内容简介
Life is good for Oscar Westerwit. He's the mayor of Central Park -- the greatest place on earth for the squirrels, chipmunks, mice, and other animals who live there. He's the shortstop and manager of his baseball team. What could be bad? Plenty Big Daddy Duds, jewel thief, all-around thug, and leader of rats, is about to take over the park. And when he does, the other animals who live there will be turned out of their homes. Everyone looks to Oscar to save the day, but he may not even be able to save himself. . . .
作者简介
Avi is the author of more than sixty books, including Crispin: The Cross of Lead, a Newbery Medal winner, and Crispin: At the Edge of the World. His other acclaimed titles include The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle and Nothing But the Truth, both Newbery Honor Books, and most recently The Seer of Shadows. He lives with his family in Colorado.
精彩书评
The Washington Post This New York is brash, energetic and wittily translated to fit Avi's anthropomorphic world, while Brian Floca's full-page illustrations skillfully render both the characters and their park. In his elegantly detailed pencil drawings, a battalion of rats, armed and at attention, fills Bethesda Fountain Terrace (the angel of the fountain, of course, is here a squirrel); in another, the nattily attired Oscar hatches a plot in the dim bar of the Rock and Mole Café. — Andrea Thompson Publishers Weekly In a starred review, PW called this tale of a baseball-loving jewel thief of a rat who takes over Central Park in 1900 New York City, "an over-the-top romp." Ages 8-12. (Mar.) Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information. Fewer Reviews Children's Literature When Big Daddy Duds moves his gang of rats from downtown Manhattan to Central Park, it is bad news for the residents. Oscar Westerwit, baseball fanatic and Mayor of Central Park as voted by its residents, decides to fight back with an army but soon realizes they are no match for these thugs. This early twentieth-century melodrama would not be complete without a damsel, but this one is anything but helpless. When Big Daddy's daughter, Maud, is jilted by her beau, Arty Bigalow, she leaves her parents' home. Maud, a nurse, gets a job working for a rich old goat in Central Park. When she hears what her father has done, Maud offers to help Oscar. She suggests a baseball game to determine who controls Central Park. Oscar's star pitcher, Arty Bigalow, is nowhere to be found on the big day. Much to the surprise of everyone, Maud becomes an integral part of the game. An amusing story with a teasing of baseball and a wide range of well-developed characters. When Avi's gangster talk is right on, it adds real color to the story. There are, however, some moments where it feels jarring and contemporary. Full-page pen and ink drawings are scattered throughout the book and will be appreciated by readers who have recently moved into chapter books. 