Unlikely but successful combination of light humor and introspection.
Country music elegy to a long-lost woman, lesbian-style.
The nameless first-person narrator is in a state of mourning for her first love, Madeline, who died at age 14. So comfortable is the narrator with her self-imposed exile from romance, and so accustomed is she to silently narrating her life to Madeline’s ghost, that she does not notice that after close to 20 years her mourning has suddenly become darker and more despairing. The narrator reads signs of Madeline’s presence everywhere, and because she is a projectionist at a movie house, she experiences almost everything as though it were a scene in a movie, or as though it had a soundtrack. What the narrator cannot see is that her grief—as well as her habitual references to popular culture to explain how she feels—is slowly separating her from real experience. Two women, her housemate Billie, an exasperatingly talkative and self-deluded poet, and Julia, a serene and self-possessed artist, refuse to desert the narrator. In fact, as she becomes more emotionally remote, they dedicate themselves to helping her make meaningful human connections. Eventually, even the narrator’s annoyance with Billie, whose extroverted emotional life make the two women mirror opposites, grows into something like grudging affection. And with Julia, she is again able to feel romantic love. But when Billie and Julia, despite their tolerance, leave the narrator, it opens the way for an understanding that losing loved ones is an occasion for growth. All ends well, if unconvincingly. Though the plot is relatively dark, it is enlivened by Brooks’s colorful depiction of the secondary characters; drawn in bold strokes, they gain dimension as the narrator realizes their importance to her. Also noteworthy are the dozens of references to films and music (Brooks provides a list of songs meant to be used as a soundtrack for the novel); they are neatly incorporated, resonant without being distracting.
Unlikely but successful combination of light humor and introspection.Pub Date: May 10, 2006
ISBN: 1-55192-717-9
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Raincoast
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2006
Less bleak than the subject matter might warrant—Hannah’s default outlook is sunny—but still, a wrenching depiction of war’s...
The traumatic homecoming of a wounded warrior.
The daughter of alcoholics who left her orphaned at 17, Jolene “Jo” Zarkades found her first stable family in the military: She’s served over two decades, first in the army, later with the National Guard. A helicopter pilot stationed near Seattle, Jo copes as competently at home, raising two daughters, Betsy and Lulu, while trying to dismiss her husband Michael’s increasing emotional distance. Jo’s mettle is sorely tested when Michael informs her flatly that he no longer loves her. Four-year-old Lulu clamors for attention while preteen Betsy, mean-girl-in-training, dismisses as dweeby her former best friend, Seth, son of Jo’s confidante and fellow pilot, Tami. Amid these challenges comes the ultimate one: Jo and Tami are deployed to Iraq. Michael, with the help of his mother, has to take over the household duties, and he rapidly learns that parenting is much harder than his wife made it look. As Michael prepares to defend a PTSD-afflicted veteran charged with Murder I for killing his wife during a dissociative blackout, he begins to understand what Jolene is facing and to revisit his true feelings for her. When her helicopter is shot down under insurgent fire, Jo rescues Tami from the wreck, but a young crewman is killed. Tami remains in a coma and Jo, whose leg has been amputated, returns home to a difficult rehabilitation on several fronts. Her nightmares in which she relives the crash and other horrors she witnessed, and her pain, have turned Jo into a person her daughters now fear (which in the case of bratty Betsy may not be such a bad thing). Jo can't forgive Michael for his rash words. Worse, she is beginning to remind Michael more and more of his homicide client. Characterization can be cursory: Michael’s earlier callousness, left largely unexplained, undercuts the pathos of his later change of heart.
Less bleak than the subject matter might warrant—Hannah’s default outlook is sunny—but still, a wrenching depiction of war’s aftermath.Pub Date: Jan. 31, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-312-57720-9
Page Count: 400
Publisher: St. Martin's
Review Posted Online: Dec. 18, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2012
In his quest for easy moolah, Owen learns that the road to financial solvency can be rocky and fraught with work. Greene (Owen Foote, Soccer Star, 1998, etc.) touches upon the often-thorny issue of chores and allowances: Owen’s mom wants him to help out because he’s part of the family and not just for the money—while Owen wants the money without having to do tedious household chores. This universal dilemma leaves Owen without funds and eagerly searching for ways to make a quick buck. His madcap schemes range from original—a “free” toilet demonstration that costs 50 cents—to disastrous, as during the trial run of his children’s fishing video, Owen ends up hooking his ear instead of a trout. Enlisting the aid of his stalwart, if long-suffering, friend Joseph, the two form a dog-walking club that becomes vastly restricted in clientele after Owen has a close encounter with an incontinent, octogenarian canine. Ultimately, Owen learns a valuable lesson about work and money when an unselfish action is generously rewarded. These sudden riches motivate Owen to consider wiser investments for his money than plastic vomit. Greene’s crisp writing style and wry humor is on-target for young readers. Brief chapters revolving around a significant event or action and fast pacing are an effective draw for tentative readers. Weston’s (Space Guys!, p. 392, etc.) black-and-white illustrations, ranging in size from quarter- to full-page, deftly portray Owen’s humorous escapades. A wise, witty addition to Greene’s successful series. (Fiction. 8-10)
Pub Date: Sept. 18, 2000
ISBN: 0-618-02369-0
Page Count: 96
Publisher: Clarion Books
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2000
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