A Gathering Light by Jennifer Donnelly. Reviewed by Sue Barrow.

A Gathering Light is the story of sixteen year old Mattie Gokey, a lover of words and books, who dreams one day of leaving her backwater home town for college and independence in New York where she hopes to become a writer. Standing in her way is the promise she made to her dying mother to care for her younger sisters and overworked father after her mother’s early death.

The story, set in the Adirondacks at the start of the twentieth century, is fictional, but cleverly interwoven around the real-life murder of Grace Brown, a girl of Mattie’s own age. At first it appears that the girl has drowned in a boating accident. Mattie is working at the hotel where Grace Brown was staying with her fiancé and when her body is brought back to the hotel, Mattie is deeply affected by her sudden and shocking death. It is not until she reads the letters which Grace Brown entrusted to her that she begins to piece together the evidence which leads her to an altogether different conclusion. At the same time there is also a dawning awareness for Mattie that although their backgrounds are very different, Grace’s story and the choices open to her, run parallel to her own. As the story builds to its climax, Mattie is forced to decide what kind of future she wants - college and the opportunity to develop her writing gift or settling for what is expected of her, staying in Old Forge and marrying ‘the boy next door.’

The book flows in a wonderful way and although the chapters alternate between seasons, Donnelly’s use of past and present tense avoid any confusion and add to the emotional strength of the story. If I have a criticism it is that the narrative sometimes labours under the weight of the number of contemporary issues addressed - racism, female emancipation, family loyalty, not to mention bereavement and young love. But Mattie is a compelling character with an original voice and her interactions with Royal Loomis, the ‘boyfriend’, and her other peers, are authentic and convincing.

The story is sensitively and beautifully written, almost poetic at times, painting a true to life picture of small town America at the turn of the century. Jennifer Donnelly is not a prolific writer for the young adult market but having read this book twice and now thinking of reading her Tea Rose trilogy, I was left hoping that she might come back to A Gathering Light and think of adding a sequel. I for one would love to know what became of Mattie!

A Gathering Light: Bloomsbury 2003
ISBN 9780747570639
380 pages £6.99

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‘Blue Moon’ and ‘Baby Blue’ by Julia Green. Reviewed by Sue Barrow.

Mia is fifteen and pregnant. Will, the baby’s father, enjoys hanging around with the crowd at school, including Ali who makes it clear that she fancies him too. Mia doesn’t get on with her Dad, school is a pain and she is still struggling to understand why her mother left the family home when she was six.

So begins the first of Julia Green’s twin novels, Blue Moon and Baby Blue, books that should arguably be recommended reading for both sexes because of the realistic way teenage pregnancy and parenthood are portrayed.

In spite of being a difficult and rebellious girl, Mia initially seems to go along with the assumption by most of the adults in her life that she should have an abortion. But when she comes across an old book of her mother’s on pregnancy and starts reading about her baby’s development she begins to think differently. The decision she makes takes her on a journey, literally, into unfamiliar and at times frightening territory. Mia is faced with finding her way through - deciding what’s best for her and her unborn baby as well as coming to terms with her relationship with both her father and mother.

There are clues to the emotional trauma suffered by Mia and the questions she still has about her mother’s leaving through brief flashbacks to her childhood. And details of the setting – a rundown village by the sea with a shingly strip of sand where Mia likes to wander - add to the atmosphere and enhance the readers understanding of Mia’s character.

Baby Blue picks up Mia's story just after the birth of her baby boy. Now aged sixteen she is still living at home with her Dad, although this relationship is under increasing strain. In spite of her optimism at the end of Blue Moon Mia discovers that being a single mother is hard work. Having to work through the complex emotional and practical implications of being a teenage mum, she finds her old school life and friends slowly drifting away. Harder still to deal with is the assumption by Will, and his parents that his own life will carry on as usual.

Julia Green writes about Mia’s experience of motherhood with compassionate realism – the delight and wonder of seeing her newborn baby juxtaposed with the loss of childhood and teenage life as she knew it. The prose is often lyrical, painting a gentle yet compelling picture of a young girl coming to terms with her own shortcomings, facing up to her responsibilities, and with her baby, ultimately making the best of it.

Blue Moon: Puffin 2003
ISBN 0141315350
233 pages £4.99

Baby Blue: Puffin
ISBN 0141316799
256 pages £5.99

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Keeping Secrets by Sue Barrow - reviewed by Rosalie Warren

Ceri Keeping is five foot eleven and, at just sixteen, wonders when she will stop growing. She feels like an enormous lump beside her dainty, elfin-featured adoptive mum. But that's only one of her problems.

Mum doesn't seem to understand who Ceri is and what she really wants. She's trying make her a netball champion, while Ceri no longer enjoys netball and wants to focus on her desire to be a journalist. Ceri's younger brothers have a wild sense of humour which leads to humiliation on her birthday on a local radio show. And Dad is preoccupied - is he going to lose his teaching job and be forced to move his family away from their much-loved Welsh valleys home?

One of Ceri's classmates, also adopted, has just met up with her birth mother for the first time since babyhood. Ceri wonders whether she should look for her birth mother, too. But when she sets out to investigate, employing her journalistic skills, she turns up worrying secrets that have been kept from her for years.

