Liars and Fools

January 17, 2011
Letting go of the past is a difficult endeavor for seventh-grader Fiona, who dreams of sailing around the world, despite the fact that her mother was killed in a boating accident just over a year ago. Fiona feels closest to her mother when she is aboard their boat, Eliza J, so she is understandably distraught when her father decides to sell it. To make matters worse, her father has begun dating a psychic, who Fiona is convinced is a phony. Fiona's stubbornness tries her father's patience; leads to arguments with her best friend, Abby; and nearly costs Fiona her life when, on impulse, she makes her first solo trip on Eliza J. In this perceptive novel, Stevenson (Inferno) captures the intensity of Fiona's grief and her passion for the sea. The questions haunting the heroine—is there a way to communicate with the dead? Did her mother really write "her own ticket" for her death as some people claim?—are gracefully addressed in a way that will inspire readers to draw their own conclusions. Ages 9–12.

October 1, 2010

It's been a year since Fiona's risk-taker mother died in a boating accident, and everyone is moving on except her. The 13-year-old's best friend, Abby, never seems to be on her side anymore, and her agnostic father is not only selling her mother's beloved boat but has begun dating Kathy, a medium who claims to receive messages from the deceased. When Fiona and Abby choose to study psychic phenomena for their science project, the girls give themselves the perfect pretext to prove that Kathy is a liar and Fiona's father a fool for loving her. In this sensitive depiction of grief and acceptance, Fiona's solid voice captures a flux of emotions that arise from her mother's death and from being an early adolescent. She may also be a liar about her mother's true nature and a fool for trying to push her friends and family away. Stevenson adds further layers of interest by incorporating Fiona's British Columbia surroundings, the teen's own love of boating and a look at several belief systems. (Fiction. 10-13)

(COPYRIGHT (2010) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

April 1, 2011

Gr 6-8-A year has passed since Fiona's mother died in a sailing accident, and the 13-year-old has not been able to fill the void left by her and their shared love of sailing. To add to her sadness, her father has forbidden her to sail and puts the family boat up for sale, and he starts dating Kathy, a professional psychic who believes that she can speak with the dead. Fiona enlists the help of her best friend, Abby, for a school project to investigate psychic phenomena. She believes that proving Kathy is a fraud will break up her father's relationship, although a small part of her longs to be able to communicate with her mother. Only by learning more about her parents and Kathy is she able to slowly accept the possibility of a hopeful future. This book has a well-rounded main character who speaks and acts like a teenage girl and a cast of believable secondary characters, and the sailing subplot provides additional interest.-Betsy Fraser, Calgary Public Library, Alberta, Canada

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2010
Grades 6-8 The past year has been tough for Fiona. She misses the time spent with her recently deceased mom, especially the mother-daughter sailing trips. But since her mother died in a boating accident, Fionas father is selling the family sailboat and will not let Fiona near the marina. To make matters worse, her dad has a new girlfriend, Kathy. She claims to be a medium who can communicate with the dead, specifically Fionas mom. Fiona decides to put an end to the relationship by using her science project to prove psychics are frauds, even though she secretly wishes she could communicate with her mother. Fiona is a believable character trying to deal with her grief, even when others feel like it is time to move on. Her relationship with her best (and only) friend, Abby, is realistic, and the banter between the two girls adds humor. Though her dad is stereotypically drawn, this is really a story about Fiona finding her own strength in the wake of tragedy.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)