The Gallery of Unfinished Girls

May 22, 2017
Last year, 17-year-old Mercy Moreno won the county art competition with an interpretation of salmonella; the expectation that she’ll come up with something brilliant for this year’s competition is overwhelming. Coupled with her personal dramas—she might be in love with her best friend Victoria, and her grandmother is in a coma in Puerto Rico—Mercy wonders if she’s an artistic hack. When a woman named Lilia moves in next door and encourages Mercy to join the Estate, a dilapidated condo converted into artists’ spaces, Mercy once again feels the desire to create. Mercy is seduced by the power she feels there, but the Estate isn’t exactly what it seems. The strength of Karcz’s debut novel lies in Mercy’s friendship with Victoria, relationship with her younger sister, and confusion over whether to confess her love to Victoria. Those strands are at times overshadowed by Mercy’s insecurities about her art and the magical realism of the Estate, but the novel’s mix of self-discovery, art making, and the unknown should resonate with fans of A.S. King’s work, especially Still Life with Tornado. Ages 13–up. Agent: Victoria Marini, Irene Goodman Literary.

June 1, 2017
Mercedes Moreno rediscovers her muse at a mysterious, invitation-only artists' sanctuary. Latina high school senior Mercedes is desperate to create a painting worthy of her junior-year award-winner, Food Poisoning #1. But Food Poisoning #2 isn't coming along, and Mercedes feels blocked artistically and personally. Recently out as bisexual, Mercedes is secretly in love with her white, dancer best friend, Victoria. Mercedes is also stuck watching over her 14-year-old sister, Angela, while their mother is in Puerto Rico taking care of comatose Abuela Dolores. A week after their mom's departure, a piano shows up on the sisters' front lawn, and Lilia Solis, a beautiful artist Mercedes thinks might be Latina as well, moves in next door. Lilia invites Mercedes to accompany her to her "studio" in the Red Mangrove Estate, a shuttered old Sarasota beach condo, where Mercedes finds she has boundless energy to paint and meets other artists, musicians, and photographers fulfilling their artistic dreams. The catch? Nothing created at the Estate can be taken out of it; time inside the Estate seems to work differently; and Mercedes begins to crave being there. Unfortunately, the execution hobbles the premise. Mercedes remains mostly unlikable despite the first-person narration, and the dialogue comes across as affected and inauthentic, as in the way Victoria constantly calls Mercedes "dearie" or how often the teens wax philosophical about art. Initially compelling, this tribute to young artists ultimately underdelivers. (Magical realism. 12-17)

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May 1, 2017

Gr 8 Up-Mercedes Moreno is an award-winning artist. But she's in a bit of a slump and is going through a lot. Mercedes's mom just rushed to Puerto Rico to be with her comatose mother, leaving the high school senior to take care of her 14-year-old sister, Angela. Complicating matters further, Mercedes is in love with her best friend Victoria and everyone seems to know it except for Victoria. A week later, a piano appears on Mercedes's front lawn. Angela falls in love and starts to play all the time. Shortly after the piano shows up, so does a new neighbor named Lilia, and she's a painter like Mercedes. Lilia soon becomes a part of the Moreno sisters' lives. She helps Angela, who might be a savant, on the piano. Lilia also invites Mercedes to paint with her at the Red Mangrove Estates. It's here that Mercedes finds clarity, begins to create, and feels inspired again. As her life continues to weigh on her, Mercedes spends more and more time at the estates and soon realizes she can't handle living two lives: one inside the estates and another outside of them. This is a great title that tackles death, love, creativity, growing up, and moving on. There are no tidy endings here, but that just makes this book that is sprinkled with some magical realism more relatable. It's a good read for fans of Natalie Standiford's How To Say Goodbye in Robot. VERDICT A strong purchase for most libraries.-Faythe Arredondo, Tulare County Library, CA

Copyright 2017 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

June 1, 2017
Grades 9-12 Karcz's bold debut straddles the line between magical realism and surrealism as high-school senior Mercedes Moreno comes to terms with her identity as an individual and an artist. When Mercedes' mother leaves to take care of Mercedes' terminally ill abuela, a piano mysteriously appears on her front yard, setting off a bizarre chain of events. Passionate fellow artist Lilia moves in next door and introduces Mercedes to the Red Mangrove Estate, an ephemeral building that houses artists and brings the most raw, significant paintings out of Mercedes. Expertly executed irony propels the narrative forward as Mercedes finds meaning and insight in her art at the estate but can't bring anything outside. Her best friend, Victoria, has been instrumental as Mercedes struggles to accept herself as bisexual, but Mercedes still can't bring herself to tell Victoria she's in love with her. Mercedes emerges as a fiercely independent female protagonist who normalizes insecurity and indecision at the end of high school.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2017, American Library Association.)