Forty-one stories bring postwar Chicago to life through the eyes of Gifford’s alter-ego, Roy, who acts as a witness to a bygone era.
In the coda to the collection, Prince Faisal says to Lawrence of Arabia, “I long for the vanished gardens of Cordoba,” and Roy, the protagonist of most of the stories “knew exactly how Faisal felt,” remembering his favorite shortstop on the infield of old, demolished Comiskey Park. Gifford’s first novel for young adults, published in both young adult and adult editions, recreates a vanished time and place. Roy’s experiences include strippers, prize fighters, bums, a grill owner abducted by aliens, a naked boy with a deer rifle, a fur-cart pusher who’s the son of Auschwitz survivors and other characters that flesh out a landscape that makes Roy who he is. The third-person stories are snippets of experience, tales that set up few conflicts and offer no obvious revelations, and young readers may well be frustrated by the intangibility of the stories, but they do offer an accumulation of experience that adds up to one boy’s life in a particular time and place, vividly captured by an author who well knows his subject. Young readers will find in Roy a worthy companion for a trip to a Chicago that doesn’t exist anymore. (Fiction. 14 & up)
Pub Date: Oct. 15, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-58322-948-4
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Seven Stories
Review Posted Online: Sept. 14, 2011
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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