The Radius of Us

November 15, 2016
As in Dream Things True (2015), Marquardt explores the American dream, this time through the lenses of two traumatized teens. Gretchen, who's white, should be reveling in the moment as a high school senior. Instead, she's home-schooled since being robbed and assaulted in her Atlanta neighborhood has left her with debilitating panic attacks. In a nearby community, 18-year-old brown-skinned Phoenix, who escaped and rescued his younger brother, Ari, from gang violence in El Salvador, is staying with a compassionate lesbian couple while he awaits his day in court as an asylum seeker. Phoenix learned impeccable English from missionaries who established a bilingual school in his village, so he's able to communicate with Gretchen when they accidentally meet. Told in the teens' alternating voices, the enlightening story follows their growing relationship as they learn the traumatic experiences each has faced and help each other cope with them. The focus, however, is on Phoenix and Ari's grisly escape, witnessing acts that have left Ari mute in a juvenile detention facility, and their need to avoid returning to certain death in El Salvador. While the teens' relationship is tested when details from Phoenix's past coincide with Gretchen's case, a host of diverse characters lend a hand and offer varying perspectives. A rushed ending is only a small distraction in this otherwise eye-opening story. (Fiction. 14-18)

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Starred review from December 1, 2016

Gr 9 Up-Seventeen-year-old Gretchen Asher's life has not been the same since she was mugged in a parking lot one night. The traumatic incident propelled her into a state of panic, and she is unable to go to school, socialize, or interact deeply with her boyfriend, Adam. Months later, while babysitting her niece and nephew in a neighborhood park, Gretchen spots a boy who looks nearly identical to her attacker. She is thrust back into the heart of fear, unaware that the boy, Phoenix, is in the midst of his own struggles. An 18-year-old immigrant from El Salvador, he has just spent four months escorting his brother to the United States to flee gang violence and is in danger of being deported. When circumstances cause Gretchen and Phoenix to continue meeting, they form an unexpected bond. While facing court trials, identity issues, and racial stereotyping, the teens bolster each other's courage. With the looming possibility of their permanent separation, the two must decide what is most important to them and what sacrifices are worth making. Tackling the issues of gang violence, immigration, mental health, and cultural bias, this is a compelling story that delivers profound messages through engaging, accessible prose. Both a page-turning romance and a comprehensive view of a young immigrant's experience, this novel is sure to encourage empathy and perspective among high school students. VERDICT A must-have for all YA collections.-Karin Greenberg, Queens College, NY

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2016
Grades 9-12 Marquardt's latest is a gripping depiction of many of the issues facing Salvadorean refugees. Phoenix Flores Flores, 19, is a bright young man and former gang member determined to save his younger brother, Ari, from being forced into a gang. A traumatic journey through Mexico gets the brothers to Texas, where Ari, now mute, lives in a government-run shelter for refugees. Phoenix tries desperately to help from Florida, where he's been taken in by a kind lesbian couple. Meanwhile, 17-year-old Gretchen is struggling to recover from PTSD after a violent attack by a Latino gang member. Alternating first-person chapters from Phoenix and Gretchen describe their backstories and evolving situations as they meet and fall in love. But there's more to this intercultural romance: Marquardt's protagonists are complex and intriguing. Gretchen is both fiercely feminist and totally fearful after her attack; Phoenix is besotted and racked with guilt. Of special note is a terrific court transcript (with sketches by Ari) that effectively supplies missing puzzle pieces. Ari's sweetly satisfying epilogue provides a very happy ending.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)