Jump

Starred review from May 3, 2010
Told through the alternating present-tense perspectives of two runaways who connect through their love of rock climbing, Carbone’s (Blood on the River) picaresque novel is equal parts entertaining and provocative. Strong-willed 16-year-old P.K. runs away to avoid being shipped to boarding school, and gentle-natured Critter, who has the ability to see colors that indicate people’s emotions (for reasons he keeps to himself for some time), escapes from a psychiatric hospital. The teens hitchhike to Las Vegas and jump at the chance to make the first-ever ascent of a steep rock face. Chapters range from a few sentences to a few pages, and the descriptions of the pair’s climbs are riveting—especially a treacherous scramble up a cliff with police in pursuit. Yet the narrators’ psychological explorations are as exhilarating as their physical exploits. The allegedly unbalanced Critter takes serenity to new heights as he shares with P.K. logical, relatable coping mechanisms (“You’re scared of the future.... look at where you are now. Is there anything to be afraid of?”). An incisive reflection on endurance, independence, belonging, self-knowledge, and love, this story should find a wide audience. Ages 12–up.

May 1, 2010
Grades 8-10 Told from alternating viewpoints, Carbones latest novel reads more like a rock-climbing manual than a romance. P. K. and Critter are troubled teens who meet at a climbing gym. P. K.s parents are sending her to boarding school, and Critter has just escaped from a psychiatric hospital. The two decide to run away to Nevadawhere they establish a new climbing route and P. K. nearly kills herself on an ambitious climband Yosemite as they try to evade the authorities and P. K.s dad. Although Carbone struggles with characterization, Critters life philosophies and quirky ability to see peoples auras make him the more interesting of the pair. Readers never even learn what P. K. stands for. The alternating chapters are short, making this novel a quick read despite clocking in at almost 300 pages. Theres plenty of technical terminology to satisfy rock-climbing readers, though others may overlook it to root for P. K. and Critter to be together.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)