In the Moon of the Grass Appearing (April), the child Waskn Mani, or Moves Walking, sits with his grandmother and the Lakota village chief as the great warrior Fire Thunder returns home from a raid. Hoping that the man has encountered his mother, Rattling Hail Woman, Waskn Mani approaches him. In a fit of anger, Fire Thunder slices off Waskn Mani's ear. Many years earlier, Fire Thunder had courted Rattling Hail Woman and she rejected him. She left the village and, as the she-wolf, Shunkmanitu Tanka, tells the tale, Fire Thunder hunted her and killed her. After incurring the displeasure of the respected fighter, the gentle orphan becomes an outcast in his village, and he must actually flee with his grandmother when he opposes Fire Thunder's bid to be chief. Shunkmanitu Tanka sacrifices herself for Waskn Mani then, just as he will later sacrifice himself to teach his village the proper way to take life and to give life. Filled with myth and mystical encounters, The Crying for a Vision has the presence of an ancient legend. Wangerin (Elisabeth and the Water-Troll, 1991, etc.) employs a magical realism so natural that the reader accepts it without pause or question, as when the narrative is seamlessly taken over by a wolf, or rabbit. The story's cadence is simultaneously familiar and foreign, like another language we have only just discovered we understand. Possibly the best book written for young adults in years; perhaps because there is nothing about it that limits it to that audience. (Fiction. 12+)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1994
ISBN: 0-671-79911-8
Page Count: 279
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1994
BOOK REVIEW
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression.
After surviving a suicide attempt, a fragile teen isn't sure she can endure without cutting herself.
Seventeen-year-old Charlie Davis, a white girl living on the margins, thinks she has little reason to live: her father drowned himself; her bereft and abusive mother kicked her out; her best friend, Ellis, is nearly brain dead after cutting too deeply; and she's gone through unspeakable experiences living on the street. After spending time in treatment with other young women like her—who cut, burn, poke, and otherwise hurt themselves—Charlie is released and takes a bus from the Twin Cities to Tucson to be closer to Mikey, a boy she "like-likes" but who had pined for Ellis instead. But things don't go as planned in the Arizona desert, because sweet Mikey just wants to be friends. Feeling rejected, Charlie, an artist, is drawn into a destructive new relationship with her sexy older co-worker, a "semifamous" local musician who's obviously a junkie alcoholic. Through intense, diarylike chapters chronicling Charlie's journey, the author captures the brutal and heartbreaking way "girls who write their pain on their bodies" scar and mar themselves, either succumbing or surviving. Like most issue books, this is not an easy read, but it's poignant and transcendent as Charlie breaks more and more before piecing herself back together.
This grittily provocative debut explores the horrors of self-harm and the healing power of artistic expression. (author’s note) (Fiction. 14 & up)Pub Date: Aug. 30, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-93471-5
Page Count: 416
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
A book that seamlessly brings readers along on a journey of impact and empowerment.
A manifesto for budding feminists.
At the core of this engaging novel are besties Chelsea, who is Irish- and Italian-American and into fashion and beauty, and Jasmine, who is African-American, loves the theater, and pushes back against bias around size (“I don’t need your fake compliments, your pity. I know I’m beautiful. Inside and out”). They and their sidekicks, half-Japanese/half-Lebanese Nadine and Puerto Rican Isaac, grow into first-class activists—simultaneously educating their peers and readers. The year gets off to a rocky start at their progressive, social justice–oriented New York City high school: Along with the usual angst many students experience, Jasmine’s father is terminally ill with cancer, and after things go badly in both their clubs, Jasmine and Chelsea form a women’s rights club which becomes the catalyst for their growth as they explore gender inequality and opportunities for change. This is an inspiring look at two strong-willed teens growing into even stronger young women ready to use their voices and take on the world, imploring budding feminists everywhere to “join the revolution.” The book offers a poetic balance of dialogue among the main characters, their peers, and the adults in their lives. The exquisite pacing, which intersperses everyday teen conflicts with weightier issues, demonstrates how teens long to be heard and taken seriously.
A book that seamlessly brings readers along on a journey of impact and empowerment. (resources for young activists, endnotes) (Fiction. 12-18)Pub Date: Feb. 12, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-5476-0008-3
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Bloomsbury
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2019
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