See What I See

November 8, 2010
In a modern drama of new beginnings and sad endings, National Book Award–winner Whelan (Homeless Bird) effectively contrasts the lives of two artists, the accomplished Dalton Quinn, who appears to care more about his work than people, and his less worldly, more compassionate daughter, Kate. Kate has not communicated with her father since he left the family more than a decade ago, but he's the only person she knows in Detroit, where she has won a scholarship to art school. Despite her mother's misgivings, Kate arrives on his doorstep, hoping her father will take her in. It doesn't come as a surprise that he is a reluctant host, but it is a shock for Kate to learn that her father is dying. After giving up her scholarship to take care of him full-time, Kate embarks on a journey to discover the man who abandoned her, while wondering if her painting will ever measure up to his. Beautifully expressing adolescent uncertainties and yearnings, this intimate novel will draw readers who, like Kate, have big hearts and big dreams. Ages 12–up.

November 15, 2010

Kate Tapert is caught between two consuming passions: a drive to capture on canvas the austere beauty of her rural Upper Peninsula hometown of Larch, Mich., and a devotion to her mother. In Larch, Kate and her mom eke out a loving if improvident life together in a tiny trailer after being abandoned by Kate's father, celebrated artist Dalton Quinn, years ago. Kate's portfolio and drive have netted her a full-tuition scholarship to art college in Detroit, but housing is not included. Kate resolves to stay with Dalton, even though her letters asking permission to live with him have gone unanswered. The Dalton Kate discovers is near death and desperately trying to complete work for a final retrospective in New York, forcing a choice between following in her father's footsteps—relinquishing family ties for a chance at fame and professional fulfillment—or doing the right thing by caring for and getting to know Dalton at last, on her own terms. Kate's journey from selfishness to selflessness and back to the healthy middle path is quietly touching, if not as powerfully moving as it could be. (Fiction. 12 & up)

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January 1, 2011

Gr 9 Up-When Kate leaves the natural beauty of Michigan's Upper Peninsula for a scholarship to art school in Detroit, her intentions are twofold. She's set her sights on growing into the artist she's always known she could be, but she's also seeking her long-absent father's approval and affection. The second she'd never admit. In Kate's eyes, showing up on her father's doorstep is simply a means to an end. She has no money for housing and he lives in Detroit. Yet his status as a world-renowned artist-turned-recluse who unapologetically left the family years earlier complicates matters. When Kate arrives, she finds the man aloof and self-centered. She soon discovers that he dying of liver cancer and is racing against the clock to finish his crowning art show, and she has to decide how much of herself she's willing to sacrifice to help him. Detroit's air of lost possibilities serves as an apt background for this bittersweet story. Kate's tendency to view life through the lens of famous works of art and her continual references to the natural surroundings of her home help shape her into a unique, living and breathing character. Development of a few secondary characters and plots is not as strong, but the story as it stands is sweet and thoughtful and avoids neatly wrapped edges, as any title that captures the intricacies of family relationships must do.-Jill Heritage Maza, Greenwich High School, CT

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2010
Grades 7-12 National Book Award winner Whelan must be a visual artisthow else to explain her luminous descriptions of art and the artistic process? When Kate receives a scholarship to attend art school in Detroit, she leaves her single mother in rural northern Michigan and arrives unannounced on her estranged fathers doorstep, hoping she can stay with him while attending school. What complicates this already tenuous relationship is the fact that her father is a famous and reclusive artist dying of cirrhosis and trying desperately to finish his last paintings for a much-anticipated New York show. With elegant prose, Whelan portrays a gradually developing and complex relationship built on guilt, curiosity, love, and a passion for art. Kates depictions of nature may well inspire readers to look more carefully and thoughtfully at the world around them, be it urban or rural. Although the plotline and sentence structure are accessible enough for middle-schoolers, the lyrical writing will hold the interest of older readers as well.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)