A fresh coming-of-age tale with an unconventional twist.
Malou always wondered who her parents were and how she came to be the only colored girl at the small-town orphanage.
When a fire destroys the group home and forces her to leave the girls who were like her sisters, Malou follows a clue to Parry Sound, Ontario, where she might find the truth and a new family. Part of the Secrets series, this historical novel by Jocelyn explores racial identity, prejudice, and the meaning of family through 16-year-old Malou’s journal-style entries. Malou’s innocent and optimistic voice adds levity to what could have been a heavy narrative. She encounters prejudice both as an orphan and because of her dark skin. However, most of her context for racial injustice comes from following news from the United States. Set in 1964, the book refers to the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham and the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Unfortunately, there are few references to Black Canadian historical events, an oddity given the book’s focus on Malou’s background; it’s Malou's interactions with the racially diverse group of people she meets during her search that are the novel’s real strength. Learning about their varying perspectives is as eye-opening for Malou as discovering her own history.
A fresh coming-of-age tale with an unconventional twist. (Historical fiction. 13-17)Pub Date: Sept. 29, 2015
ISBN: 978-1-4598-0668-9
Page Count: 264
Publisher: Orca
Review Posted Online: June 28, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2015
Memorable.
Haunting, colorful environments distinguish this debut novel about a girl fighting for survival in the far future.
Ava lives on the Parastrata. She knows nothing beyond her polygamous, fundamentalist religion, whose followers began living in spaceships some 1,000 years ago and which holds women as property since they harbor an interest in Earth “like a soft, rotten spot in [their] souls.” Informed that she’s marrying a man on another ship, Ava’s thrilled to see Luck, a boy she met years ago, in the greeting party. They know they should wait until after their wedding, but they sneak into a desalination pool and succumb to sex the night before—and get caught. To their shock (though not readers’), Ava was actually promised to Luck’s father. The Parastrata women wash Ava and lock her in a chilled room to await her punishment: Being pushed out into open space, which is, of course, fatal. A difficult, terrifying escape and a relative’s sacrifice provide another chance, but where can she go? From the strained peculiarity of the Parastrata to a sunbaked community afloat on the Pacific Ocean to the bustle of Mumbai, Duncan’s settings and diction are vivid. As brown-skinned people become Ava’s chosen family, she learns that her own medium-dark skin—mocked aboard the Parastrata—isn’t a religious stain, marking this a welcome browning of the science-fiction universe. Ava’s decisions sometimes serve plot more than characterization, but readers caught up in the story will forgive this.
Memorable. (Science fiction. 14-17)Pub Date: April 1, 2014
ISBN: 978-0-06-222014-1
Page Count: 528
Publisher: Greenwillow Books
Review Posted Online: Feb. 11, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2014
Romance fans will be enthralled by the back-and-forth drama, though general readers may grow impatient with the protagonists.
In rural Kentucky, where everyone knows everyone else and grudges run deep, Victoria and Mickey’s romance is doomed before it even begins.
She is from the Whitfield family, well-established players in the horse business. He is a Rhodale, known for their drug ties and violent tempers. Though a deep-seated family feud usually keeps Whitfields and Rhodales in separate worlds, Victoria and Mickey cannot deny their instantaneous connection. Their feelings for each other and about their family situations are revealed through short chapters that alternate perspectives. Most of the plot centers around the hormone-addled Victoria and Mickey as they hem and haw over their relationship, while their families do everything in their power to keep them apart. However, several juicy subplots are interwoven throughout the storyline, including Victoria’s sister Melinda’s battle with addiction, the historical connection between the Whitfield and Rhodale families, and dangerous developments in Mickey’s brother Ethan’s drug business. The narrative suffers from the introduction of some superfluous characters and drags on a bit longer than necessary, but it also sets the stage for further titles, as this is the first in a series.
Romance fans will be enthralled by the back-and-forth drama, though general readers may grow impatient with the protagonists. (Romance. 14-17)Pub Date: April 8, 2014
ISBN: 978-1-59514-709-7
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Razorbill/Penguin
Review Posted Online: Feb. 4, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2014
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