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59th out of 67 books
—
25 voters
A Small Free Kiss in the Dark
This complex and haunting exploration of life on the edge and what it takes to triumph over adversity is a story about the indomitable nature of hope.
Two young boys, an old tramp, a beautiful teenage dancer, and the girl's baby-ragtag survivors of a sudden war-form a fragile family, hiding out in the ruins of an amusement park. As they scavenge for food, diapers, and baby...more
Two young boys, an old tramp, a beautiful teenage dancer, and the girl's baby-ragtag survivors of a sudden war-form a fragile family, hiding out in the ruins of an amusement park. As they scavenge for food, diapers, and baby...more
Hardcover, 180 pages
Published
February 15th 2010
by Holiday House
(first published February 1st 2009)
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This young adult novel was a surprise to some of my 8th grade (14-year old) readers. They chose it because it had a skull and an amusement park on the front, which meant that whatever it had to say about a kiss would probably not be some sappy girl's romance story. Equally important for them, it is a thin volume.
It is a fascinating story and is well told, but it is not an easy read. Some of my students gave up on it and others who finished it missed a lot of the story. Details important to comp...more
It is a fascinating story and is well told, but it is not an easy read. Some of my students gave up on it and others who finished it missed a lot of the story. Details important to comp...more
Dec 04, 2012
Ed
added it
Millard, Glenda. (2010). A Small Free Kiss in the Dark. New York: Holiday House. 180 pp. ISBN 978-0-8234-2264-7 (Hard Cover); $16.95.
War is hard. For Skip, living on the streets, war should be death. However, an older man, Billy, moves Skip and a very young boy, Max, to an abandoned amusement park to outlast the war.
The dichotomy between an amusement park and bombs serves as a rich foundation for reading a story about war and family. Skip’s dumpster explodes one day and he is thrust into the pat...more
War is hard. For Skip, living on the streets, war should be death. However, an older man, Billy, moves Skip and a very young boy, Max, to an abandoned amusement park to outlast the war.
The dichotomy between an amusement park and bombs serves as a rich foundation for reading a story about war and family. Skip’s dumpster explodes one day and he is thrust into the pat...more
Reading Level: Grades 7+
When you’re a homeless eleven year-old named Skip, there isn’t anywhere for you to go, because all the shelters are either for women with children, or for men, which you aren’t. When you’re homeless, a runaway, you never sleep in the same place twice, otherwise someone might be able to figure out where you are and take you back to where you ran away from.
Skip is asleep in a Dumpster when the bombs begin to fall. He wakes up violently, ears ringing, dust and garbage in his...more
When you’re a homeless eleven year-old named Skip, there isn’t anywhere for you to go, because all the shelters are either for women with children, or for men, which you aren’t. When you’re homeless, a runaway, you never sleep in the same place twice, otherwise someone might be able to figure out where you are and take you back to where you ran away from.
Skip is asleep in a Dumpster when the bombs begin to fall. He wakes up violently, ears ringing, dust and garbage in his...more
Skip is full of plans. But will they work? He escapes from his foster home on the last day of school only to realize his great plan didn't cover where he was going to sleep at night. A homeless man, Billy, halfheartedly takes Skip under his wing. As Skip gets to know Billy he comes to think of him as family. Billy is supportive of Skip's artistic endeavors unlike his own father was. There routine existence is interrupted by that terrible thing called war. As the pair flee the burning city, their...more
Work was slow last night, so I read this. I really liked Skip, he had incredible attention to detail (just like his artist heroes). This is a quick, thoughtful read. I enjoyed the story and thought the characters were strong.
I had some issues with the foreshadowing...there was a lot of it, and it usually ended up the opposite of what had been predicted. I can't go into it without listing a bunch of spoilers. Two I have a feeling this book has been "fixed" with American idioms that were not pre...more
I had some issues with the foreshadowing...there was a lot of it, and it usually ended up the opposite of what had been predicted. I can't go into it without listing a bunch of spoilers. Two I have a feeling this book has been "fixed" with American idioms that were not pre...more
I really liked the way the book was written from the innocent young boy point of view. I haven't read a lot of books told from a kid's point of view and I found that Skip's mind was so colorful. He described many everyday objects in such a colorful way and I liked it a lot.
The fact that Skip is also an aspiring would-be famous painter who drew on pavements and walls is also, I don't know, like a fresh breath of air for me.
I've been reading a lot about good girls who stay at home, save people and...more
The fact that Skip is also an aspiring would-be famous painter who drew on pavements and walls is also, I don't know, like a fresh breath of air for me.
I've been reading a lot about good girls who stay at home, save people and...more
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Beautiful. This book was so beautifully written that I forgot I was reading. Simplicity all over complexity--that is how this book was written. Millard tried to unveil the innocence of a child's mind before the readers, allowing us to see how a disastrous thing as the war may be interpreted in a child's mind. It also conveys how we might find a family and a home in a stranger's company. I can't find any other word to describe this with other than "beautiful". It didn't need too much words to tel...more
A Small Free Kiss in the Dark is a rare gem in a YA genre full of cliches, the ever-present love triangle and hormone fuelled angst. There's nothing about this book which made me think I'd read it before. Hooray!
