Miles from Ordinary

January 17, 2011
It was always Aunt Linda who saved the day whenever Lacey's mentally ill mother had a bad spell. Now that Linda's moved away, it's up to Lacey to keep things on an even keel and find a way to save the family from financial ruin. The 13-year-old narrator gains hope when her mother takes a job as a grocery cashier, but her mother's first day of work at Winn-Dixie becomes a nightmare after Lacey discovers her mother has walked away from her job. In a novel spanning a mere 24 hours, Williams (The Chosen One) takes readers on an emotional roller-coaster ride as she traces Lacey's memories of childhood traumas, her desperate attempt to locate her mother, and the depths of her mother's sickness. Poignant moments expressing the heroine's yearning for an ordinary life are never far from images of unleashed violence, family feuds, and paranoia. The unfolding of details of Lacey's home life and her anxieties create a suffocating atmosphere; the climax (which brings to mind Norman Bates and Baby Jane) may be too disturbing for some. This is tautly written psychological horror. Ages 12–up.

February 1, 2011

This absorbing portrait of a 13-year-old girl and her struggle to cope with her mentally ill mother transports readers to hope, fear and horror. Lacey just wants to be ordinary. She wants to have a friend and to work at the library, but her apparently psychotic mother dominates her life. The girl must take care of Momma, instead of the other way around. When her mother disappears, Lacey confronts not only her own fears but also her mother's desperate illness. Momma constantly talks to Lacey's dead "Granddaddy," who tells her to do bizarre things. Granddaddy's latest request, however, might get both of them killed. Far more frightening than a ghost story, the novel achieves complete realism as Williams shows readers events through the eyes of a young girl whom the child-protection system has failed. Nevertheless, Lacey has so much spunk that readers are sure she'll survive. The author has crafted both a riveting, unusual suspense tale and an absolutely convincing character in Lacey. The book truly is miles from ordinary, in the very best way. Outstanding. (Fiction. 12 & up)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

May 1, 2011

Gr 7-10-This is a heart-wrenching exploration of Lacey's attempts to build a normal life for herself under the shadow of her mentally unstable mother. As the novel begins, the 13-year-old desperately hopes that Angela's new job as a cashier at Winn Dixie will offer her a fresh start. It will also free Lacey to volunteer at the local library, allowing her to escape the woman's suffocating neediness. Written in a taut, lyrical style, the story takes place in one day; Williams effectively uses this framework to build the character of responsible, yet vulnerable Lacey and fill in the family's gripping back story. Her beloved Aunt Linda moved out of the house after a final blow-up with Angela, and her repeated attempts to rescue the girl have been thwarted. Further tension is added in the specter of Lacey's dead grandfather, whose strange pull on her mother looms throughout the story. Shunned by her peers, Lacey is essentially alone, so when Aaron, a classmate, reaches out to her, she is at first wary. But when events begin to spiral out of control, and her mother goes missing, it is Aaron who supports and helps her. The girl's conflicting emotions about her mother are convincing, though her continual internal ruminations bog down the pace of the novel. Nevertheless, the story gradually gains momentum, climaxing in a horrifying scenario in which she must use all her emotional strength to defy her mother's insane plan. Lacey is both a resilient and sympathetic heroine, and the ending is not without hope. However, the novel's overall bleakness will limit its audience to those who enjoy their plots on the dark side.-Caroline Ward, The Ferguson Library, Stamford, CT

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2011
Grades 6-9 Thirteen-year-old Lacey hopes that this summer day will be a new start. She has gotten her mother a job at Winn-Dixie because they desperately need the money, and Lacey will be following in her aunt Lindas footsteps by working at the public library. Lacey craves an opportunity to be normal, to flirt with her neighbor Aaron and not have to watch over Momma, who seems so much better these days. But the day quickly spins out of control when Momma disappears. Seeing things afresh through Aarons eyes as they search for her together, Lacey comes to realize that its impossible for her to help her mother on her own. This gripping story by the author of The Chosen One (2009) is as suspenseful as it is painful. Laceys love for her mother, mixed with resentment and frustration over Mommas mental illness, is thoroughly believable (if a little sophisticated). Provocatively dark and at times downright scary, this novel will have readers rushing to the unforeseen, achingly authentic conclusion.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)