2003, HarperCollins, Ages 8 to 10. —Sharon Salluzzo School Library Journal Gr 3-6-This animal fantasy cum comic-gangster tale is spiced with some old-fashioned romance and set at the turn of the 19th century. The narrator, a cub reporter at the Daily Mirror, tells the story of squirrel Oscar Westerwit, acclaimed as the "Mayor" of Central Park. The story centers around Oscar's struggle against the rat Big Daddy Duds, when he and his gang invade the park, terrorize the residents, and vandalize their homes. The book opens with the star pitcher of the Central Park Green Sox going missing: the first sign that something is amiss. The resolution to the conflict comes through a baseball game, and the character who replaces the missing player provides a pleasurable plot twist. The lighthearted, almost frothy characterization and conversational storytelling style work fine, and successfully evoke a tough New York, complete with payoffs and tip-offs. However, the fantasy is less successful. Some animals live in trees, albeit fully furnished, even electrified ones, leading readers to believe that they coexist with a human-sized world. On the other hand, wealthy Mr. van Blunker, a goat, lives in a mansion on Fifth Avenue. It turns out that there are no humans in this fantasy universe, but the magic is broken, and readers are left wondering about the relative sizes of the animals and their physical environment. The inclusion of nonnative animal species, including a yak and a kangaroo, may be a nod to cosmopolitanism, but it further weakens the fantasy. Still, this is an enjoyable chapter book for readers not yet ready for the seriousness or more sophisticated humor of Poppy (Orchard, 1995) and its sequels.-Sue Giffard, Ethical Culture Fieldston School, New York City Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information. Kirkus Reviews Central Park's furred and feathered residents face an incursion of gangster rats in this turn-of-the-20th-century tale of baseball, interspecies romance, and ingenuousness triumphant. The sudden appearance of Big Daddy Duds and his well-armed thugs compels Oscar Westerwit, a bon vivant squirrel who considers himself the park's unofficial "Mayor," to take action. His ragtag "army" is quickly dispersed, but unexpected allies have been at work behind the scenes, and persuade Oscar to play on Duds's predilection for baseball by challenging him to a winner-take-all game. With Oscar's new heartthrob Maud making a surprise appearance on the mound, the good guys come out on top, of course. Told in rollicking, streetwise language, the episode rolls fluidly along, and aside from one wounded rabbit the violence never escalates beyond threats-but there's more baseball talk than baseball action. Avi can do better than this predictable plot, and despite his habit of calling park residents "voters," and Floca's natty Wind in the Willows-type animal figures, any satiric or metaphorical subtext is buried beyond recovery. (Fiction. 10-12)
