Review of The Silver Star by Jeannette Walls

Scribner

The Silver Star
by Jeannette Walls
4 Stars

When their mom goes AWAL to pursue her singing career, Bean and her older sister, Liz, decide to visit their Uncle Tinsley in the town where their mother grew up. The two hop a bus from California, travel across the country, and end up at the Holiday mansion in Byler, Virginia where they beg lodgings from the eccentric Uncle Tinsley. Byler is a wonderful change for the two girls, at least at first, offering a stability they have never known, and a sense of family roots. But Byler also offers adversity through prejudice, preconceived notions and abuse of power. How much can these two girls endure before they take to the road again?

While this novel is not promoted as a YA novel, it has great YA appeal. First off, the narrator is twelve-year-old, Bean, whose voice lends a great youthful flavor to the novel, and whose simplistic views of right and wrong and naiveté enriches the thematic elements, and amplifies the shortcomings of those adults who ought to know better.  The novel has the flavor of To Kill a Mockingbird, especially the town of Byler, a setting reminiscent of Maycomb, Alabama. In Byler, manners and family tradition are important, segregation is part of the history of the area and desegregation of schools has just begun, and the past is never forgotten.  In fact, To Kill a Mockingbird is mentioned a few times in the novel, since Bean is reading it in school, and perhaps that is in part the inspiration for the plot of this story. The story is set against the backdrop of the Vietnam War, and while the war is mentioned a few times briefly, it doesn’t actually play a large part in the narrative—just as WWII is mentioned a few times in passing during the Mockingbird narrative. As in Mockingbird, the antagonists in the novel are all adults, the first being Charlotte, Liz and Bean’s mother, whose selfish antics leave the two girls in a constant state of neglect. Thankfully, she only plays a small part in the entire work, and this is fortunate because “flaky” just scratches the surface of her character. While Liz and Bean are very forgiving of their mother for the most part, the reader may have a more difficult time forgiving her. Perhaps the most evil and hated protagonist in the story is Jerry Maddox, the mill foreman and boss, who constantly bends the rules and abuses others simply because he can get away with it. When the two girls join their fates to Jerry’s, they have no idea how much trouble they will encounter. While I enjoyed the ending of the novel and the sort of poetic justice that Maddox receives, I am troubled that the story does not offer consequences for Maddox’s eventual fate. However, perhaps that is the way of the world—karma steps in where men will not—the consequences of the universe are far more serious than those of the court system. Adult readers who enjoyed Harper Lee’s novel, To Kill a Mockingbird, and Kathryn Stockett’s The Help will likely enjoy this work. Younger readers who enjoyed Moon Over Manifest by Clare Vanderpool, and Gary Schmidt’s Okay for Now will find a similar magic in this work.

Review of Where Things Come Back by John Corey Whaley

Antheneum Books for
Young Readers

Where Things Come Back
By John Corey Whaley
2 Scribbles

Since this novel has received so many awards, and since it is narrated in the voice of a teenager stuck in a small town, I was excited to read it. I grew up in a small town and couldn’t wait to escape it! And while I will say that Whaley does capture the feeling of cynicism felt by many teenagers stuck in small towns who have little vision of the future, that feeling of cynicism is pretty much the only thing I could identify with in the novel.

The story is told mainly through the eyes of Cullen, a bored teenager who works at a local convenience store and hangs out with his friends. Cullen and his crew are amused by the current excitement in their hometown, Lily, over the possible reappearance of a long-extinct species of bird named the Lazarus Woodpecker. Alternating chapters are told in third person and describe the lives of Benton, raised to be a missionary by his dictatorial and overly-zealous father and Cabot, college-boy player extraordinaire turned nutcase. Eventually, the bizarre connection between the three narratives becomes clear.

Although the author skillfully weaves truisms into the dialogue that I appreciate as insightful, usually through the words of Cullen or Gabriel, I still have difficulty identifying with characters in the novel. Gabriel’s character is too briefly seen, Lucas and his girlfriend are ever-present, but have little to say, and reading about Cullen is, in the words of his own mother, “like watching someone with multiple personalities.” Even Ada and Alma, Cullen’s female companions for lack of a better description, are barely distinctive—not only do their names have similar meaning—but they both take advantage of Cullen and have little interest in him as a person. In short, the characters are very flat, and none of them (with the exception of perhaps Cabot) are particularly dynamic. Perhaps Whaley is attempting to write a modern Holden Caulfield, and indeed the text does have a literary edge to it, but Cullen is no Holden. The symbol of the Lazarus Woodpecker is a bit over-the-top, and frankly the symbolism of many of the names, for instance Gabriel, while perhaps necessary to incorporate the religious zeal, are overstated. Let’s face it, most teens just want a great story, one they can connect with, one they feel accurately reflects issues and concerns in their own lives, and one that moves. Perhaps teens may connect with Cullen’s feelings of negativity and isolation, but only if they can continue past the first few chapters. Couple the dragging plot with the dull cover, and without those award winning stickers, I doubt teens would pick up this novel, let alone finish or applaud it. Perhaps Whaley’s work would be more appropriate for older readers with more patience to trudge through the heavy handed symbolism and bizarre circumstances that bring this work to its completion.  

Review of Shine by Lauren Myracle

Brilliance Audio

Shine

By Lauren Myracle

4 Scribbles

What would you risk to avenge someone you love?

Cat and Patrick were best friends once upon a time. But then something terrible happened to Cat, and she shut everyone in her small town out of her life. Cat learns that it is easier to be alone than to answer questions; besides, small towns are known for their gossip, and she doesn’t want to be a target again. But then Patrick is found bludgeoned, disfigured and left for dead outside of his job at the local gas station, and the whole town knows it is because he is gay. Now, since the local law seems to be indifferent to solving the crime, Cat risks her safety and her own terrible secret to find and reveal Patrick’s attacker. Worse, yet, Cat fears the attacker might be someone she knows.

The tension in this story builds continuously on two fronts from page one. The reader wants to know what happened to Cat in order to make her withdrawal from the world, and at the same time they want to know who attacked Patrick. This conflict, combined with the subtle, yet important commentary about poor economic conditions in the South, growing drug abuse problems amongst residents, racism and prejudice makes for a thought-provoking and powerful read. The characters are well-rounded and interesting; and while at first it is hard to believe in Miss Sweetie’s conviction that all people have good in them, even the most villainous characters in the story reveal this to be true. The dialogue in the story creates a rich texture and humor while at the same time respecting the culture of the region. And while at first I thought that some of the descriptions of attitudes in Black Creek might have marginalized people from the region, I quickly realized that Black Creek is the average American town with all the pretty trimmings removed. Black Creek could very easily be my town, be your town. The novel is raw, edgy, and honest, and I am better for having read it.

Let me add that I listened to this book on audio. The narrator, Elizabeth Evans, nailed the Appalachian accent with ease. I know this because my own parents are from the region! I was especially pleased with the way Evans was able to move from character to character, whether male or female, old or young without ever disturbing my sense of belief. A layered and significant work like this could have been a flop with a lesser reader, but Evans is to be commended. She pulled it off, "bless her heart!"