This ambitious novel plods at times and pirouettes at others, like the angst-y readers who are the most likely to enjoy it.
Troubled teen relationships weave around each other in this British import.
Claudette lives in a dying seaside town, dotted with boarded-up shops and once-grand houses turned to dilapidated squats. The white girl has just been released from inpatient psychiatric care after a bipolar episode at school, and her doctor has told her to come up with “small goals you can easily achieve, and a large goal to work towards.” Her goal is to “find Sarah Banks,” a local girl with a troubled past who has disappeared under mysterious circumstances. The story meanders, touching on Claudette’s loving but contentious relationship with her father’s girlfriend, an unlikely friendship with the neighborhood crank, and an assortment of boys ranging from wholesome to despicable. Numerous flashbacks show more of Claudette’s history with the missing girl, but these never quite achieve an emotional urgency. Far more compelling is Claudette’s exploration of and recovery from mental illness, set against the bleak landscape of her hometown, which is also when the most beautiful writing shines through. The time spent on less-compelling side characters and plot threads detracts from these moments, making for an uneven reading experience.
This ambitious novel plods at times and pirouettes at others, like the angst-y readers who are the most likely to enjoy it. (Fiction. 14-18)Pub Date: Oct. 3, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-4721-1420-4
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Atom/Trafalgar
Review Posted Online: Aug. 20, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2017
BOOK REVIEW
Two Rio Grande Valley high schoolers flirt with cutting out early but find reasons to finish school in this purposeful but intense tale. For Beto, it’s a combination of pride, disinterest in school and a clash with his caring but harsh father that sends him stalking away to spend the night in a Dumpster. For Beto's longtime friend Jessy, it’s a strong desire to be an artist, plus the strain of hearing her father beating her mother and knowing that her turn will be coming up one of these nights, that drives her to head for the bus to San Antonio. Using a mix of tenses and all three persons, Saldaña lays out his characters’ thoughts and emotional landscapes in broad strokes—creating a third angle of view by adding Beto’s little brother Roelito, who works his nalgas off in school but shows early signs of an ominous anger, as another narrative voice. The action takes place over the course of a little more than 12 hours, neatly capturing the spontaneity of teen impulses. Teen readers chafing at the domestic bit will find food for thought here. (Fiction. YA)
Pub Date: Oct. 30, 2010
ISBN: 978-1-55885-607-3
Page Count: 112
Publisher: Arte Público
Review Posted Online: Aug. 31, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2010
“Death is a period / at the end of a sentence,” concludes Annaleah, the 16-year-old protagonist of Schutz’s captivating fictional follow-up to her verse memoir (I Don’t Want To Be Crazy, 2006). And much like the resolute finality fixed in that tiny dot, Annaleah spends a great deal of this free-verse novel stuck contemplating the harsh reality that her sometime boyfriend, Brian—a seemingly healthy, dark-haired, cloudy-blue–eyed 17-year-old—has just dropped dead on the basketball court. Reeling from both physical loss and lack of closure to the meaning of their clandestine relationship, Annaleah finds herself routinely visiting and addressing the deceased Brian, until a chance graveside encounter yields advice that finally begins to hit home: “Nothing grows here,” says Brian’s grandmother, “besides grass.” At first blush appearing to pull out all the melodramatic stops in classic teen fashion, these refreshingly spare lines tackle tough relational issues—intimacy, risk, abandonment—with aplomb, making for a moving tale that also effectively shows teens how life can go on. (Fiction/poetry. 14 & up)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 2010
ISBN: 970-0-545-16911-0
Page Count: 304
Publisher: PUSH/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: Sept. 15, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2010
BOOK REVIEW
© Copyright 2024 Kirkus Media LLC. All Rights Reserved.
Follow
Popular in this Genre
We can’t wait for you to join Kirkus!
It’s free and takes less than 10 seconds!
Already have an account? Log in.
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
Welcome Back!
OR
Sign in with GoogleTrouble signing in? Retrieve credentials.
bookshelf