前言/序言
帝国之影:一座城市的黎明与黄昏 作者:维多利亚·哈德森 类型:历史小说/政治惊悚 页数:约680页 --- 内容简介: 《帝国之影:一座城市的黎明与黄昏》并非关于公园中那个充满活力的市长,而是一部宏大、错综复杂、深入剖析了“光辉之城”——维多利亚时代末期(1888-1905年)的“新阿卡迪亚”——从其鼎盛的工业辉煌走向隐秘腐败的史诗级长篇。本书聚焦于三位命运交织的人物,他们共同见证并塑造了这座城市从野蛮生长到制度化衰败的痛苦过程。 第一部分:奠基者的梦想与钢铁的锈蚀(1888-1895) 故事始于1888年,新阿卡迪亚正处于其工业革命的巅峰。巨大的煤烟和钢铁的气味笼罩着天际线,电灯开始取代煤油灯,象征着一个由技术和资本驱动的新时代的到来。 乔纳斯·萨克斯顿,一个白手起家的铁路大亨,是这座城市的真正幕后推手。他通过精准的土地投机和对市政承包的垄断,积累了难以想象的财富。萨克斯顿深信,秩序与效率是文明的最高美德,他以近乎宗教般的狂热推动着城市的基础设施建设——宏伟的中央火车站、穿梭于贫民窟之上的高架桥,以及为富人区供电的“永恒之光”发电厂。然而,他的雄心壮志建立在对工人阶级的残酷剥削之上。书中详尽描绘了萨克斯顿在董事会会议上的冷酷决策,以及他如何利用私家侦探和政治贿赂来清除所有挡在他面前的“效率低下的绊脚石”。 与萨克斯顿的铁腕形成鲜明对比的是伊芙琳·卡斯蒂尔。伊芙琳是城中唯一一位受过正规法律教育的女性,她在上流社会的沙龙中格格不入,却在城市的底层挣扎求生。她被迫在一家名为“公正之声”的边缘法律援助机构工作,专门处理工厂事故和工人歧视案件。伊芙琳的日记和信件构成了本书中关于社会不公最有力的证据。她发现,那些萨克斯顿集团的建筑事故报告往往被“意外”地销毁,而受伤的工人得到的赔偿微乎其微,或者干脆被贴上“醉酒闹事者”的标签。伊芙琳的导师,一位正直的老法官,在试图揭露一起涉及市政污水处理合同的腐败案时神秘“退休”,这促使伊芙琳决定不再满足于仅仅提供援助,她要深入泥潭,找到真正的幕后黑手。 同时,我们认识了西奥多·“泰德”·芬奇。泰德是一名从农村来到城市寻找机会的年轻人,他没有显赫的背景,只有一双灵巧的手和对机械的痴迷。他最初在萨克斯顿最主要的钢铁厂当学徒,亲眼目睹了工人们在危险条件下工作的日常。泰德不仅目睹了压迫,他还看到了技术被滥用的潜力。他秘密地利用工厂的废弃零件,制造出了一系列微小的、用于记录和监测工作环境的装置。他的故事线围绕着他试图在不被发现的情况下,为工人收集关键证据展开,这让他游走于工厂安保的巡逻与工会秘密集会之间。 第二部分:权力的高墙与地下之流(1896-1901) 随着新阿卡迪亚的人口爆炸式增长,城市管理者们的权力结构开始显现裂痕。腐败不再是秘密的耳语,而是公开的交易。 萨克斯顿深知,要实现他将城市打造成“世界模范”的梦想,他必须控制政治机器。他资助了一位傀儡市长,通过精心策划的宣传活动,将自己塑造成城市进步的无私推动者。书中细致地描绘了萨克斯顿如何利用报纸头条控制舆论,如何将对他不利的记者边缘化,以及如何用金钱“平息”地方议员的不满。他的“慈善基金”——一个表面上为贫困儿童提供教育的机构——实际上是他用来清洗黑钱和进行政治人脉投资的工具。 伊芙琳的调查将她引向了城市高层,她发现萨克斯顿的帝国并非只靠钢铁,它还深深植根于城市的供水系统和警务部门。她与泰德取得了联系,泰德提供的那些微型机械记录仪成了她手中最有力的“不在场证明”。他们发现了一份隐藏在土地契约中的文件,该文件显示,萨克斯顿通过合法途径收购了数个贫民窟的土地,目的是在未来建设他理想中的“中产阶级居住区”,而在此之前,他故意切断了这些社区的基础设施维护,加速了它们的衰败,以便于低价强行征收。 这一阶段的冲突集中在一次著名的“码头罢工”事件。当成千上万的码头工人因恶劣条件要求更好的待遇时,萨克斯顿游说政府,将罢工定性为“反社会动乱”。他秘密部署的私人武装力量与试图维持秩序的警察之间爆发了混乱,场面血腥。泰德冒险潜入记录室,试图获取关于萨克斯顿下令使用实弹的证据,却险些被捕,最终在伊芙琳的帮助下才得以逃脱。 第三部分:黄昏的审判与历史的重量(1902-1905) 进入二十世纪,新阿卡迪亚的“光辉”开始褪色。外部的竞争者正在崛起,萨克斯顿的帝国开始显示出其内部的脆性。 萨克斯顿的健康状况恶化,他开始变得偏执,对任何形式的挑战都采取极端的反制措施。他试图通过一项具有争议性的“城市美化法案”来巩固他的遗产,该法案实质上是授权拆除他看不顺眼的旧建筑,为他的新宏伟项目让路,但这引发了广泛的市民抗议。 伊芙琳和泰德将他们的证据汇集成一份详尽的报告,她决定不再通过传统渠道,而是选择了一种更加激进的方式:她联系了一位在东海岸享有盛誉、以揭露大公司丑闻而闻名的调查记者。他们精心策划了一次“信息泄漏”,将泰德获取的内部文件和伊芙琳收集的法律证据,以连续报道的形式在全国范围内发表。 报道的冲击是毁灭性的。城市陷入骚乱,针对萨克斯顿的公开审判呼声高涨。然而,故事的高潮并非简单的正义伸张。当检察官准备起诉萨克斯顿时,他发现自己面临的对手比他想象的更深不可测。萨克斯顿通过多年的布局,已经将自己的权力网络渗透到了司法系统的最高层。 本书的结局充满了历史的复杂性与悲剧性。萨克斯顿最终没有因为腐败或剥削而入狱。相反,他利用了城市对“稳定”的渴望。在一场精心策划的公众露面中,他以一种英雄式的姿态,宣布将自己的部分资产捐献给城市,以“弥补年轻时的过度自信带来的过失”。他成功地将自己塑造成一个“犯错但最终悔改的巨人”,从而避免了真正的法律制裁。 然而,对于伊芙琳和泰德来说,他们的胜利是微弱的,却也是决定性的。他们虽然没能彻底推翻萨克斯顿的权力结构,但他们成功地在公众心中播下了怀疑的种子,并永久地改变了这座城市的政治对话方式。书中最后几章,聚焦于萨克斯顿去世后,新一代的城市规划者们如何试图清理他留下的烂摊子,以及伊芙琳选择离开新阿卡迪亚,前往更小的城镇,继续她的法律斗争,而泰德则利用他学到的技术知识,成为了一名致力于提高工人安全的工程师。 主题与深度: 《帝国之影》探讨了资本积累的伦理边界、工业化对社会结构的侵蚀、新闻自由在面对强大经济势力时的脆弱性,以及个人良知在系统性腐败面前的选择。它是一面映照维多利亚时代“进步”面具下,那些被牺牲的生命和被扭曲的法律的镜子。本书以其丰富的历史细节、复杂的角色心理刻画和快节奏的政治阴谋,为读者呈现了一个充满灰尘、蒸汽和未竟梦想的“光辉之城”。