Audacious

September 16, 2013
Fans of Ellen Hopkins and Sonya Sones’s novels in verse will delight in Prendergast’s rich, riveting story, first in a planned duo. Just before Ella’s junior year, her family moves to escape their problems—her mother’s grief over the death of her baby, younger sister Kayli’s learning difficulties, Ella’s victimization by school bullies, and her father’s unwillingness to face any of it—only to continue to wrestle with the same things. Ella falls for a Palestinian classmate, Samir, bringing up questions of identity and faith for both. Samir and Ella create controversial works for the student art show, and Samir’s daring statement on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and Ella’s explicit portrayal of womanhood land them in serious, but believable trouble. While the thread about Ella’s bullying and her desire to act out is weakly explained, Prendergast demonstrates a powerful understanding of the adolescent search for identity, and her writing uses the verse format to great effect, with an honest teenage voice, a willingness to play with poetic form, and an intensity that arises through the condensed language. Ages 12–up. Agent: Kris Rothstein, Carolyn Swayze Literary Agency.

September 15, 2013
Prendergast, who hails from Vancouver, B.C., pulls out all the stops in this action-packed coming-of-age tale fraught with familial and societal dysfunction. When her family moves east from a tiny bungalow near the beach to a large house on the plains, 16-year-old misfit Raphaelle decides this new beginning calls for a little self-reinvention. Changing her name to Ella, Raphaelle narrates the various stages of her transformation, saying, "I have screwed around long enough. / I come to you a reformed girl," and vowing not to make waves in her new environment. But when kids at her new high school start to isolate her-- "What's Ella short for? Elephant?"--and domestic pressures close in, Ella finds herself returning to her more radical, artistic side for release. She also finds herself seeking the comfort and affection of fellow art-class student Sam (short for Samir), who happens to be a Palestinian Muslim. When invited to contribute to the school art show, Ella and Sam create striking works that land both, in different ways, at the center of heated controversy. Though the narrative's graphic plotting at times proves heavy-handed, Prendergast offers great insight into teen psychology--especially that of the outcast--and boldly probes sensitive topics like religious prejudice, sex, censorship and eating disorders. A provocatively modern test of understanding difference. (Verse fiction. 14 & up)

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February 1, 2014

Gr 10 Up-Continuing in the tradition of Ellen Hopkins and Sonya Sones, Prendergast's novel in verse centers on a young woman coming to terms with her troubled past. Ella, an aspiring artist, has moved with her family to a new city and school. The reasons for the move unfold slowly, and her backstory is one of the many mysteries layered within the plot. Ella uses art to express herself and creates nine canvases for the school art show based on the word "Audacious," where each letter represents another word, acrostic-style. The art pieces feature women who fight back despite their circumstances, including images devoted to labels such as "Disabled," "Indigenous," and "Asthmatic." Controversy ensues when Ella incorporates a canvas for the letter "C" for the word "Cunt," along with a photo of her genitalia. Child pornography charges are filed, and her family is forced to finally speak openly about the secrets that threaten to tear each of them apart. A traumatic event that occurred previously finally comes to light and gives teens insight to the motivation for many of Ella's actions. The novel contains multiple, adeptly intertwined plotlines that touch upon an extensive range of issues, including Islamic religious views, the existence of God, the Israeli-Palestine conflict, eating disorders, mother-daughter relationships, learning disabilities, and censorship. A wonderfully fast-paced novel that mature teens are sure to embrace.-Lindsay Cesari, Baldwinsville School District, NY

Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2013
Grades 8-11 When a family moves to a new town and a bigger house, it doesn't always mean a fresh start. In Prendergast's affecting novel in verse, school life doesn't change, just the names of the bullies do, and family life doesn't change, it just unhinges at another address. Determined to be different at her new schoolto fit in and belong for onceRaphaelle begins calling herself Ella. But Ella is the same person that she always was, and after she meets Samir in her art class, her life spirals out of control again. In deft, layered verse, Prendergast chronicles her heroine's desperate search for a positive identity. Young love, religion, politics, prejudice, and the meaning of art in society all factor into Raphaelle's acceptance of herself and her family in all its complexities. Many readers will recognize both her tendencies toward self-sabotage and her growing belief in herself, and they will likely want continue this journey in the planned sequel, Capricious.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)