The Walls Around Us

March 16, 2015
At first glance, Amber and Violet have nothing in common. Amber, imprisoned at Aurora Hills juvenile detention center for her role in the death of her stepfather, spends her days dreaming of the momentary freedom she and the other inmates experienced when a summer storm knocked out power to their cells. Violet, a ballet dancer on her way to Juilliard, has a long, free life ahead of herâwere it not for the guilt drawing her toward Aurora Hills. Their connection comes through a third girl, Ori, who became Amber's new cellmate after the storm, and who was sent to Aurora Hills because of what she did to protect Violet. Suma (17 & Gone) interweaves past and present with a haunting sense of unease, drawing readers onward with well-executed suspense and the compelling voices of her two narrators. The occasional vagaries of the plot are more than redeemed by the strength of the prose, and a startling final twist brings the three girls to a satisfying, if unorthodox, kind of justice. Ages 14âup. Agent: Michael Bourret, Dystel & Goderich Literary Management.

Starred review from September 1, 2015
Gr 9 Up-In alternating narratives that ultimately converge in supernatural ways, two girls share a connection, though, ostensibly, their stories are separated by three years. Violet is an 18-year-old ballet dancer, recently graduated and soon to start at Juilliard. Amber is incarcerated at a juvenile detention center for allegedly killing her abusive stepfather. Tying them together is Orianna, Violet's best friend, who was found guilty of a double murder three years earlier and becomes Amber's cellmate at Aurora Hills. As their stories unfold, listeners learn the truth of what happened the night Orianna was arrested and the grisly tragedy that unfolded at Aurora Hills shortly after she arrived. Dual narrators bring this haunting tale of guilt and innocence to life. Georgia King gives Violet's voice an edge that perfectly conveys the sense of superiority she displays. Sandy Rustin utilizes a more matter-of-fact voice that reflects Amber's observational nature and her tendency to use first-person plural, speaking for the inmates of Aurora Hills as a whole, which, paradoxically, both obscures and foreshadows future events. VERDICT This psychological thriller also explores the rigorous and competitive world of ballet, inequities in the criminal justice system, and life in a juvenile detention center; it is utterly engrossing right up until the shocking conclusion.-"Amanda Raklovits, Champaign Public Library, IL"

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Starred review from January 15, 2015
The intertwined stories of two teenage girls: a convicted killer and a Juilliard-bound ballerina. Amber's an inmate at Aurora Hills Secure Juvenile Detention Center, with a story to tell about the night the doors all opened at the prison. Violet's a dancer bound for New York City and artistic success. The girls have secrets, and each takes the chance to let tidbits of truth slip into her narrative, each using her own unique and identifiable voice in alternating chapters. Amber rarely speaks only for herself, identifying almost exclusively with the other prisoners. "Some of us knew for sure," she solemnly explains, speaking collectively. "Some of us kept track of days." Violet, on the other hand, is deeply self-absorbed, worried over the three-years-past death of her incarcerated best friend but only for how it affects her and her chance at Juilliard. As the girls' stories unfold, it becomes increasingly clear that Amber's and Violet's musings occur three years apart-yet are nonetheless intimately connected. The wholly realistic view of adolescents meeting the criminal justice system (with a heartbreaking contrast portrayed between the treatment of a wealthy girl and that of her poor multiracial friend) is touched at first with the slimmest twist of an otherworldly creepiness, escalating finally to the truly hair-raising and macabre. Eerie, painful and beautifully spine-chilling. (Supernatural suspense. 15-17)

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