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ZOE LETTING GO

Name: ZOE LETTING GO
Author: Nora Price
ISBN: 978-1-596514-466-9

by Nora Price ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 28, 2012

Well plotted, skillfully written.

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Why is Zoe trapped in what appears to be some kind of mental facility?

Told entirely from Zoe’s perspective, this psychological zinger unfolds like a mystery. Zoe’s mother drives her to an isolated mansion that houses six girls whose days are completely regulated by the three women in charge. The girls attend mandatory daily therapy, plus cooking and gardening classes. Administrators force them to eat every bite of each meal, with food served to them in gigantic portions. Zoe writes to her best friend, Elise, describing her memories of times with Elise and her days at the mansion. She remains defiantly certain that she’s completely unlike the other girls there until, finally, she remembers an event that she desperately wants to forget. Price plainly understands the psychological condition she slowly unveils, dropping clues here and there amid Zoe’s letters, observations and thoughts. She writes sophisticated prose and dialogue, perhaps too sophisticated for teenager Zoe, but readers caught up in the sweep of the story will forgive that minor flaw as Zoe’s true condition becomes clear. The novel provides a nifty excursion with an unreliable narrator and keen insight into the uncertainties and terrors of adolescence. It may also provide a warning to girls prone to self-destructive behavior. The slow reveal of Zoe’s problem will keep readers invested to the last page.

Well plotted, skillfully written. (Fiction. 12 & up)

Pub Date: June 28, 2012

ISBN: 978-1-596514-466-9

Page Count: 288

Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin

Review Posted Online: April 10, 2012

Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 2012

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

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BETWEEN SISTERS

by Adwoa Badoe ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2010

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Ghanaian teenager Gloria Bampo has hit a rough patch. She failed most of her school exams, her long-unemployed father has lost himself to religion and her mother is ravaged by a mysterious sickness. Her one consolation, her older sister Effie, has discovered boys and all but disappeared. Gloria is offered a job in a distant city with Christine, a doctor who needs househelp. Her father is quick to assent, with one condition: In lieu of payment, Christine must take responsibility for Gloria's future and adopt her as a sister. Gloria adjusts easily, studies hard and explores her newfound freedom. But when the temptations of her new life—brand-name clothes and handsome doctors—prove hard to resist, a misunderstanding cuts a rift between Gloria and Christine. Each must confront class stereotypes and re-examine the meaning of family. Badoe's sharp and engaging prose unfolds the story with spryness, deftly navigating readers through heady social issues. But she wastes readers' goodwill at the end with a conclusion both haphazard and overly moralistic, jarringly out of place in this otherwise thoughtful and well-excuted novel. (Ghanaian glossary) (Fiction. YA)

Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2010

ISBN: 978-88899-996-2

Page Count: 208

Publisher: Groundwood

Review Posted Online: Aug. 2, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2010

Categories:

CHILDREN'S GENERAL CHILDREN'S

- BOOK REVIEW
ALUTA
by Adwoa Badoe

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THE POT OF WISDOM
by Adwoa Badoe & illustrated by Baba Wagué Diakité

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WHEN I WAS JOE

by Keren David ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 1, 2010

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When 14-year-old Ty witnesses a brutal murder involving neighborhood thugs, he and his mom are put into a witness-protection program in a small town far away from their East London home. Now named Joe, Ty enters a new school a year behind and finds himself haunted by his past and torn between two girls: Ellie, a physically disabled teen who trains able-bodied runners, and her sister, Ashley. Despite lots of Briticisms and the occasional longwinded spells of narration, David pens a mostly fast-moving page-turner. Her characterizations feel mostly fully fleshed, and their dialogue rings true. The staunchly un-Americanized text results in some odd, culturally specific references that could confuse some readers unfamiliar with the milieu: Kissing Ashley makes Ty's body sizzle like sausages in a pan, for instance. The contemplative pages within the blood-spattered cover may disappoint readers more drawn to gore than to the self-reflection the experience renders in Ty. However, if teens can move past these speed bumps, they’ll find a complex, engaging read about a boy starting a new life by escaping his past. (Thriller. 12 & up)