— by BEV QUESTAD — Matamoros, on the Rio Grande border across from Texas, is known for its year-round subtropical climate, deep-water seaport, Hispanic culture and crossing point for cocaine, fentanyl, methamphetamine, weapons and human trafficking. The entire town is at-risk and sixth grade is often the year students decide whether they will continue with […][...]
Review: Blueback
— by BEV QUESTAD — It is Abby’s 8th birthday. Her mother exclaims, “You know what that means!” They go out into the bay in their speedboat and Mom tosses a special ring overboard. Abby seems hesitant and scared. With just a snorkel, her mother expects her to follow the anchor chain down to the […][...]
Review: Jacob the Baker
— by BEV QUESTAD — A news reporter is assigned to interview Noah, the writer of the Jacob the Baker series, which has been translated into 18 languages. She resents the assignment, wanting to cover more important new stories, but she complies. She asks all the good questions and with every answer from Noah I […][...]
Review: Total Trust
— by BEV QUESTAD — In the US, freedom includes easily obtaining guns and having demonstrations with incendiary rhetoric. It is also a place where there are mass shootings, school shootings, random shootings and college presidents who ignore students calling for the genocide of another group. In the US, there have been more than 40,000 […][...]
Review: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
— by BEV QUESTAD — What could be more fun for a movie than a mix of humans, aliens and furry anthropomorphic animals dressed up like humans? Especially adorable is Rocket, a furry racoon-like little guy voiced by Bradley Cooper. The premise in the the third of this three-part film series is that High Evolutionary […][...]
Review: Fast Charlie
— by BEV QUESTAD — “Fast Charlie” is a fun “Dirty Harry” meets “James Bond” kind of film. It is implausibility incarnate doused with a little wry humor and a quick-thinking, gun-slinging suave, nicely dressed, handsome guy. It all matches up except that Charlie Swift (Pierce Brosnan) is on the other side of the fence. […][...]
Review: Origin
— by BEV QUESTAD — I knew it as soon as I saw it. A nice-looking, clean-cut black boy wearing a dark gray hoodie sweatshirt on a clear night — coming home from a 7-Eleven with a bag of Skittles and a can of pop. He’s smiling and talking to his girlfriend on his cell […][...]
Review: District of Second Chances
— by BEV QUESTAD — Pete was 16 and living in Washington DC. He was already involved with drugs and violence in his neighborhood. He figured the way out of any trouble was through fighting. When confronted by another guy who pulled out a meat cleaver from his pocket, Pete started shooting and killed the […][...]
Review: The Wild Parrots of Telegraph Hill
— by BEV QUESTAD — Tourists and locals stroll up the garden path winding through Telegraph Hill, soaking in the lush mixture of plants, bushes, trees, vines and colorful flowers. They see a long-haired man up in the sun-filtered tree canopy mobbed by exotically vibrant red and green cherry-headed conure parrots. He is feeding them […][...]
Review: Upon Entry
— by BEV QUESTAD — Elena (Bruna Cusí) and Diego (Alberto Ammann), a nondescript couple, are on a flight to New York City from Spain. Elena is able to sleep, but Diego moves to the tiny bathroom to swallow some kind of eye-dropper liquid. They land in New York City and end up being taken […][...]