It's sparse and almost simple in presentation, but it's not until the sentences have settled on your skin for a few moments you realise how cleverly its written. The narrator is a 12 year old boy - Skip - who has run away from foster homes to live on the streets. Skip is an artist, and s...more
It's sparse and almost simple in presentation, but it's not until the sentences have settled on your skin for a few moments you realise how cleverly its written. The narrator is a 12 year old boy - Skip - who has run away from foster homes to live on the streets. Skip is an artist, and s...more
A lovely tale about friendship and survival. Skip's life has not been easy with his mother gone, his dad unable to cope and then being fostered out through the care system. We meet Billy whose kindness and skills help to keep Skip, Max, Tia and the baby alive. Billy and Skip find Max under a table in the State library that has suffered bomb damage. Max patiently awaiting the return of his Mother until he can be persuaded to leave for his safety. It is later on they meet Tia and it is Skip who g...more
Jul 30, 2011
Jen
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
cbc-book-of-the-year-2010,
teenage
2010 nomination for teen book for Children's Book of the year. Liked this novel, set during a war which splits the city of Melbourne between 2 warring groups. Skip is a homeless boy who has become friends with an older man who also occasionally lives on the streets. They join up with a young boy, Max, who is separated from his mother when the State Library is bombed. Together, they find refuge at the funfair at St Kilda beach, where they meet Tia, a 15 year old girl with a baby, whom they name S...more
Skip, the main character and narrator of this story is a determined and talented young man. His story-telling voice is incredible, which I guess in reality is not his own!
It's a wonderful story of how some homeless people come together in time of need and become less hopeless when they have a reason to survive.
I was a little unsure about the location of the book, I thought it was London and when bombs fell out of the sky that seemed plausible. But the Australian language and references unnerv...more
The cover of this book made me put off reading it for months, and it's a shame, because once I started reading, I liked it almost immediately, and liked it more the more I read. It's a post-apocalyptic story, but differs from many of the science-fiction post-apocalyptic stories in that civilization isn't ended, and there are no zombies or monsters. There is a country at war, and there are those on the third side, caught in the destruction and stresses of daily life. Skip's perspective is a hopef...more
A good addition to excellent post apocalyptic (spelling?)lit, the theme is, as in The Road, the persistence of hope. Perhaps this book isn't so much post--since the setting is DURING a really awful war. The protagonists include the narrator, an abandoned youth; his mentor, a homeless man; a 5 year old they find in a bombed library; and a 15 year old ballet dancer, mother of a tiny baby. Their attempts to survive and prevail over the awful conditions in which they live is what the book is all abo...more
Skip runs away from the horror of his foster home only to find himself living in streets in a city that is under siege. Along the way, he befriends a homeless man named Billy who soon becomes a much-needed father-figure and a young boy named Max. The story really starts to pick up when the three find a ballerina with a young baby in an abandoned amusement park.
This is one of those stories where the action just never stops. It reminds me a lot of The Way We Lived or the movie The Day After. Basic...more
This is one of those stories where the action just never stops. It reminds me a lot of The Way We Lived or the movie The Day After. Basic...more
Themes in literature ebb and flow like the sea. That said, I'm up to my neck in depressing, apocalyptic, woe-is-I fiction for teens, and all the life boats have holes in the bottom.
I just CANNOT stand another depression-fest for teens.
Millard's little-boy-lost story has a very unique voice, and her talent with language is evident. However, this is definitely a book that is likely to be enjoyed more by adults who think they know what teens like than the teens themselves.
I stopped at page 78 becau...more
I just CANNOT stand another depression-fest for teens.
Millard's little-boy-lost story has a very unique voice, and her talent with language is evident. However, this is definitely a book that is likely to be enjoyed more by adults who think they know what teens like than the teens themselves.
I stopped at page 78 becau...more
I really enjoyed this book. There was something so simply captivating about this, something so human. I adored Skip - all of the characters, in their own right, were unique and wonderful and more insight than through the eyes of Skip wasn't necessary because he was such an honest narrator. I fell in love with the other characters with him, and I really enjoyed that the focus was the characters. I was intrigued by the war storyline but I wouldn't have been nearly as interested if it went into the...more
I hardly know how to find the right words to review A Small Free Kiss in the Dark by Glenda Millard. It's a really sweet book and the main character's voice is one that pulled me into the story from the very beginning. Once I started the story, I couldn't put it down and I found myself feeling all sorts of different emotions that I didn't know how to deal with. It's that sort of book. But in a good way of course.
Skip is homeless. He had a home but it wasn't very good, so he left it. Despite the...more
Skip is homeless. He had a home but it wasn't very good, so he left it. Despite the...more
I went into reading A Small Free Kiss in the Dark with no expectations as I’d heard very little about it in the blogosphere. And it blew my socks off.
