Cage of Stars

Veronica Swann is 12 when her younger sisters are murdered. This horrible event never leaves her and her parents, but when the killer is released years later, her parents are able to forgive. Veronica's inability to do so will lead her on a surprising journey. Narrating this first-person novel with empathy and sensitivity, Kathe Mazur captures the right emotional pitch throughout--from the pain of the event to the joys and triumphs of Ronnie's progress toward adulthood. Mazur's depiction of the other characters--Ronnie's parents, her friends (male and female), and Scott Early, her sisters' killer--are all convincing and compelling. Mitchard's ability to explore the dynamics of a family affected by tragedy, coupled with Mazur's expertly nuanced narration, makes this a winning production. M.A.M. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award (c) AudioFile 2006, Portland, Maine

March 20, 2006
A young Mormon girl finds herself torn between retribution and forgiveness in The Deep End of the Ocean
author Mitchard's latest. Twelve-year-old Veronica "Ronnie" Swan witnesses the murder of her two sisters in her family's yard in tiny Cedar City, Utah. Murderer Scott Early is immediately apprehended, but is diagnosed with schizophrenia and ends up spending just three years in a state mental hospital. The rest of Ronnie's family turns to their faith to forgive Early, visiting him just before his release after a battery of drugs have restored him to normalcy. But Ronnie remains angry and haunted by her inability to save her sisters from him, and as she comes of age she tracks Early to San Diego, becomes an EMT, talks his wife into hiring her as a nanny for their infant daughter, and starts planning her vengeance. But as Early's life comes into focus, Ronnie's plan leads to an unexpected, if overly summative, climax. Ronnie progresses from a stock girl-next-door type to a young woman with considerable emotional depth, and Mitchard understatedly portrays her attempts to navigate romance and other interactions as a Mormon raised very "of the Church." The results are sweet and solid.