Smoke

January 6, 2014
In this sequel to Hopkins’s Burned, the story of Pattyn Von Stratten continues as she struggles to start anew after the deaths of her abusive father; her lover, Ethan; and their unborn child. On the run, Pattyn winds up in California and takes work on a ranch as she works to overcome her isolation and rebuild her life. Hopkins’s novel comes to life here thanks to the team of LaVoy and Thaxton. Each narrator ably captures the essence of the book, infusing the prose with emotion and providing unique and appropriate voices for the characters. A Margaret K. McElderry hardcover.

Two sisters wrestle with guilt and fear after one kills the father who battered them. Readers last saw 17-year-old Pattyn at the cliffhanger ending of Burned (2006), immediately after her beloved boyfriend and their unborn baby were killed in a car wreck. Stunned with grief and fury, and with nothing left to lose, Pattyn vowed to shoot her long-abusive father, whom she blamed for the accident. This much-desired sequel begins two weeks later--and Dad's dead. Escaping town, Pattyn meets a warm, welcoming family of mostly undocumented farm laborers. They find her a ranch job, where she hides from law enforcement. Meanwhile, 15-year-old Jackie is stuck at home, narrating her own half of the story. Through free-verse poems thick with the weight of trauma, the shooting's details emerge. A schoolmate raped Jackie; blaming Jackie, Dad broke her ribs and loosened her teeth; Pattyn's gun stopped Dad forever. Now Pattyn faces "blood-caked nightmares," while Jackie fights a mother and two LDS church leaders who insist she forget her rape. Waiting for the past to "tackle [them] from behind," both girls struggle toward fragile new connections and inner strength. The lives of undocumented Americans, a renegade hate movement and a wild horse wary of trust are all organic to the plot. A strong, painful and tender piece about wresting hope from the depths of despair. (author's note) (Verse fiction. 13-17) COPYRIGHT(1) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

September 1, 2013

Gr 9 Up-Readers last left Pattyn in Burned (S & S, 2006), where she was mourning the loss of her love, Ethan, and their unborn baby. Smoke starts with a bang-literally. Pattyn walks in on her father beating her sister Jackie (whom he'd interrupted mid-rape by a boy from their LDS church). When he won't stop attacking her, Pattyn presumably shoots him dead, though only Jackie and Pattyn know the truth. Clearly this is not light fare. The book, told in the author's signature verse, alternates between the girls' voices. The narrative follows Pattyn as she befriends an immigrant family and anonymously seeks refuge as a housekeeper for a family with looming problems of its own. Jackie, the one left behind, must deal with their six siblings, a weak-willed mother, and the fallout from their father's death. Hopkins's popular novels are typically a chorus of downward spirals, and, at times, character development can get lost in the cacophony. Perhaps because Smoke focuses finely on only two voices, it doesn't suffer such a fate. Pattyn and Jackie are given the time and space for full-bodied development. Both have overcome (and are still living in) horrific circumstances, but neither is a victim. They are strong, sympathetic characters for whom readers will root as new love sweetly weaves its way back into their lives. Though some will likely take issue with the extremist portrayal of the Mormon church, Hopkins's fans should and will clamor for this sequel. While certainly enhanced when read in conjunction with Burned, Smoke can more than stand on its own.-Jill Heritage Maza, Montclair Kimberley Academy, Montclair, NJ

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2013
Grades 9-12 In her poetic sequel to Burned (2006), Hopkins pays homage to the old adage The truth shall set you free. In haunting memories, Pattyn and younger sister Jackie return to the horrifying scene of their father's murder: Caleb's rape of Jackie, their father's discovery of the crime and his brutal beating of his violated daughter, and Pattyn's gunpoint threat. Now Pattyn is on the run, disguised as a California migrant farm worker, while Jackie is a pariah in church, at school, and in her mother's eyes. Hopkins' riveting story line is full of the perpetual premonition of danger, and the simple free-verse format belies the complexity of both plot and craft. The poems are sparse, each word and phrase carefully chosen, each line and stanza designed to convey both girls' desperation and resilience. Each sees herself as damaged and unlovable; each harbors guilt and hate for the father who physically beat her and the mother who emotionally betrayed her. Hopkins also tackles issues of immigration, homosexuality, bullying, Mormon extremism, and America's shadowy antigovernment militia, making for a compelling and thought-provoking read. HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: Hopkins is a number-one New York Times best-selling author, and her fan base is huge, huge, huge.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)