Skip tells his story, and I mean he literally writes his story and mentions the craft of his doing so, in a hauntingly beautiful way. Reading A Small Free Kiss in the Dark I noticed the artistic nature of Glenda Millard’s prose. Skip’s narration is poetic and stunningly beautiful. He has a way of looking at the world that intrigues me to no end. It...more
Skip tells his story, and I mean he literally writes his story and mentions the craft of his doing so, in a hauntingly beautiful way. Reading A Small Free Kiss in the Dark I noticed the artistic nature of Glenda Millard’s prose. Skip’s narration is poetic and stunningly beautiful. He has a way of looking at the world that intrigues me to no end. It...more
When you’re a homeless eleven year-old named Skip, there isn’t anywhere for you to go, because all the shelters are either for women with children, or for men, which you aren’t. When you’re homeless, a runaway, you never sleep in the same place twice, otherwise someone might be able to figure out where you are and take you back to where you ran away from.
Skip is asleep in a Dumpster when the bombs begin to fall. He wakes up violently, ears ringing, dust and garbage in his mouth, chunks of concre...more
Skip is asleep in a Dumpster when the bombs begin to fall. He wakes up violently, ears ringing, dust and garbage in his mouth, chunks of concre...more
Jun 24, 2011
Stephanie
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
mg-fiction,
ya-fiction
Beautiful, heartbreaking, and right. I loved it.
A devastating war has broken out, and this story is told from the perspective of a homeless boy who creates a family amidst all the wreckage and the (realistically) apocalyptic setting. The writing is so beautiful, and there's genuine hope streaked all throughout despite the bleakness of the situation. I cried at various points, but I never, ever considered putting it down. Just wonderful.
A devastating war has broken out, and this story is told from the perspective of a homeless boy who creates a family amidst all the wreckage and the (realistically) apocalyptic setting. The writing is so beautiful, and there's genuine hope streaked all throughout despite the bleakness of the situation. I cried at various points, but I never, ever considered putting it down. Just wonderful.
I'm a bit surprised that this wasn't a Printz or Newbery honor book. The descriptions and setting were fabulous. The main character, for once, was one that I think anyone can relate to. The author notes that this is a book about hope during a time of war and not about war itself, and I think she did a wonderful job of accomplishing it. It did seem a bit short where more details would have heighted the conclusion. But overall, great title to recommend to reluctant readers - this one will keep the...more
Apr 19, 2010
Marilyn
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
7th grade and up
Shelves:
fantasy-sci-fi,
youngadultfiction
Beautifully written story of war in the not so distant future, from the viewpoint of a young boy. His point of view is often too adult but that didn't detract from the story for me. I'm not sure if teens will flock to reading this quiet book, although the cover is great so they may pick it up for that alone. Very touching.
This is a great middle grade book. Skip runs away from home because his father abuses him. He meets Billy, a homeless man who becomes a father figure for him. After the bombs hit, they find Max, a 6-year-old looking for his mother, and Tia, a 15-year-old mysterious girl who has a baby with her.
Surprisingly interesting approach to the doomsday of a broken society (shades of Nazi Germany and the Jewish pograms). What teen readers will be able to relate to is the real teen experience of a scary world gone wrong, in which kids are thrown out and left to survive by their wits alone.
A small boy and a band of misfits survive after war breaks out. Beautifully written, with echoes of The Road and Tomorrow When the War Began. But I think Millard should have left some things out. Kids aren't adults. I think children's authors owe something that adult writers don't.
This is a book that I think I have to read again. The language is amazing. I want to go through with post-its and label some of the phrases. Love how Skip took control of his life and didn't make excuses for what came before. Can't wait for someone else to read it so we can talk. Amazing!!!
Excellent story as told through the eyes of a 13 year old boy. What happens to people when their land is unexpectadly thrust into war? I couldn't keep my eyes off of this book and found surprise awaiting at the climax.
I read it on norwegian so i might think that it had something do to with how I felt about the book. The story it's self was okey, some bits could have been explained better and the ending was a bit abrupt for my taste. But maybe it will be more about the same maincharchter.
So maybe I will try to read this book again later,but on english.
So maybe I will try to read this book again later,but on english.
YA - While I did enjoy this survival during war storyline, I had a huge issue with the title. This would be a great book to market to my male readers, but I'm afraid the title may discourage boys from picking it up. The title screams "chick lit" but the storyline and cover art do not. I wonder if this was the original title, or when it was published in the states it was changed.
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Glenda Millard was born in the Goldfields region of Central Victoria and has lived in the area all her life. The communities she has lived in and the surrounding landscapes have provided a rich source of inspiration and settings for many of her stories.
It was not until Glenda's four children became teenagers that she began to write in her spare time. She is now a full-time writer.
Apart from writin...more
More about Glenda Millard...
It was not until Glenda's four children became teenagers that she began to write in her spare time. She is now a full-time writer.
Apart from writin...more
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“She reminded me of the sea; the way she came dancing towards you, wild and beautiful, and just when she was almost close enough to touch she'd rush away again.”
—
18 people liked it
“Running away was easy; not knowing what to do next was the hard part.”
—
14 people liked it
More quotes…
Mar 29, 2012 10:48pm