A tense and unsettling portrait of a family torn apart by a predator in its midst.
A teenage girl runs away from her home to escape her stepfather in this revised edition of a YA novel by the author.
Fifteen-year-old Maggie tells her mom she’s going away on a weekend camping trip with a friend, but really, she’s planning to run away. The problem is Richard, her mother’s new husband, whom they recently moved in with. Her mother, Peg, thinks Richard is a sweetheart—though she realizes he’s a bit controlling, and she doesn’t like that he’s started drinking a lot since losing his job. She can’t understand why Maggie has been so difficult lately. What Peg doesn’t realize is that Richard has been touching Maggie inappropriately. Maggie gets on a bus to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania—a place she seems to have chosen because she saw its name on an old school notebook of her mother’s—and she’s unknowingly following in Peg’s own footsteps when she ran away as a teenager. Maggie has taken Peg’s journal with her, which leads her to discover things about her mother’s past that she never suspected. Meanwhile, back at home, Richard tells Peg that Maggie has been behaving suggestively toward him. “I hate to have to tell you this,” he says, “but, she was blatantly coming on to me. I had to physically push her away from me. She started to attack me then, and I had to restrain her.” Will Peg believe him, or will she discover the truth in time to save her daughter from making the same mistakes she once made? The point of view alternates between Maggie and Peg, revealing how blind Peg is to Richard’s behavior: “He only had one beer tonight, and he’ll drink less when our financial issues are resolved. There’s really no reason to give up on our marriage. He’s very loving and tender, and he is doing his best to be a father to the girls, even when Maggie’s been awful.” The novel takes a while to get going, and several of the chapters seem superfluous to the plot. That said, the book realistically portrays an instance of sexual abuse and how one parent might be blind to it—even if that blindness is somewhat willful.
A tense and unsettling portrait of a family torn apart by a predator in its midst.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-9855270-3-7
Page Count: 270
Publisher: Durare Publishing
Review Posted Online: April 3, 2020
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense.
Everyone believes that Salil Singh killed his girlfriend, Andrea Bell, five years ago—except Pippa Fitz-Amobi.
Pip has known and liked Sal since childhood; he’d supported her when she was being bullied in middle school. For her senior capstone project, Pip researches the disappearance of former Fairview High student Andie, last seen on April 18, 2014, by her younger sister, Becca. The original investigation concluded with most of the evidence pointing to Sal, who was found dead in the woods, apparently by suicide. Andie’s body was never recovered, and Sal was assumed by most to be guilty of abduction and murder. Unable to ignore the gaps in the case, Pip sets out to prove Sal’s innocence, beginning with interviewing his younger brother, Ravi. With his help, Pip digs deeper, unveiling unsavory facts about Andie and the real reason Sal’s friends couldn’t provide him with an alibi. But someone is watching, and Pip may be in more danger than she realizes. Pip’s sleuthing is both impressive and accessible. Online articles about the case and interview transcripts are provided throughout, and Pip’s capstone logs offer insights into her thought processes as new evidence and suspects arise. Jackson’s debut is well-executed and surprises readers with a connective web of interesting characters and motives. Pip and Andie are white, and Sal is of Indian descent.
A treat for mystery readers who enjoy being kept in suspense. (Mystery. 14-18)Pub Date: Feb. 4, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-9636-0
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Delacorte
Review Posted Online: Oct. 27, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2019
Ideal for readers seeking perspectives on war, with a heavy dash of romance and touch of fantasy.
A war between gods plays havoc with mortals and their everyday lives.
In a time of typewriters and steam engines, Iris Winnow awaits word from her older brother, who has enlisted on the side of Enva the Skyward goddess. Alcohol abuse led to her mother’s losing her job, and Iris has dropped out of school and found work utilizing her writing skills at the Oath Gazette. Hiding the stress of her home issues behind a brave face, Iris competes for valuable assignments that may one day earn her the coveted columnist position. Her rival for the job is handsome and wealthy Roman Kitt, whose prose entrances her so much she avoids reading his articles. At home, she writes cathartic letters to her brother, never posting them but instead placing them in her wardrobe, where they vanish overnight. One day Iris receives a reply, which, along with other events, pushes her to make dramatic life decisions. Magic plays a quiet role in this story, and readers may for a time forget there is anything supernatural going on. This is more of a wartime tale of broken families, inspired youths, and higher powers using people as pawns. It flirts with clichéd tropes but also takes some startling turns. Main characters are assumed White; same-sex marriages and gender equality at the warfront appear to be the norm in this world.
Ideal for readers seeking perspectives on war, with a heavy dash of romance and touch of fantasy. (Fantasy. 14-18)Pub Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 978-1-250-85743-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Review Posted Online: Jan. 11, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2023
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