Into the Dangerous World

May 25, 2015
Seventeen-year-old Ror grew up on a Staten Island commune, but she, her mother, and her older sister must move into an SRO in Manhattan after her father commits suicide by burning down the house they built. Set in 1984, amid the thriving street culture of New York City, Chibbaro's gritty novel follows Ror as she figures out what type of artist she wants to become while using her drawing to channel her grief. Illustrator Sovak, Chibbaro's husband and collaborator on 2011's Deadly, skillfully conveys Ror's artistic talent in vibrant and emotionally resonant b&w sketches. The adults in Ror's life want her to pursue traditional art, but she sees graffiti everywhere, and it fascinates her, as does Trey, a neighbor and fellow art student. Ror's attempts to fit in with Trey and his graffiti crew reflect her unbiased love of art and her struggle to discover where she belongs. Period references (Blondie, Keith Haring, the Reagan administration) provide context, yet the book feels modern and relevant as this striking combination of story and illustration creates a powerful portrait of a budding artist. Ages 14âup. Agent: Jill Grinberg, Jill Grinberg Literary Management.

May 15, 2015
Aurora, raised in a rural commune, finds her notions of art challenged by her introduction to the New York City graffiti-art scene in the 1980s. Aurora is struggling to define her artistic identity, a process complicated by her father's suicide by house fire, an act that nearly killed the entire family. The tragedy forces Aurora, her sister, and their mother into New York City. Caught in the whirlwind of public assistance and public school, and besieged by the city's commercialized chaos, Aurora retreats into her sketchbooks to explore her father's complicated legacy. Her drawings of her father on fire and her imagined conversations with him, in which he offers opinions on her new life, powerfully complement the prose, the sketchlike quality of the art emulating an artist's personal sketchbook. In art class, Aurora meets Trey, a graffiti artist with whom she forms a contentiously competitive bond that is also laced with admiration and attraction-a relationship not unlike Aurora's feelings about graffiti, which she finds both alluring and perilous. Aurora acknowledges the graffiti artists' talents, as well as the issues of danger and vandalism that accompany the medium. With a nod to the best parts of her father's unconventional spirit, Aurora eventually integrates her own unorthodox styles into her graffiti while also exploring more traditional gallery spaces as potential avenues for her future works. A thought-provoking, beautiful exploration of the artistic process. (Historical fiction. 12 & up)

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July 1, 2015

Gr 9 Up-Ror is an artist. Growing up on a commune on Staten Island during the 1970s and 1980s allowed her to explore this aspect of herself. Her father, also an artist, burns down their home while he is inside it. Now Ror, her mother, and her sister, must learn to live in Regan-era Brooklyn with very limited resources. The teen has never been to high school but has learned much about art and literature from her father. The only course she cares about is her art class. There she meets Trey. He is a street artist, and Ror becomes fascinated with graffiti and is eager to join his crew. The protagonist learns to appreciate this new art form but is also scared of the risks associated with getting caught. Eventually, she recognizes that she needs to trust her own instincts, listen to mentors, and not rely entirely on her growing feelings for Trey to guide her art. Ror is a prickly but fully realized character to whom artistic teens will relate. Superville Sovak channels Ror and provides images that illustrate how the teen is experiencing and interpreting the new world around her. VERDICT Fans of Rainbow Rowell's Eleanor & Park (St. Martins, 2013) and Cath Crowley's Graffiti Moon (Knopf, 2012) who are ready for something a bit grittier will find much to love here.-Kristin Anderson, Columbus Metropolitan Library System, OH

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

July 1, 2015
Grades 9-12 After chasing Typhoid Mary in Deadly (2011), Chibbaro's latest historical novel transports readers to Reagan-era New York City. Ror has spent her entire life in an off-the-grid Staten Island compound of her father's making, but everything changes when he burns it to the ground, committing suicide in the process. Thrust into a Manhattan homeless residence with her surviving mother and sister, Ror, a talented artist, is drawn into the underground world of graffiti. As she falls for fellow graffiti artist and classmate Trey, who pulls her into the daring graffiti crew Noise Ink, she's forced to decide where her true affiliations lie on the spectrum of art and commerce. Sovak's illustrations are imaginative and striking yet entirely believable for a teenage artist like Ror, who struggles with the raw emotional fallout of losing a parent. Through Ror's admiration for Andy Warhol and visits to local galleries, Chibbaro seamlessly brings the 1980s New York art scene to life. Infused with creative energy and excitement for the artistic process.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)