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NIECY

Name: NIECY
Author: Janny Vaughan
ISBN: 978-1490916002

THE FAMOUS KID

by Janny Vaughan ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 23, 2013

An emotional tribute to an extraordinary 17-year-old girl through the eyes of her biggest fan: her mom.

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A heart-wrenching memoir penned by a grieving mother who struggled to come to terms with her daughter’s devastating accident.

Vaughan’s (The True-Life Adventures of Genie and Janny, 2012) 17-year-old daughter Niecy had a way with animals—she’d taken troubled pigs, cats, birds, bugs and even a cougar under her wing. But in 1975, while Niecy was riding her horse, Action, something went terribly wrong. Vaughan watched, in horror, as her child was thrown from the horse, trampled and rendered unconscious. She slipped into a coma, and although Vaughan clung to the hope that her daughter would wake up and become her vibrant self again, waiting for a prognosis was unbearably painful. Like a hazy fever dream, the author alternates between harrowing stories of living in the hospital for months at a time and lush, honeyed memories of her energetic daughter as a child. “Niecy couldn’t be bothered to part her hair straight or tie a proper bow,” Vaughan writes. “She could, however, lasso a running cow, cat, peacock, dog, and often, her sister. She flunked health class but nursed countless baby birds, rabbits, hamsters, and kittens back to life.” As Niecy’s health declined, Vaughan faced the possibility of a life without her daughter and best friend. But with her daughter’s gentle spirit as a guide, the author navigated her way through grief, depression, and perhaps the most difficult task of all, completing her memoir, which took 38 grief-filled years to finish. A palpable anguish colors the book’s narration, and a few passages feel vague and brief, presumably because they were excruciating to write. But in Vaughan’s eyes, Niecy was a hero—a kindhearted, wide-eyed dreamer who changed the lives of everyone she met. Although mothers aren’t typically the most reliable narrators, Vaughan’s homespun tales of Niecy the Famous Kid—the nickname that a giggling Niecy dreamed up for herself while collecting shells with her mom on the beach—are stirring, tender and overflowing with love.

An emotional tribute to an extraordinary 17-year-old girl through the eyes of her biggest fan: her mom.

Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2013

ISBN: 978-1490916002

Page Count: 224

Publisher: CreateSpace

Review Posted Online: Sept. 5, 2014

Review Program: Kirkus Indie

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.