaginable to Harry, as odd as if a bunch of grapes . . . stood up on one's plate and said good morning, and a paradigm shift awaits as the characters' paths converge; a horrific crime ring provides the plot's more immediate hook. Quentin's characterization is less sure than Harry's, and the world building feels shaky, especially concerning the time frame for the rabbits' evolution. But Zuckerman writes with a polish that shows off her long experience as a children's-book editor, interpreting classic elements drawn from Robert Adams' influential Watership Down (1972) in a way that feels unexpectedly fresh.--Mattson, Jennifer Copyright 2007 Booklist