A Breath of Eyre

March 5, 2012
Adult author Mont’s (Free to a Good Home) enjoyable YA debut, first in a planned series based on classic literature, introduces 16-year-old Emma Townsend, a student at the elite Lockwood Prep. At school, Emma and her roommate are taunted for being scholarship students, and she has a crush on her English teacher as well as a confusing friendship with Gray, a reformed bad boy. When Emma is struck by lightning and wakes up in the novel Jane Eyre as the governess herself, the memories of her life at Lockwood soon fade as she falls in love with the dashing Mr. Rochester, “two lost souls trapped in a gloomy mansion together—one haunted by a past he could not relinquish, the ­other haunted by a past she could not remember.” Emma senses that she has ­unfinished business in both worlds (in which characters cleverly mirror each ­other), and she travels between them to discover truths about her past and future. Brontë fans should appreciate this romantic, time-slipping reimagining that addresses finding a voice in writing and in life. Ages 14–up. Agent: April Eberhardt, Kimberley Cameron & Associates.

Starred review from March 15, 2012
This richly satisfying tale of first and last love transcends its genre--not another breathless, fan-fiction take on a literary classic but an intertextual love letter. Raised by a distant father and ex-debutante stepmother, shy, bookish Emma misses the mother she barely remembers. At Emma's 16th birthday party, her mother's college roommate, Simona, gives her a copy of Jane Eyre. Emma finds Simona's son, Gray, disturbingly attractive, but he dates an A-list girl at Lockwood, the boarding school Emma, a scholarship student, attends. The alliance she forges with her new roommate--fellow scholarship student and Haitian science whiz Michelle--heartens both until, struck by lightning, Emma wakes up to find herself Jane Eyre. Though her world is comforting at first, Mr. Rochester's controlling ways trouble Emma, who feels deepening compassion for Bertha Mason. (Jean Rhys' Wide Sargasso Sea is clearly a referent here.) She fights her way home, but unresolved issues and mysteries, especially the connection between Jane's world and Emma's mother, draw her back. With evocative settings and compassionately drawn characters, this trilogy opener offers affectionate insight into the gifts literature gives readers. If treasured books have the power to change us, it's a two-way street. As we change, so does our relationship to those books and so, in a sense, we change them. A smart and rewarding ode to literature. (Fantasy. 12 & up)

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April 1, 2012

Gr 8 Up-Emma Townsend feels like an outsider. She doesn't fit in as a scholarship student at her exclusive prep school, her stepmother doesn't fill the shoes left by her mother's death, she doesn't have any girl friends, and her only romantic prospect (besides her crush on her English teacher) is her longtime friend, Gray. Emma finds refuge in a copy of Jane Eyre. In a bizarre accident, she is struck by lightning and wakes up and finds herself as a governess at Thornfield where she experiences a sense of belonging and a strange attraction to Mr. Rochester. Several weeks later, Emma wakes to realize that she has been hit by lightning and had a paranormal experience. A Breath of Eyre moves between Emma's real life and her life as Jane Eyre. She becomes Jane again further into the book in a strange sequence of events involving a fire. In the end, Emma must decide whether her destiny lies in the pages of a book or in her own real life. Fans of Jane Eyre might enjoy this book and its connections to the classic. However, most readers will get tired of the over-the-top subplots (every character has some extreme drama) and the number of strange accidents Emma has within a short period of time.-Shannon Seglin, Patrick Henry Library, Vienna, VA

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2012
Grades 8-10 Emma, uncharacteristic teenager that she is, gets struck by lightning and wakes up as Jane Eyre. This unusual accident interrupts her already unhappy life of fighting with her stepmother and father, concealing a crush on Gray Newman, and dealing with the snobs in her boarding school. She discovers that Jane's life is much more than a romantic fairy tale, and when she wakes up, she starts taking control of her own story. Mont's debut novel in her new series is a respectful homage to Charlotte Bronte's classic. Emma feels alone and hopeless, but her time as Jane helps her sort out her problems and even reevaluate some of Jane's decisions from a modern perspective. The book also touches on the stigma of mental illness, artfully connecting circumstances from both Jane and Emma's experiences. This is a contemporary introduction to Jane Eyre for those who haven't read it, and an insightful, fresh view for those who have. More than that, it's a chance for readers to literally step into Jane's shoes.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)