It’s 1871, and 16-year-old Katie’s widowed father, Jack, has raised her all alone on the slopes of a volcano in the Pacific Northwest. When Katie finally convinces Jack to take her into the town of Badwater, he forces her to dress like a boy and act like a mute. However, she is discovered to be a girl and manages to attract the attention of both town bully Jess Starkey and handsome deputy-in-training Adam Summerfield. When Jess follows the family back up the volcano and attempts to rape Katie, Jack kills him. Jess’ murder sets into motion a manhunt that results in three more dead and concludes with an earthquake, Katie’s marriage to Adam and an unsexy sex scene. Despite the body count and gritty frontier landscape, this is an oddly passionless tale; it is told in limp dialogue that conveys little sense of time period or setting. The author’s choice to set the story in a location that is recognizable as Mount St. Helens but use fictional place names also lessens the plot’s punch and robs the story of context. Katie’s first-person voice is less innocent than it is obvious, and Nelson’s simplistic prose tells far more than it shows. If you’re looking for True Grit, better keep riding. (Historical fiction. 12 & up)
Pub Date: April 1, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-399-25282-2
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Putnam
Review Posted Online: April 5, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2011
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
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head.
The finely drawn characters capture readers’ attention in this debut.
Autumn and Phineas, nicknamed Finny, were born a week apart; their mothers are still best friends. Growing up, Autumn and Finny were like peas in a pod despite their differences: Autumn is “quirky and odd,” while Finny is “sweet and shy and everyone like[s] him.” But in eighth grade, Autumn and Finny stop being friends due to an unexpected kiss. They drift apart and find new friends, but their friendship keeps asserting itself at parties, shared holiday gatherings and random encounters. In the summer after graduation, Autumn and Finny reconnect and are finally ready to be more than friends. But on August 8, everything changes, and Autumn has to rely on all her strength to move on. Autumn’s coming-of-age is sensitively chronicled, with a wide range of experiences and events shaping her character. Even secondary characters are well-rounded, with their own histories and motivations.
There’s not much plot here, but readers will relish the opportunity to climb inside Autumn’s head. (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: April 1, 2013
ISBN: 978-1-4022-7782-5
Page Count: 336
Publisher: Sourcebooks Fire
Review Posted Online: Feb. 12, 2013
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2013
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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