Your Constant Star

February 15, 2014
Pregnancy, adoption and parenting decisions past and present link--and haunt--a Chinese-Canadian adoptee, her now-pregnant former friend and the biological father-to-be. Cherished only child of professional parents, Faye conforms outwardly to model-minority expectations, but she hides her grief and the need to process the gulf between her Chinese birth mother's options and her own. This intensifies when Bev asks Faye to help her interview prospective adoptive parents. Bev's fractured family is useless. She's at odds with her long-divorced parents, estranged from half siblings, and grieving a loss that taking risks and impulsive behavior can't assuage. Father-to-be Mannie, the most damaged, struggles to rise to the occasion, but his father's abandonment and bipolar mother's institutionalization leave him short of role models. Grim yes, but the three are smart and good company, though so caustic that reading can feel like chugging a bottle of expensive vinegar--best appreciated in small doses. Still, authentic teen characters, closely observed settings and a moving plot do not a YA novel make. These protagonists have little room to act. Choices adults made in the past largely determine the course they set and drastically limit the choices they wrestle with now. Though teens have far less freedom of choice in life than in literature written for them, YA fiction by definition places the reins in their hands. A superb novel from a rising Canadian literary star, best for adult and mature crossover readers. (Fiction. 14 & up)

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April 1, 2014

Gr 9 Up-This YA novel is told in three parts, each from the perspective of very different teens: Faye, the "good girl" who was abandoned in a Chinese market and adopted by white Canadian parents (and yearns after her Belarusian crush); Bev, Faye's pregnant former neighbor who seeks her help; and Mannie, the father of Bev's baby, who gets his kicks by joyriding in stolen cars. Written in present tense, the book's immediacy will engage readers, while the first-person narrative varies according to the character's personality. For example, Mannie's short, choppy sentences reflect his drug-addled mind, but also invite teens' empathy even as he continues in his reckless behavior and occasional vulgarity. Hasiuk has a knack for description, with phrases such as "like two peas in a faux-suede pod" to provide a visceral portrayal of a couple that blow-dried snow from their walk way before sitting down on the couch. However, some loose ends will nag at readers, including the Belarusian, who is absent until the epilogue, and the unlikely action that sets the plot in motion: Why would a girl who moved away at age eight seek help from her "sort of" former friend? Common YA themes abound, including loyalty among friends and the iconic search for identity. More interesting is the book's exploration of opposites, especially Faye's Chinese/Western heritage, which leads to her yin-yang conclusion: "what's most beautiful and what's most brutal are just two halves of the same whole."-Toby Rajput, National Louis University, Skokie, IL

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2014
Grades 8-11 In this Canadian export, three teens tied together by one girl's pregnancy all form differing viewpoints. Bev, brash and determined, calls the baby she carries the little alien, and she is looking for the right couple to adopt the child. Bev's old friend Faye, an adopted child herself who was abandoned in China, questions her own feelings about her roots and feels rebellious toward her well-meaning parents. Meanwhile, Mannie, the baby's father, struggles with the idea of not raising his kid and dredges up his despair about his own mother, who couldn't cope with life as a parent. Since the death of his aboriginal foster mother, Mannie is at loose ends and winds up with a record for stealing cars and joyriding. The three first-person narratives aren't terribly distinctive, but the feeling of impending doom will carry curious readers forward to the penultimate chapter, which puts the trio in a fast car careening dangerously through Winnipeg. Good for large collections where problem novels get a lot of mileage.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2014, American Library Association.)