Black Swan Green

Starred review from January 2, 2006
For his fourth novel, two-time Booker Prize finalist Mitchell (Cloud Atlas
, etc.) turns to material most writers plumb in their first: the semiautobiographical, first-person coming-of-age story. And after three books with notably complex narrative structure, far-flung settings, and multiple viewpoints, he has chosen one narrator, 13-year-old Jason Taylor, to tell the story of one year (1982) in one town, Worcestershire's Black Swan Green. Jason starts with the January day he accidentally smashes his late grandfather's irreplaceable Omega Seamaster DeVille watch and ends with Christmas, which, because of intervening events, becomes the last he spends in this sleepy Midlands hamlet. The gorgeously revealed cast includes Jason's brilliant older sister, sarcastic mother, blustering dad and a spectrum of bullies and mates. Jason's nemesis is an intermittent, fluctuating stammer: some days he must avoid words beginning with N; other days, S. Once he is exposed, the bullies taunt him mercilessly; there is no respite for the weak or disabled in Black Swan Green nor, as the realities of Thatcher's grim reign begin to take their toll, in England writ large. How Jason and his family navigate this year of change is the emotional core of this rich novel, but the virtuoso chapter is "The Bridle Path," wherein Jason, alone for one delicious day, searches for a tunnel fabled to have been dug by the Romans in order to rout the Vikings. What he finds along the way captures the sheer pleasure of being a boy and brings to mind adventures shared by Huck and Tom.

Starred review from February 1, 2006
Thirteen is a difficult age, and Jason Taylor has a hard time negotiating the mean streets of the ex-urban town of this book's title. Two factors make life in Cold War England even more difficult: he has a stammer, which he tries valiantly and cleverly to conceal from friends and classmates, and, even more dangerous, he secretly writes poetry and sends it to a local publication under a pseudonym. Life at home is no picnic, either, with a father and mother increasingly at odds and an ice princess of a sister who enjoys toying with the younger Jason. British slang and cultural idioms color the prose of brilliant stylist Mitchell, who conveys an emotional rapport with his characters. Though this work is seemingly worlds away from his postmodern visionary 2004 epic, "Cloud Atlas" that novel nevertheless seeps into the cracks as minor characters and themes reappear from the earlier work. Here the virtuoso ventriloquism of multiple voices and settings focuses only on Jason and his surroundings but to heightened comic and dramatic effect. Recommended for all fiction collections. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ"12/05.] -"Jim Coan, SUNY at Oneonta Lib."

Copyright 2006 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2006
Adult/High School -Thirteen chapters provide a monthly snapshot of Jason Taylor -s life in small-town England from January 1982 to January 1983. Whether the 13-year-old narrator is battling his stammer or trying to navigate the social hierarchy of his schoolmates or watching the slow disintegration of his parents - marriage, he relates his story in a voice that is achingly true to life. Each chapter becomes a skillfully drawn creation that can stand on its own, but is subtly interwoven with the others. While readers may not see the connectedness in the first two thirds of the book, the final three sections skillfully bring the threads together. The author does not pull any punches when it comes to the casual cruelty that adolescent boys can inflict on one another, but it is this very brutality that underscores the sweetness of which they are also capable. With its British slang and complex twists and turns, this title is not a selection for reluctant readers, but teens who enjoy multifaceted coming-of-age stories will be richly rewarded. The chapter entitled -Rocks, - which centers around the British conflict in the Falkland Islands in May 1982, is especially compelling as Jason and his peers deal with the death of one of their own. Mitchell has been hailed as one of the great new authors of the 21st century; with "Black Swan Green", he shows again how the best books challenge readers - complacency." -Kim Dare, Chantilly Regional Library, Fairfax County, VA"

Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from February 15, 2006
On the heels of his critically acclaimed " Cloud Atlas" (2004), frequent Booker Prize nominee Mitchell has left behind complicated literary constructions for this beautiful, stripped-down coming-of-age story. Our 13-year-old narrator, Jason Taylor, lives in Worcestershire's Black Swan Green with his sister and his parents. Jason suffers from a stammer, and in order to keep above the bottom rung of the social ladder, he must go to extravagant lengths to avoid using stammer words (some days those that start with " n"; other days, " s"). And he must live in the wake of his brilliant sister and mediate between his parents. The anxieties and excitements of boyhood are captured extraordinarily well here. Some will argue that Jason doesn't " sound "13 (he certainly has, per day, a lot more arrestingly beautiful thoughts than does your average 13-year-old), but the narrative voice is consistent, and readers will come to believe it. Indeed, it is Mitchell's brilliant ability to reproduce internal monologue that makes this story so mesmerizing. He reproduces Jason's inner life with such astonishing verisimilitude that readers will find themselves haunted by him long after turning the last page.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2006, American Library Association.)