December

March 3, 2008
Like her 2006 debut, Fireworks
, Winthrop's second novel focuses on the turmoil wrought by the loss of a child. Although Wilson and Ruth Carter's 11-year-old daughter, Isabelle, is very much alive, she hasn't spoken in nine months, an elective muteness brought on by no known trauma. Her silence confounds her parents, a series of psychiatrists and her Manhattan private school, which, by December, is losing patience with her. Ruth, a successful lawyer, pores over Isabelle's past actions and sketchbooks for hidden meanings; Wilson, a well-meaning but often bumbling father who still views his preteen daughter as a little girl, is convinced that action, not analysis, will cure Isabelle. Isabelle herself, whom Winthrop introduces skillfully through a shifting third-person omniscient narrative, is most intriguing: keenly self-aware but unable to help herself, alternating between resentment and adoration for her parents, Isabelle is in many ways simply a preadolescent to the nth degree. Like budding artist Isabelle, Winthrop is a master of observation, and her ability to crystallize themes in particular vignettes (fixing a broken phonograph, buying Christmas presents) brings this affecting family drama vividly to life.

Starred review from March 15, 2008
It's December, and 11-year-old Isabelle hasn't spoken in eight months. Her puzzled parents have been in turn patient, forceful, despairing, and supportive, trying every method they can think of to get Isabelle to talk. She has seen four psychologists without improvement, and now her private school has issued an ultimatum: Isabelle will be expelled if she doesn't start speaking when school resumes in January. Readers will sympathize with Isabelle's parents as they struggle to keep their normal holiday traditions alive despite a daughter who refuses to sing Christmas carols, order her own meal in a restaurant, or even visit with neighbors. Just as we're about to lose patience with her, however, Isabelle herself takes on a voice in the story, emerging as an independent character who loves her parents deeply but is powerless to change her behavior no matter how much she wants to. This story of a family in crisis builds in emotion until a spellbinding climax brings things to a realistic and satisfying close. Recommended for all public libraries.Kellie Gillespie, City of Mesa Lib., AZ

Copyright 2008 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 1, 2008
Adult/High School-Isabelle, 11, has not spoken in 280 days and her doting parents are frantic with worry. The girl enjoys a comfortable life in a Manhattan apartment and a country-weekend cottage and is enrolled in private school. Her silence is not the result of trauma and has no physical cause. Several psychologists have given up on "fixing" her, and her school threatens to cut her loose if she does not return to normalcy. Ruth, a somewhat controlling mother, hangs on to the hope that a new psychologist will unravel the mystery through Isabelle's drawings. Wilson holds on to the hope that action will cure his daughter's silencehang the swing, clean the garage, cut the Christmas tree, travel to Africa. The plot is at first revealed through the parents' point of view and could almost be considered a mystery, complete with red herrings. (Will the deaf neighbor boy trigger Isabelle to speak? Has she inherited crazy Uncle Jimmy's tendency to mental problems?) Only when the story switches to the protagonist's point of view do readers begin to understand what is going on. "December" is a hauntingly quiet domestic drama, full of evocative language and agonizing emotional scenes. The looming demise of an old apple tree and of a cancer-stricken dog hint at the loss of a childhood. Isabelle's quiet, stubborn rebellion should appeal to teens."Paula Dacker, Charter Oak High School, CA"

Copyright 2008 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2008
Following her well-received debut, Fireworks (2006), Winthropoffers an emotional portrait of a family in crisis, engaging the reader from the novels opening pages, when we learn that Ruth and Wilsons 11-year-old daughter, Isabelle, voluntarily and inexplicably stopped speaking nine months earlier. Since then, Ruth has quit her solo law practice to work with Isabelle, and the private New York City school that has allowed Isabelle to complete work from home all these months is finally threatening to fill her space with a normal child after the Christmas break. Now its December, when memories of this close familys past holiday traditions are painfully juxtaposed with their unstable and altered present. After Isabelles fourth psychiatrist terms her a lost cause, Ruths sarcasm and Wilsons outbursts of temper only escalate, described with acute precision in Isabelles haunting interior monologues. The author uncannily gives voice toeach characters psycheIsabelles mute despair, Wilsons unrealistic optimism, and Ruths pragmatic negativismuntil external circumstances bring about a resolution to their seemingly hopeless plight. A captivating read, peopled with characters hard to forget.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2008, American Library Association.)