The Fortune of Carmen Navarro

January 17, 2011
The theme of obsession plays out vividly in this taut psychological drama inspired by Prosper Mérimée's 19th-century novella, Carmen, which was the basis for Bizet's celebrated opera. Broken into brief, almost recitative sequences, Bryant's (Kaleidoscope Eyes) smooth narrative is told in the distinctive voices of four teens. The principals are Carmen, a beautiful and fiercely independent teenage songwriter and singer, who is descended from gypsies; and Ryan, a sincere, impressionable military school cadet on track to follow his family tradition of attending West Point—until he meets Carmen at the deli where she works. Theatrically yet believably, Ryan's disciplined life spins out of control as he falls under the spell of Carmen's siren song. After several dates with Ryan (who provides inspiration for a successful song), Carmen decides she feels like "a fish taken from the river and thrown into a bowl" and severs their relationship—with catastrophic results for Ryan. The levelheaded best friends of both protagonists offer insight into their personalities and into the events that whirl with increasing tension and speed. Subtle symbolism and foreshadowing further enrich the layered storytelling. Ages 12–up.

October 15, 2010

A beautiful green-eyed Gypsy girl with raven-black hair smiles at Ryan Sweeney and gives him a rose as she makes change for his sandwiches at the Quikmart, and it's all downhill for Ryan after that. A cadet at Valley Forge Military Academy, Ryan has always been serious and studious, his eyes set on West Point, but his sheltered existence leaves him defenseless against the charms of Carmen Navarro, a fiercely independent young woman who dreams of making it big with her band, the Gypsy Lovers, and has no interest in a relationship that will make her feel "like a hawk tied to a perch." In a departure from her novels in verse, Bryant tells a tragic love story—based on Mérimée's novella and Bizet's opera Carmen—in traditional prose but with four voices: Carmen's, Ryan's and two friends', who look on from an emotional distance. Perfectly paced and pulsing with Ryan's increasingly desperate obsession, the tale follows the inevitable trajectory of violence and tragedy, and readers will consume the tale in one hungry gulp. (author's note, bibliography) (Fiction. 12 & up)

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December 1, 2010

Gr 8 Up-In the mid-19th-century novella and subsequent Georges Bizet opera, Carmen's feisty, independent spirit drives men to desperate actions. This modern-day adaption retains the fiery, self-determining heroine but adapts the rest of the story to Valley Forge, PA, with a teenage cast. Four voices alternate chapters: fortune-teller, singer, and high school dropout Carmen; her steadfast, practical best friend and fellow Spanish-speaker Maggie; Ryan, the dedicated military-school cadet (until he falls for Carmen, that is); and Ryan's not-so-rule-bound friend Will. Bryant flavors both of the girls' voices with the English grammar and sentence constructions of native Spanish speakers, giving both a Spanish accent with only very occasional use of Spanish words. Unfortunately, this is the only writing mechanism-beyond their points of view-that distinguishes the narrators' voices. Throughout the novel, Carmen, true to her namesake, remains unchangingly headstrong and self-centered, and Maggie and Will exist primarily to observe their friends for readers. Ryan's character develops the most as he morphs from a responsible straitlaced achiever into an unreasonably jealous and out-of-control lover. This quiet title has little action until its sudden, wild, gun-waving climax, and it's overly dramatic and simplistic in the style of a soap opera (which is reasonable, given its roots), but nonetheless it makes a good addition to YA collections. The novel's cultural issues plus its relatively short length equal a book that many teens-especially girls-will talk about.-Rhona Campbell, Washington, DC Public Library

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2010
Grades 9-12 Bizets opera Carmen gets a modern retelling in Bryants brisk novel about the intoxicating gypsy who refuses to belong to any man. Carmen Navarro is a high-school dropout working at a convenience store while she writes music with her band, Gypsy Lovers, and waits for her big break. Ryan Sweeny is a conscientious junior at Valley Forge Military Academy whose future has been mapped out for him for as long as he can remember. When their paths cross, the connection is instantaneous. Ryan develops an intense passion for the beautiful girl. Carmen finds an unlikely muse in the shy cadet. Their relationship is observed by their closest friends, Maggie and Will, who know them well enough to realize that things will not end happily. Bryant stays close to the plot of the nineteenth-century French novella by Prosper M'rim'e that inspired the opera, although she does allow her protagonists hope of individual success in the future. This should appeal to readers who like their love stories dramatically star-crossed.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)