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| St. Martin's Press |
by Barbara Stewart
3 Scribbles
To be released, November 2013
The new house in Pottsville was supposed to be a fresh start
for Elanor Moss, a place to put her failed suicide and unpopularity to rest.
Instead, the new home becomes a place to recover from the tragic car accident
that left Ellie near death and half of her family dead. However, Ellie’s new
home does offer one good thing—her new best friend, the captivating and
mysterious Madeline Torus. With
Madeline’s help, Ellie may have a chance to be a new and improved version of
herself.
Ellie has always struggled with depression and loneliness;
according to her mother, Ellie is “up and down like a yo-yo.” But when Madeline
arrives, Ellie has hope for her future. Madeline is the girl Ellie has always wanted
to be; she has good taste, good looks, and loves Ellie for who she is. Teens
may identify with Ellie’s feelings of angst and isolation, as well as her fear
of losing Madeline. But Ellie’s voice is not to be trusted, especially when it
comes to her relationship with Madeline. Very short chapters move from choppy
descriptions of Ellie’s life at school, and the changes she is making, to
lovely, yet dark, sections of prose poetry that provide insight into her
character. An insight however, that is suspect because in her own words Ellie
is an actor who could “win an Academy Award” for the person she has fabricated
to play her part. I found myself feeling more and more hopeless as Ellie
becomes numb under the influence of medication and she falls further and
further into depression. But then in a brilliant move on the part of the
writer, Ellie’s mother discovers a photo of Madeline—a photo that casts doubt
on Ellie’s mental instability. Is Ellie actually mentally ill or is she being
haunted? I had to keep reminding myself that the story is told in the voice of
Ellie—is Ellie to be believed? And while this uncertainty adds depth to the
story, it frustrated me because I needed to know whose narration was
trustworthy—and I simply could not know this to be certain. What I also found a
bit perplexing about the story is the family’s lack of support. Ellie’s mother
is so solid, yet, despite her drive and talent, Ellie’s family is unusually
isolated—as evidenced by the cemetery scene. Even if the Mosses moved a state
away from their previous home, don’t they have any family or friends to come to
their aide? If this is the case, then Ellie’s family is just as isolated as she
is—no wonder she feels so alone. Or perhaps when there is a tragedy of such
great magnitude in a family, one is truly
alone, and the solitary cemetery scene demonstrates this. Either way, it just
seems odd that no one from their old hometown cares a lick about them. Readers
who enjoyed The Perks of Being a Wallflower
by Stephen Chbosky and Thirteen Reasons
Why by Jay Asher will likely enjoy this eerie work about a truly tortured
girl, although they may walk away with more questions than answers.
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