An oblique Dutch import challenges readers with three glimpses into the workings of a monumentally unhappy family. The characters are the unnamed narrator, a teenage girl; her loving but tormented older brother Axel; their sisters; and their wickedly self-centered mother. Successive, vividly realized episodes focus the narrative lens in excruciating detail on this hapless group. In the first, set in a wheatfield, Axel confronts their mother about her boyfriend, who has been sexually abusing him; in the second, the family prepares for the arrival of an unknown man curiously willed to them, a man the children hope will be a new father; in the third, the narrator carries on an imaginary conversation with Axel, now moved out, as she and her sisters attempt to establish themselves as a family in both his absence and their mother’s—she’s disappeared with a new boyfriend. Moeyaert (Hornet’s Nest, 2000, etc.) is a master of atmosphere—the reader feels the staggering heat of the wheatfield and the increase in tension as the standoff between Axel and his mother intensifies—but it is his ability to crystallize his narrator’s immediate emotional state that rings most true. The reader feels her blinding rage at her mother’s neglect, her pathetic hope that the family can be a family, her resignation as she finally gives up on her mother. The narrator and Axel agree that it’s love they don’t understand, at least as exemplified by their mother, but by the end, it is clear that on their own, the children are working toward their own independent understanding of love. To say that the writing is elliptical is an understatement, and an air of the surreal hangs over the whole, dislocating both characters and reader. Not an easy work, nor a fun one, but eerily effective and powerful. (Fiction. YA)
Pub Date: June 15, 2002
ISBN: 1-886910-71-5
Page Count: 128
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2002
A contemporary hero’s journey, brilliantly told.
The 17-year-old son of a troubled rock star is determined to find his own way in life and love.
On the verge of adulthood, Blade Morrison wants to leave his father’s bad-boy reputation for drug-and-alcohol–induced antics and his sister’s edgy lifestyle behind. The death of his mother 10 years ago left them all without an anchor. Named for the black superhero, Blade shares his family’s connection to music but resents the paparazzi that prevent him from having an open relationship with the girl that he loves. However, there is one secret even Blade is unaware of, and when his sister reveals the truth of his heritage during a bitter fight, Blade is stunned. When he finally gains some measure of equilibrium, he decides to investigate, embarking on a search that will lead him to a small, remote village in Ghana. Along the way, he meets people with a sense of purpose, especially Joy, a young Ghanaian who helps him despite her suspicions of Americans. This rich novel in verse is full of the music that forms its core. In addition to Alexander and co-author Hess’ skilled use of language, references to classic rock songs abound. Secondary characters add texture to the story: does his girlfriend have real feelings for Blade? Is there more to his father than his inability to stay clean and sober? At the center is Blade, fully realized and achingly real in his pain and confusion.
A contemporary hero’s journey, brilliantly told. (Verse fiction. 14-adult)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-310-76183-9
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Blink
Review Posted Online: April 30, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2017
PERSPECTIVES
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression.
After surviving a suicide attempt, a fragile teen isn't sure she can endure without cutting herself.
Seventeen-year-old Charlie Davis, a white girl living on the margins, thinks she has little reason to live: her father drowned himself; her bereft and abusive mother kicked her out; her best friend, Ellis, is nearly brain dead after cutting too deeply; and she's gone through unspeakable experiences living on the street. After spending time in treatment with other young women like her—who cut, burn, poke, and otherwise hurt themselves—Charlie is released and takes a bus from the Twin Cities to Tucson to be closer to Mikey, a boy she "like-likes" but who had pined for Ellis instead. But things don't go as planned in the Arizona desert, because sweet Mikey just wants to be friends. Feeling rejected, Charlie, an artist, is drawn into a destructive new relationship with her sexy older co-worker, a "semifamous" local musician who's obviously a junkie alcoholic. Through intense, diarylike chapters chronicling Charlie's journey, the author captures the brutal and heartbreaking way "girls who write their pain on their bodies" scar and mar themselves, either succumbing or surviving. Like most issue books, this is not an easy read, but it's poignant and transcendent as Charlie breaks more and more before piecing herself back together.
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-93471-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
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