Still Life with Tornado

Starred review from July 18, 2016
Many factors contribute to 16-year-old Sarah’s decision, during her sophomore year, to drop out of life and spend her days wandering the streets of Philadelphia, stalking a homeless artist, encountering past and future versions of herself, and avoiding what she does best: making art. Someone sabotaged Sarah’s project for her school’s annual art show, her art club friends ostracized her when she determined to find out who was behind it, and her parents’ broken marriage is increasingly toxic. Conversations with her 10-year-old self force Sarah to question the story she’s been told about why the family no longer communicates with her older brother, Bruce. One of the things that sets Sarah’s existential crisis in motion is her art teacher’s comment that there is no such thing as an original idea; clearly, Miss Smith has never read one of King’s novels. The presentation of the surreal as real, the deeply thoughtful questions she poses, the way she empowers her teenage characters to change the trajectory of their lives—King writes with the confidence of a tightrope walker working without a net. Ages 14–up. Agent: Michael Bourret, Dystel & Goderich Literary Management.

King, master of troubled protagonists and surreal plots, is at it again. Sarah, 16 and white, has had a breakdown after a series of events she won't immediately reveal: there was whatever she saw with Vicky and Miss Smith, and whatever happened at the art show, and perhaps most importantly, there are the things she has been living with but refusing to know for her entire life, especially since the trip to Mexico six years ago. Sarah quits school, instead searching for meaning by following a homeless artist and befriending 10-year-old Sarah, another version of Sarah who has not yet forgotten what happened in Mexico or why their beloved brother has never visited since. Complex, unreliable narration (by 16-year-old Sarah, with interstitial passages narrated by her mother) brings to life what it means to live in a home where abuse is always threatened but never quite delivered, gradually revealing both the immediate triggers for the "existential crisis" and the underlying trauma. Sarah's fractured selves (23-year-old and 40-year-old Sarah also make appearances) are both metaphor and magic realism; Sarah has fractured herself when the art that has been her solace becomes another point of tension and uncertainty, but these are not hallucinations. King understands and writes teen anxieties like no other, resulting in difficult, resonant, compelling characters and stories. (Fiction. 14 & up) COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from September 1, 2016

Gr 9 Up-At 16, Sarah is facing what she calls an "existential crisis," questioning whether her life has meaning or value, an event fueled by an unfair art show, a cruel teacher, a toxic and abusive family, a missing brother, and the loss of her ability to draw. Sarah wanders through the streets of Philadelphia and meets her future self at age 23 and 40 as well as her 10-year-old self. With the help of these past and future selves, she uncovers hidden memories of the vacation leading up to her brother leaving and the lies and violence that have driven her family dynamics for years. This beautifully written, often surreal narrative will make readers wonder if Sarah is schizophrenic, if she has post-traumatic stress disorder, or if she just needs to take a break from the realities of her life. Two weeks before Sarah's crisis, her friend Carmen drew a tornado and told Sarah that it was not a sketch of a tornado but of everything the tornado contained. This drawing becomes an analogy for all that Sarah is hiding in the emotional tornado of her life, the secrets she has hidden from herself and the world. King's brilliance, artistry, and originality as an author shine through in this thought-provoking work. Sarah's strength, fragility, and ability to survive resonate throughout. VERDICT This is a complex book that will not appeal to all readers, but for others it will be an unforgettable experience.-Janet Hilbun, University of North Texas, Denton

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from July 1, 2016
Grades 8-11 *Starred Review* Sarah stops going to school after her art teacher curtly announces that nothing is truly original, and suddenly artistically talented Sarah can't draw anymore. Now she wanders Philadelphia seeking art and originality, and during her peripatetic truancy, she meets both her 23-year-old and her 10-year-old selves, and what seemed initially to be a trifling problem becomes much, much bigger. King elegantly uses this surrealistic device to convey the complexity of Sarah's emotional growth. When Sarah was 10, she witnessed firsthand her father's seething cruelty, but 16-year-old Sarah has forgotten it, choosing not to look beyond the surface of her parents' strained marriage. But the more 10-year-old Sarah is around, the more 16-year-old Sarah's curiosity about those memories dredges up shreds of the truth. As she approaches the kernel at the heart of her breakdown, 16-year-old Sarah's growing rapport with her past and future selves, as well as with her mother, a fiery night-shift ER nurse, reflects her expanding sense of self and her strength. Sarah's cutting, honest first-person narrative is studded with powerful images, and her restrained tone is a captivating vehicle for her roiling thoughts and feelings. Occasional sections from her mother's perspective offer chilling insight into the damage that abuse, physical and otherwise, leaves behind. A deeply moving, frank, and compassionate exploration of trauma and resilience, filled to the brim with incisive, grounded wisdom.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)