A depressing, downbeat tale that attempts to make sense of the lives of some highly dysfunctional, unlikable people, but never quite succeeds. Life in the small desert town of Whitson, California, is not easy for anyone who lives there. Cat, 15, lives with her single mother Jackie, a hard-living barmaid whose relationships with men never work out. Jason is jaded beyond his years and full of contempt for his stodgy parents, who simply can’t deal with him; his one great passion is in-line skating, his means of escape from an otherwise pointless life, with a gang of skaters who show him the respect he gets nowhere else. While fleeing from a crime, Jason crashes into a younger boy, killing him, a fact that hardly seems to register. Meanwhile, Cat is pregnant; she’s always loved Jason and hopes that he will love her back. Her chance to start over arrives when she miscarriages, but Jason is not so lucky; his encounter with the older brother of the boy he killed results in a terrible accident that changes Jason’s life forever, but cannot change the person he has become. Readers will breathe a sigh of relief if they make it to the conclusion of this book; some of it resembles literary psychobabble, but the images—of desperate lives careening out of control—linger. The passages of remarkably poised, fluid writing make Smith’s debut, despite its disheartening message, unusually strong. (Fiction. 12-14)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-7894-2625-0
Page Count: 182
Publisher: DK Publishing
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1999
Categories: TEEN SOCIAL THEMES
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Couloumbis’s debut carries a family through early stages of grief with grace, sensitivity, and a healthy dose of laughter. In the wake of Baby’s sudden death, the three Deans remaining put up no resistance when Aunt Patty swoops in to take away 12-year-old Willa Jo and suddenly, stubbornly mute JoAnn, called “Little Sister,” in the misguided belief that their mother needs time alone. Well-meaning but far too accustomed to getting her way, Aunt Patty buys the children unwanted new clothes, enrolls them in a Bible day camp for one disastrous day, and even tries to line up friends for them. While politely tolerating her hovering, the two inseparable sisters find their own path, hooking up with a fearless, wonderfully plainspoken teenaged neighbor and her dirt-loving brothers, then, acting on an obscure but ultimately healing impulse, climbing out onto the roof to get a bit closer to Heaven, and Baby. Willa Jo tells the tale in a nonlinear, back-and-forth fashion that not only prepares readers emotionally for her heartrending account of Baby’s death, but also artfully illuminates each character’s depths and foibles; the loving relationship between Patty and her wiser husband Hob is just as complex and clearly drawn as that of Willa Jo and Little Sister. Lightening the tone by poking gentle fun at Patty and some of her small-town neighbors, the author creates a cast founded on likable, real-seeming people who grow and change in response to tragedy. (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-399-23389-X
Page Count: 211
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 1999
Categories: TEEN FAMILY | TEEN SOCIAL THEMES
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A teenager concocts a risky private game that almost leads to tragedy in this character portrait of a borderline obsessive-compulsive from Tashjian (Tru Confessions, 1997). Weary of incessant worrying, regrets, and mental instant replays, Monica tries a distraction; drawing on her fondness for anagrams and other wordplay, she performs an act either a) normal, b) silly, c) mean, or d) sacrificial, depending on which of four Scrabble letters she draws. Repeated drawings lead to several good deeds, which are more than balanced out by embarrassing or painful ones. Soon Monica has made herself wear pajamas to school, give away her prized kaleidoscope, alienate her best friend, and, after locking Justin, the preschooler she babysits, in his room, driven him to jump from a window and scratch his cornea. Monica comes off more as a born fretter than someone with an actual disorder, so her desperation seems overdone; the game appears less a compulsion than a bad decision that gets out of hand. Still, readers will feel Monica’s thrill when she takes charge, and also, with uncommon sharpness, her bitter remorse after Justin’s accident. Once Monica’s secret is out, Tashjian surrounds her with caring adults and, turning her penchant for self-analysis in more constructive directions, leads her to the liberating insight that she’s been taking herself too seriously. As a light study in how self-absorption can sometimes help as well as hurt, Multiple Choice is a fitting choice. (Fiction. 11-13)
Pub Date: June 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8050-6086-3
Page Count: 186
Publisher: Henry Holt
Review Posted Online: May 20, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1999
Categories: TEEN SOCIAL THEMES
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