SPLINTERING

Poems in two voices tell this tale of a family involved in a nightmare. Jeremy, the brother, and Paulie, the sister, are in their sister’s home with their parents and Mimi when attacked by a drug-crazed man wielding a knife. Mimi had called for the family to come get her upon finding that her new husband was seeing another woman, and the family, already upset, is left traumatized by events. The brother retreats to the basement to hide at his father’s bidding, as the father has a heart attack, and the three women run upstairs to barricade themselves into a bedroom where the man’s superhuman strength eventually breaks down the door. At first, it’s quite difficult to tell who is the author of which poem, despite slightly different typeface. Each teen’s writing style is not particularly distinctive, although each does travel a different path to create a new sense of security. A culminating event brings the strands and family together in a satisfying dénouement. Effective and affecting. (Fiction. YA)