Respectful, unflinching, and eye-opening.
Mann (What Every Girl Should Know, 2019, etc.) tackles the eugenics movement of the 1920s.
Students of the Massachusetts School for the Feeble-Minded—disabled, gay, Indigenous, and other marginalized people—never graduate. Categorized as idiots, imbeciles, and morons, these “degenerates” are subject to strict routines, cruel punishments, and menial labor. But street-wise, cynical orphan London—unmarried and pregnant—is sure she can escape. However, when she reluctantly befriends Maxine; Maxine’s younger sister, Rose, who has Down syndrome; and Alice, who has a club foot, she realizes that more lives than hers are at stake. Each teen’s perspective unfolds in alternating third-person chapters. Maxine’s forbidden mutual attraction to Alice mingles with hope, homesickness, and shame. Alice, who is singled out for harsher punishment for being black and lesbian as well as disabled, doesn’t dare express love. Though Rose’s portrayal skirts the “cuddly disabled child” trope, she’s refreshingly savvy. A heavy plot contrivance notwithstanding, the author portrays the movement’s prejudice, racism, and violence with brutal realism; an author’s note explains that the doctors’ dehumanizing dialogue comes verbatim from real medical notes. Crucially, she reminds readers that such prejudice still exists. She also explains all named characters’ diagnoses, which range from hydrocephalus to autism, and considers her own spinal disability and white privilege. Maxine, Rose, and most secondary characters appear to be white. London, who has southern Italian origins, has a dark complexion.
Respectful, unflinching, and eye-opening. (historical note, author’s note, bibliography) (Historical fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: March 17, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-5344-1935-3
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Atheneum
Review Posted Online: Dec. 20, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2020
PERSPECTIVES
Perhaps a more genuinely enlightened protagonist would have made this debut more engaging
Audrey Rose Wadsworth, 17, would rather perform autopsies in her uncle’s dark laboratory than find a suitable husband, as is the socially acceptable rite of passage for a young, white British lady in the late 1800s.
The story immediately brings Audrey into a fractious pairing with her uncle’s young assistant, Thomas Cresswell. The two engage in predictable rounds of “I’m smarter than you are” banter, while Audrey’s older brother, Nathaniel, taunts her for being a girl out of her place. Horrific murders of prostitutes whose identities point to associations with the Wadsworth estate prompt Audrey to start her own investigation, with Thomas as her sidekick. Audrey’s narration is both ponderous and polemical, as she sees her pursuit of her goals and this investigation as part of a crusade for women. She declares that the slain aren’t merely prostitutes but “daughters and wives and mothers,” but she’s also made it a point to deny any alignment with the profiled victims: “I am not going as a prostitute. I am simply blending in.” Audrey also expresses a narrow view of her desired gender role, asserting that “I was determined to be both pretty and fierce,” as if to say that physical beauty and liking “girly” things are integral to feminism. The graphic descriptions of mutilated women don’t do much to speed the pace.
Perhaps a more genuinely enlightened protagonist would have made this debut more engaging . (Historical thriller. 15-18)Pub Date: Sept. 20, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-316-27349-7
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Jimmy Patterson/Little, Brown
Review Posted Online: May 31, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind.
In this companion novel to 2013’s If He Had Been With Me, three characters tell their sides of the story.
Finn’s narrative starts three days before his death. He explores the progress of his unrequited love for best friend Autumn up until the day he finally expresses his feelings. Finn’s story ends with his tragic death, which leaves his close friends devastated, unmoored, and uncertain how to go on. Jack’s section follows, offering a heartbreaking look at what it’s like to live with grief. Jack works to overcome the anger he feels toward Sylvie, the girlfriend Finn was breaking up with when he died, and Autumn, the girl he was preparing to build his life around (but whom Jack believed wasn’t good enough for Finn). But when Jack sees how Autumn’s grief matches his own, it changes their understanding of one another. Autumn’s chapters trace her life without Finn as readers follow her struggles with mental health and balancing love and loss. Those who have read the earlier book will better connect with and feel for these characters, particularly since they’ll have a more well-rounded impression of Finn. The pain and anger is well written, and the novel highlights the most troublesome aspects of young adulthood: overconfidence sprinkled with heavy insecurities, fear-fueled decisions, bad communication, and brash judgments. Characters are cued white.
A heavy read about the harsh realities of tragedy and their effects on those left behind. (author’s note, content warning) (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 6, 2024
ISBN: 9781728276229
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Jan. 5, 2024
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2024
BOOK REVIEW
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