Shine Shine Shine

May 14, 2012
From a distance, Netzer’s confident debut is the tale of “an astronaut lost in space, and the wife he left behind.” At its core, it is the story of the power of love to overcome the great accidents of the universe. Sunny was born totally hairless. Her husband, Maxon, is a rocket scientist, and together they have an autistic son named Bubber. It appears they live a normal suburban life in Virginia— Sunny wears a long blond wig and Bubber is medicated to keep him calm. But after Maxon leaves for a space expedition, a car accident reveals Sunny’s hairlessness to her friends and neighbors. Being outed causes Sunny to re-examine her life, and she begins to come to terms with herself as different but special. Meanwhile, Maxon’s expedition is jeopardized when a tiny rock “that had been hiding behind the moon” slams into his spaceship. As he and his crew struggle to survive, and Sunny embraces her family’s peculiarities, Netzer deftly illuminates the bonds that transcend shortcomings and tragedy. Characterized by finely textured emotions and dramatic storytelling, Netzer’s world will draw readers happily into its orbit. Agent: Caryn Karmatz Rudy, DeFiore and Company.

Starred review from September 24, 2012
This unusual, imaginative novel tells the story of Sunny, a woman dealing with lifelong baldness, and Maxon, her childhood friend and later husband, who is a genius who designs robots, is about to embark on a dangerous mission to space, and is unable to understand social cues. Narrator Joshilyn Jackson creates spot-on voices for the characters. For example, Sunny and Maxon’s autistic son, Bubber, has a voice described as “like a duck’s... if a duck sounded like a robot”—and that is exactly the voice Jackson lends him. Similarly, neighbor and television anchorman Les has a voice like that of Superman’s—and, obligingly, Jackson performs his dialogue in booming, larger-than-life tones. But despite these quirky character voices, Jackson never reduces the characters to caricatures. While she conveys all the book’s humor, her reading is also full of empathy, and she brings out the characters’ underlying humanity. For Maxon, Jackson reads in an even, logical, unemotional tone, but beneath that, listeners will hear his vulnerability. This masterful, flawless narration of a imaginative novel is something special and not to be missed. A St. Martin’s hardcover.

November 15, 2012

Netzer's quirky debut novel mines contemporary relationships with a fresh voice. Sunny is congenitally hairless and is as adrift as her astronaut husband, Maxon, is in his quest to colonize the moon using robots. Sunny has expended tremendous energy to make her family "normal," but what constitutes normal for the bald Sunny, her odd genius husband, her dying mother, and her autistic son, Bubber. Her beautiful house, medication, wigs galore, and a healthy dose of denial all help her in this quest until she loses her wig, and everyone discovers her secret. Using subtle humor and complex characters, Netzer asks what is love and what does it require of us? Narrator Joshilyn Jackson captures beautifully the detached voice of heroine Sunny. VERDICT Alert all your Jonathan Franzen fans; they will love this title. ["Netzer has beautifully crafted an original story with a cast of characters who make up an unconventional but strangely believable family," read the review of the St. Martin's hc, LJ Xpress Reviews, 7/6/12.--Ed.]--Judy Murray, Monroe Cty. Lib. Syst., MI

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