March 24, 2014
Set in New Hampshire in the summer of 1965, Gordon's (The Shadow Collector's Apprentice) historical coming-of-age novel unfolds through the alternating perspectives of 13-year-old cousins Holly and Ivy. The Greenwoods gather every year at Otter Lake, but ever since a blowup the previous Thanksgiving, multiple tensions are disrupting the family. Holly and Ivy usually have a close bond and even share a secret language, but they are drifting apart. âEvery once in awhile there was a flicker of our old friendship, but mostly something kept getting in the way," says Holly. Ivy is serious about music and stressed out by her quarreling parents and her politically active college-age brother, while Holly has boys on her mind. As they work together to fix an old rowboat, bits of family history are unleashed, involving Ivy's father's late twin brother and a Japanese boy named Kiyoshi. Beyond the girls' insights into events and changes that feel outside their control, Gordon's story will leave readers thinking about the politics and chaos of relationships and the effect war has on individuals. Ages 8â12.
March 1, 2014
Two young cousins try to recapture the feeling of summertime fun during a fraught vacation at their family's lake house, a summer overshadowed by the mystery of their uncle's long-ago death. Cousins Holly Swanson and Ivy Greenwood have very different personalities, but that has never mattered before. During the summers, they've always been inseparable. But this summer of 1965, with Ivy's parents fighting more than ever and Holly showing interest in local boys, they can't seem to find any common ground. It doesn't help that tensions are running high among other family members. Uncle Jesse may have died many years ago, but guilt, sadness and shame still surround the accident. Mixing diary entries and letters into the narrative, Gordon delivers a sweet albeit convenient story about familial rupture and healing. The cast of characters is well-imagined, and the plot is infused with the inevitable repercussions of history, both immediate and those of a more global nature. However, events are repeatedly too advantageous to be ultimately satisfying. Hidden diaries, letters and pictures are discovered with alarming regularity. Perhaps acknowledging this narrative ease, the publisher recommends this book for ages 8-12, but the girls' dawning understanding of the complex world of adulthood pushes it a little older. A story about a tumultuous family that lacks a certain element of hardship needed to make a book truly gripping. (Fiction. 10-14)
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March 1, 2014
Gr 5-8-In August 1965, 13-year-old cousins Holly and Ivy are once again together while their extended family gathers for the annual month-long reunion at their grandparents' summer home on Otter Lake, New Hampshire. But tensions run high as Ivy's parents constantly argue; her mother investigates boarding schools for her and her brother Sam; and her volatile father, Jake, clashes repeatedly with her eldest brother, Randy, over his views on civil rights and Vietnam. Holly is hurt and bewildered by Ivy's moodiness and withdraws into her music. Told in the girls' alternating voices, the story skillfully combines complex family dynamics, adolescent angst, and a good mystery, as clues emerge relating to the death, many years before, of Jake's twin brother, Jesse. The girls stumble upon old letters and memorabilia that reveal surprising facts about their uncle's death and its relationship to the plight of Japanese Americans during World War II. Effective integration of setting, details of the time periods, and nuances of personality enhance the plot. A family tree and a time line are provided, as well as an author's note describing her research and inspiration for this multilayered historical novel.-Marie Orlando, formerly at Suffolk Cooperative Library System, Bellport, NY
Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
April 15, 2014
Grades 5-8 The summer of 1965 threatens to tear apart the Greenwood clan. Culture clash, the brewing war in Vietnam, and one whopper of a family secret disturb the idyllic summertime rituals the Greenwoods enjoy at their lake house in New Hampshire. Things are even rocky between usually inseparable cousins Holly and Ivy, both 13, as their differences become especially pronounced. Curious, fun-loving Holly has the strength to relentlessly seek information about beloved, deceased Uncle Jesse, whose death is so contentious that the older members of the family refuse to clarify the circumstances surrounding the incident. Meanwhile, the serious and sensitive Ivy has enough problems at home and she doesn't want to rock the boat any further. Nevertheless, she and Holly piece together the WWII-era mystery of Jesse and his friend Kiyoshi, learning along the way about compassion and bravery. Classic storytelling, with an assist from diary-entry passages by Ivy, imbues this rich tale with life and shapes the Greenwoods into unforgettable characters sure to stick with readers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)
July 1, 2014
Thirteen-year-old cousins Holly and Ivy narrate this novel set in 1965 at their family's annual reunion at Otter Lake. The constant fighting among their relatives this summer seems to involve a secret surrounding their uncle's long-ago accidental death and a Japanese American boy. The girls find photos, letters, and a diary--all a bit too conveniently--but the mystery is engrossing nonetheless.
(Copyright 2014 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)