Klickitat

January 1, 2016
Vivian, 15, who struggles with anxiety, feels her older sister, Audra, 17, a strong-willed free spirit, pulling away from her; before Audra vanishes, she promises Vivian she'll come back for her. With her parents preoccupied with work and worries about Audra, Vivian discovers strange messages appearing in her old yellow notebook. She'd like to show them to Audra, now absent, but in her room, Vivian discovers new books in her bookcase, including detailed guides on how to survive in the wilderness. Audra keeps her promise, and Henry, the boy who's become her partner in escaping the urban world and its social connections, brings Vivian to join them in their hiding place. While Audra and Henry work days, Vivian waits, hidden under a house in the city, until night falls and the three steal away to the park to practice survival skills. Audra is inspired by Caroline from Rock's Alex Award winner, My Abandonment (2009); Taffy also turns up. But while revisiting thematic territory, this journey is more pared down yet longer and darker. Characters recede from one another like stars in an expanding universe, empty space growing vast between them. The Klickitat are a Yakama Nation tribe, and Ramona Quimby famously lives on Klickitat Street, but here the word is a signal between the sisters, symbol of their fragile connection. Brooding, evocative, mysterious; a tale for mature readers to dig into--and then discuss. (Fiction. 14-18)

COPYRIGHT(2016) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

March 1, 2016

Gr 9 Up-Vivian feels lost and left behind when her older sister Audra runs away. She retreats inside herself and tries to look for answers, clues, anything that will help her find her sister. Defying logic, writing begins to appear in an old notebook of Vivian's, seemingly of its own accord. When Audra returns with a young man in tow to take Vivian with them, the three of them run away together and practice surviving in the wilderness. Set in Portland, OR, though it easily could have been anywhere, the book features themes that teens can easily relate to: developing one's identity, coping with distant parents, questioning authority, and rejecting "the way things are." With a somewhat unreliable narrator, the novel also raises a lot of questions. Is this magical realism, or does the character suffer from mental illness? Do the words just appear in Vivian's book, or does she not realize that she's the one writing them? Does she have an illness that she needs to take medication for, or is it the medication that is making her unwell? Who is the young man Audra brought into their lives? Can he be trusted? This is a quick read, and the tension is maintained throughout, making this ideal for mystery lovers and reluctant readers. VERDICT A gripping, tautly constructed, down-the-rabbit-hole mystery. Hand this to readers who enjoyed E. Lockhart's We Were Liars (Delacorte, 2014) or Paula Hawkins's The Girl on the Train (Riverhead, 2015).-Julie Zimmerman, Brooklyn Public Library

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.