The cleverly named Keeping Secrets is a sensitive account of a girl who, while surrounded by a loving family, feels like an outsider and is determined to find a life and people of her own. Ceri is a well-drawn character and her family are entirely believable. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and am sure I'd have loved it as a teenager. I would strongly recommend it to anyone of about twelve and upwards, and I'd love to think there might be a sequel at some stage.

The language is smooth and feels appropriate; the dialogue is convincing and I love the way that little bits of Welsh creep in (all translated for the benefit of non Welsh speakers like me). Keeping Secrets was published by a small Welsh publisher, Gomer Press, which perhaps explains why it has not become more widely known. It certainly deserves a bigger audience and I hope that a way may be found to make this possible.

One small point of criticism, which I have a suspicion may not be the author's fault at all. There was a slight feeling of rushedness in the last couple of chapters. I'd have liked a bit more time to explore how Ceri felt about the denouement. I wonder whether this book was shortened at the publisher's request, or whether the author was writing to a word limit imposed by someone else.

Whatever the reason, this is only a minor quibble. Congratulations, Sue Barrow, on creating a warm and realistic character, with whom it's very easy for the reader to identify, and a piece of YA fiction which should have wide appeal.


Details:
Title: Keeping Secrets
Author: Sue Barrow
Date of publication: Jan 2006
Publisher: Gomer (Imprint: Pont Books)
ISBN-10: 1843235927
ISBN-13: 978-1843235927

Reviewer: Rosalie Warren
Blogging at: Rosalie Reviews


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Forge by Laurie Halse Anderson. Reviewed by Sue Barrow

What makes a good sequel? Or to put it another way, when you’ve written Chains, a book short listed for the 2010 Carnegie, how do you top that?

Forge is not just a sequel; it’s the second volume of Laurie Halse Anderson’s trilogy about the lives of two young slaves caught up in the American War of Independence. Chains was Isabel’s tale; in Forge the story is taken up by Curzon Smith, slave turned soldier, whom Isabel befriended and rescued from prison at the end of the first book. Puzzling then that the UK publisher decided on a cover photo of 'Isabel'.

After their escape from New York, Curzon and Isabel have parted company on bad terms, Isabel doggedly going in search of her little sister Ruth from whom she has been cruelly separated. Irritated with Isabel but at the same time struggling to suppress his feelings for her, Curzon rejoins the rebel cause as they prepare for battle against the British at Saratoga. After a hard won victory, the Patriot army moves on to Valley Forge as the severest of winters tightens its grip on the north.

Forge is a story of battles, severe hardship and a starving winter and Anderson’s vivid prose puts you right at the heart of the action. Curzon’s voice is distinctive and despite the grim subject matter, often humorous. But the reader is never allowed to forget how precarious his position is. Soldier he may be, fighting on the winning side for the freedom of the American states, but the question of his own independence is another matter. African Americans fought for both sides in the war but the Patriot declaration that ‘all men are created equal’ did not extend to people of colour when it was written in 1776. Readers may be surprised to learn that it was the British alone who promised freedom to slaves who joined their cause.

Curzon and Isabel eventually meet up again as recaptured slaves in the same household. There they encounter a dangerous new enemy and have to decide whether to join forces in a bid for freedom or to go their separate ways.

Read as a sequel, Forge delivers on every score. It keeps up the pace of Chains, maintains the reader’s interest and resolves at least some of the issues arising in the first book. But if, like me, you start it wondering whether Isabel manages to catch up with her little sister . . . well, you’re just going to have to read the book!

Forge Bloomsbury

ISBN 978-1-4088-0380-6

279 pages £6.99

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CHAINS by Laurie Halse Anderson. Review by Sue Barrow.

I came across Chains while I was researching the subject of child slavery.
I wanted to understand what life was like for a child captive, with no freedom to make her own choices and abused in the most terrible way by adults. This book delivered in every way, telling me all I needed to know and a lot more besides. Chains is one of those remarkable books which succeeds in educating and engaging at the same time.

In summary the year is 1776. The American War of Independence is moving on apace. Isabel and her young sister Ruth live as slaves in Rhode Island. When their owner dies, instead of granting them the freedom they were promised, her greedy nephew sells the girls off to the Locktons, a wealthy Loyalist and his cruel wife. They go with them to New York City where Isabel immediately befriends a young slave named Curzon. She is horrified when he suggests that the quickest route to gaining her freedom is to spy on her
master and report what she knows to the Patriots.

But Isabel has other problems too. Ruth is prone to fits and Isabel spends
much of her time trying to hide this from her mistress. When Ruth’s condition
is eventually revealed, she is considered devil-possessed and to Isabel’s
consternation, sold on.

Becoming increasingly involved with the conflict through her friendship with
Curzon, Isabel now finds herself on a dangerous mission and facing a moral
dilemma: which side - Loyalist or Patriot – can she trust to help win her
freedom and find her sister?

If you enjoy historical fiction this book forces you to confront the hidden issues
behind the American Revolution - racial tension, the invisibility of slaves and
the horrors of the treatment meted out to them by both sides. Each chapter
starts with a brief contextual extract from letters, diaries and newspapers of
the time and the book ends with a question and answer interview with the
author, confirming its historical accuracy and helping the reader distinguish
fact from fiction.

I can thoroughly recommend Chains. Through the voice of Isabel readers will
have no trouble imagining themselves in 1776 America, but the language is
far from dry or difficult to understand. Ideal reading for older children as well
as invaluable research material!

Chains: Bloomsbury 2010
ISBN 978-0-7475-9806-0
300 pages £6.99

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