A poignant, humanizing exploration of a sadly timely issue.
After her brother is injured in a gun accident, a teen—and her town—grapples with the aftermath in Culley’s debut.
Fifteen-year-old Liv’s older brother, Jonah, had always been a daredevil—until he accidentally shot himself with a gun belonging to his best friend Clay’s dad. Now, severely brain damaged, he requires expensive round-the-clock care. Despite Jonah’s largely passive state, Liv accords him as much agency as possible, helping him to “have his say.” As the trial to determine who’s responsible approaches, residents of former mill town Maddigan, Maine, vehemently defend their right to own guns. But firearm debates are only the surface of this character-driven drama. Introspective and inquisitive Liv’s free-verse narration vividly explores the rift between her family and Clay’s; memories of her late father; and the difficulty of surviving in her economically depressed small town. Above all, her spare, blunt lines convey her love for Jonah; her exhaustion and loneliness as her friends and overworked, overwhelmed mother grow distant; and the nuances of guilt and forgiveness. Liv’s struggle with the “little animal / inside” her that yearns for attention even as she acknowledges that Jonah “needs everything” is piercingly realistic. Fortunately, kind—if somewhat one-dimensional—secondary characters offer support, and Liv and Clay’s gradual romance is touching. The ending offers bittersweet but satisfying closure. Most characters appear white; one of Liv’s friends is Indian American.
A poignant, humanizing exploration of a sadly timely issue. (Fiction. 13-18)Pub Date: Jan. 7, 2020
ISBN: 978-0-06-290802-5
Page Count: 480
Publisher: HarperTeen
Review Posted Online: Oct. 20, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2019
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
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in.
Black is back with another dark tale of Faerie, this one set in Faerie and launching a new trilogy.
Jude—broken, rebuilt, fueled by anger and a sense of powerlessness—has never recovered from watching her adoptive Faerie father murder her parents. Human Jude (whose brown hair curls and whose skin color is never described) both hates and loves Madoc, whose murderous nature is true to his Faerie self and who in his way loves her. Brought up among the Gentry, Jude has never felt at ease, but after a decade, Faerie has become her home despite the constant peril. Black’s latest looks at nature and nurture and spins a tale of court intrigue, bloodshed, and a truly messed-up relationship that might be the saving of Jude and the titular prince, who, like Jude, has been shaped by the cruelties of others. Fierce and observant Jude is utterly unaware of the currents that swirl around her. She fights, plots, even murders enemies, but she must also navigate her relationship with her complex family (human, Faerie, and mixed). This is a heady blend of Faerie lore, high fantasy, and high school drama, dripping with description that brings the dangerous but tempting world of Faerie to life.
Black is building a complex mythology; now is a great time to tune in. (Fantasy. 14-adult)Pub Date: Jan. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-316-31027-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: Sept. 25, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 15, 2017
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