This tale of a teen's maturation doesn't reinvent the wheel—Harper Lee can probably rest easy—but Guhl's familiar story...
A Midwestern boyhood marked by tragedy and triumph.
Guhl's charming debut novel, set in 1960s small-town Wisconsin, shares many thematic concerns with Harper Lee's To Kill a Mockingbird, an affectionate homage underscored when the protagonist is assigned that classic novel in his English class. Delmar, our hero, is a bullied, underweight high school sophomore struggling with persecution from the school's burnout "grits" and, more dramatically, the recent murder of his policeman father and the worrying decline of his seriously ill mother. Del's journey from frightened pushover to confident, resourceful young man is aided by an endearingly ragtag group of allies, including his irascible grandfather, a brash juvenile delinquent, a churchgoing English teacher, and the school's sole black student, a serious-minded young beauty named Opal. Their campaign against the town's corrupt police department provides mild thrills and gentle life lessons in equal measure, all made palatable by Guhl's control of tone and way with character details; the narrative never pushes its progressive agenda, instead allowing the reader to inhabit Del's richly drawn world and draw his or her own conclusions. The setting of Neenah, Wisconsin, is vividly rendered, skirting simple nostalgia with well-observed, specific peculiarities of time and place, and Del and his companions are fully drawn personalities whose hopes, fears, and embarrassments resonate with the familiar, sweet ache of teenage growing pains.
This tale of a teen's maturation doesn't reinvent the wheel—Harper Lee can probably rest easy—but Guhl's familiar story rolls by with enough charm and heart to make it a worthwhile ride.Pub Date: Oct. 2, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-299-31910-6
Page Count: 317
Publisher: Univ. of Wisconsin
Review Posted Online: July 16, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2018
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.
Life lessons.
Angie Malone, the youngest of a big, warm Italian-American family, returns to her Pacific Northwest hometown to wrestle with various midlife disappointments: her divorce, Papa’s death, a downturn in business at the family restaurant, and, above all, her childlessness. After several miscarriages, she, a successful ad exec, and husband Conlan, a reporter, befriended a pregnant young girl and planned to adopt her baby—and then the birth mother changed her mind. Angie and Conlan drifted apart and soon found they just didn’t love each other anymore. Metaphorically speaking, “her need for a child had been a high tide, an overwhelming force that drowned them. A year ago, she could have kicked to the surface but not now.” Sadder but wiser, Angie goes to work in the struggling family restaurant, bickering with Mama over updating the menu and replacing the ancient waitress. Soon, Angie befriends another young girl, Lauren Ribido, who’s eager to learn and desperately needs a job. Lauren’s family lives on the wrong side of the tracks, and her mother is a promiscuous alcoholic, but Angie knows nothing of this sad story and welcomes Lauren into the DeSaria family circle. The girl listens in, wide-eyed, as the sisters argue and make wisecracks and—gee-whiz—are actually nice to each other. Nothing at all like her relationship with her sluttish mother, who throws Lauren out when boyfriend David, en route to Stanford, gets her pregnant. Will Lauren, who’s just been accepted to USC, let Angie adopt her baby? Well, a bit of a twist at the end keeps things from becoming too predictable.
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.Pub Date: July 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-345-46750-7
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2004
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.
Sisters work together to solve a child-abandonment case.
Ellie and Julia Cates have never been close. Julia is shy and brainy; Ellie gets by on charm and looks. Their differences must be tossed aside when a traumatized young girl wanders in from the forest into their hometown in Washington. The sisters’ professional skills are put to the test. Julia is a world-renowned child psychologist who has lost her edge. She is reeling from a case that went publicly sour. Though she was cleared of all wrongdoing, Julia’s name was tarnished, forcing her to shutter her Beverly Hills practice. Ellie Barton is the local police chief in Rain Valley, who’s never faced a tougher case. This is her chance to prove she is more than just a fading homecoming queen, but a scarcity of clues and a reluctant victim make locating the girl’s parents nearly impossible. Ellie places an SOS call to her sister; she needs an expert to rehabilitate this wild-child who has been living outside of civilization for years. Confronted with her professional demons, Julia once again has the opportunity to display her talents and salvage her reputation. Hannah (The Things We Do for Love, 2004, etc.) is at her best when writing from the girl’s perspective. The feral wolf-child keeps the reader interested long after the other, transparent characters have grown tiresome. Hannah’s torturously over-written romance passages are stale, but there are surprises in store as the sisters set about unearthing Alice’s past and creating a home for her.
Wacky plot keeps the pages turning and enduring schmaltzy romantic sequences.Pub Date: March 1, 2006
ISBN: 0-345-46752-3
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: June 24, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2005
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