In-between Days

May 23, 2016
Australian author Wakefield (Friday Never Leaving) sets this reflective novel in the desolate town of Mobius, where 17-year-old Jacklin “Jack” Bates has moved in with her older sister, Trudy. Mobius is about as depressed a town as it gets (Jack describes it as “a populated dead end, a wrong turn, a sleepy hollow”), and the story meanders among inhabitants who aren’t sure what to do with themselves. When it comes to the malaise and stagnation of life in Mobius, Wakefield’s writing is unflinchingly honest, though the story lacks tension. Jack does her job, loses said job, fights with Trudy, hooks up with a 21-year-old, learns to drive, has philosophical conversations with a drifter named Pope, struggles to reconcile with her estranged parents, and has other small adventures, but the events don’t really coalesce to lend a driving force to the narrative. Even so, readers who let themselves sink into Wakefield’s descriptions of small-town life, its constraints, and frustrations will enjoy following Jack as she searches for meaning, finding love and purpose in the unlikeliest people. Ages 14–up.

June 1, 2016
Seventeen-year-old Jack (short for Jacklin) has left home and now lives with her sister, who is also estranged from their parents, in their small Australian town of Mobius. Jack and her sister Trudy are scraping together a living as this richly atmospheric novel opens, sharing a house on the edge of a forest famous as a final destination for people who travel there to commit suicide. Jack's biding her time as the hazy summer days roll by, in love with a boy who's not in love with her and trying to leave her feelings of being an outsider firmly in the past, along with her high school student status. Jack's sometimes-morose but always insightful narration is raw and lonely, and readers will yearn for her to fall for Jeremiah, an oddball boy she knew when she was younger who has newly returned to Mobius. Pop-culture references seem to root this in the late 1980s or early '90s, and all of the major characters seem to be white. A prickly, almost eerie tone set in the novel's opening chapters may lead readers to expect something of the supernatural that in the end does not manifest, but there's not a relationship depicted here that is not nuanced and fascinating. Fans of realistic fiction will be all in and will relish the gorgeous writing. (Fiction. 14 & up)

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June 1, 2016

Gr 9 Up-The town of Mobius does not have a lot going for it. Total population is 600. Main Street has a beauty parlor, a pub, an OTB, and a run-down convenience store called Bent Bowl Spoon, where 17-year-old Jacklin works. She is a high school dropout who lives with her older sister Trudy, a dropout as well. Jack does her best to keep her boyfriend Luke happy but receives little in the way of reciprocation. She and her sister are estranged from their parents, particularly her mother, who feels betrayed by the lives her daughters are living. When Jack loses her job, and finally acknowledges that Luke doesn't care for her, she knows she must make changes. Wakefield gives voice to the bullied, those with mental issues, and teens who can't face the truth but find self-worth in spite of their flaws. Jacklin will probably never be the successful woman her mother hoped for. But readers will admire her ability to reevaluate her bad decisions and her efforts to forge ahead with better choices. VERDICT This gritty depiction of a working-class teenager in a tiny town should appeal to older YAs.-Lillian Hecker, Town of Pelham Public Library, NY

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