Sprawling, muddled and often hard to follow.
In this literary novel, Daniels (The Big No, 2010, etc.) follows Chris Leavitt, a former meth addict trying to rescue his once again unraveling life.
After a car accident leaves his truck and his friend Weed sinking in a river, Chris flees his apartment. Suspended from his job as a surgical assistant, he drifts among his filmmaker friend, Sweet; his girlfriend, Jill; and his autocratic Aunt Jenny, all while dodging mysterious entities he calls “shadows,” which may allow him to predict the future. That said, aside from a flurry of exposition at the beginning and end of the novel, very little happens; the book is largely given over to wheel-spinning passages of dialogue or internal monologue. Some inclusions are baffling: for example, about six pages given over to a phone conversation Chris has with a patent attorney, soon followed by about four pages of his attempt to be connected with the right department at his nursing school. Misplaced or irrelevant flashbacks abound, and point-of-view shifts happen constantly without clear markers, further muddying the narrative flow. It’s possible the intention is a novel of minutiae à la Proust or Joyce; at one point, Sweet defends his amorphous film in what may double as a description of the novel: “That’s reality. People’s lives are...disconnected; they have interests, obligations, and you don’t just get a happy ending after two hours.” Undoubtedly, there’s an audience for plotless fiction, but most readers tend to require fascinating characters or lush prose to sustain their interest. The latter is particularly lacking here. Daniels is fond of multisyllabic words, which he awkwardly stacks to create unwieldy sentences: “Her quasi-endearment consolidated détente.” A late-stage disclosure reveals that a previously mentioned sexual encounter between Chris and Jill in a supply room at work was what could be characterized as an attempted rape—a detail that retroactively colors their entire relationship. The “shadows” also make little sense; perhaps readers are meant to wonder whether they’re real or pathological, but they’re too vague to be anything but distracting.
Sprawling, muddled and often hard to follow.Pub Date: Oct. 19, 2012
ISBN: 978-0615715339
Page Count: 380
Publisher: CreateSpace
Review Posted Online: June 30, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.
A fifth-grade New Orleans girl discovers a mysterious chrysalis containing an unexpected creature in this middle-grade novel.
Jacquelyn Marie Johnson, called Jackie, is a 10-year-old African-American girl, the second oldest and the only girl of six siblings. She’s responsible, smart, and enjoys being in charge; she likes “paper dolls and long division and imagining things she had never seen.” Normally, Jackie has no trouble obeying her strict but loving parents. But when her potted snapdragon acquires a peculiar egg or maybe a chrysalis (she dubs it a chrysalegg), Jackie’s strong desire to protect it runs up against her mother’s rule against plants in the house. Jackie doesn’t exactly mean to lie, but she tells her mother she needs to keep the snapdragon in her room for a science project and gets permission. Jackie draws the chrysalegg daily, waiting for something to happen as it gets larger. When the amazing creature inside breaks free, Jackie is more determined than ever to protect it, but this leads her further into secrets and lies. The results when her parents find out are painful, and resolving the problem will take courage, honesty, and trust. Dumas (Jaden Toussaint, the Greatest: Episode 5, 2017, etc.) presents a very likable character in Jackie. At 10, she’s young enough to enjoy playing with paper dolls but has a maturity that even older kids can lack. She’s resourceful, as when she wants to measure a red spot on the chrysalegg; lacking calipers, she fashions one from her hairpin. Jackie’s inward struggle about what to obey—her dearest wishes or the parents she loves—is one many readers will understand. The book complicates this question by making Jackie’s parents, especially her mother, strict (as one might expect to keep order in a large family) but undeniably loving and protective as well—it’s not just a question of outwitting clueless adults. Jackie’s feelings about the creature (tender and responsible but also more than a little obsessive) are similarly shaded rather than black-and-white. The ending suggests that an intriguing sequel is to come.
In more ways than one, a tale about young creatures testing their wings; a moving, entertaining winner.Pub Date: Nov. 11, 2017
ISBN: 978-1-943169-32-0
Page Count: 212
Publisher: Plum Street Press
Review Posted Online: Feb. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 15, 2018
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.
In the ninth book in the Bluford young-adult series, a young Latino man walks away from violence—but at great personal cost.
In a large Southern California city, 16-year-old Martin Luna hangs out on the fringes of gang life. He’s disaffected, fatherless and increasingly drawn into the orbit of the older, rougher Frankie. When a stray bullet kills Martin’s adored 8-year-old brother, Huero, Martin seems to be heading into a life of crime. But Martin’s mother, determined not to lose another son, moves him to another neighborhood—the fictional town of Bluford, where he attends the racially diverse Bluford High. At his new school, the still-grieving Martin quickly makes enemies and gets into trouble. But he also makes friends with a kind English teacher and catches the eye of Vicky, a smart, pretty and outgoing Bluford student. Martin’s first-person narration supplies much of the book’s power. His dialogue is plain, but realistic and believable, and the authors wisely avoid the temptation to lard his speech with dated and potentially embarrassing slang. The author draws a vivid and affecting picture of Martin’s pain and confusion, bringing a tight-lipped teenager to life. In fact, Martin’s character is so well drawn that when he realizes the truth about his friend Frankie, readers won’t feel as if they are watching an after-school special, but as though they are observing the natural progression of Martin’s personal growth. This short novel appears to be aimed at urban teens who don’t often see their neighborhoods portrayed in young-adult fiction, but its sophisticated characters and affecting story will likely have much wider appeal.
A YA novel that treats its subject and its readers with respect while delivering an engaging story.Pub Date: Jan. 1, 2004
ISBN: 978-1591940173
Page Count: 152
Publisher: Townsend Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 26, 2013
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
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BOOK REVIEW
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