★ 12/07/2015
Condie (Matched) strikes a deep emotional chord with this coming-of-age story about 12-year-old Cedar Lee, who has moved to Iron Creek, Utah, for the summer with her mother and younger brother, Miles, as the family struggles to regroup after an accident claimed the lives of Cedar’s father and brother Ben. Cedar quickly meets enterprising, offbeat Leo, who gets her a job at Summerlost, the town’s yearly Shakespeare festival. As the new friends team up to give (unofficial) walking tours about the life of legendary actress and hometown hero Lisette Chamberlain, they become captivated by the circumstances surrounding the woman’s death. Condie is at her best in this foray into middle grade fiction, grabbing readers’ interest from the first page while creating memorable characters struggling through deep emotional pain. The thread of Lisette’s mystery is intriguing in itself, but Leo and Cedar’s unlikely friendship steals the show. Their adventures, set against the quirky backdrop of a community of personality-rich theater creators, make for a summer with plenty of good to remember along with the bad. Ages 10–up. Agent: Jodi Reamer, Writers House. (Mar.)
12/01/2015
Gr 5–8—A year after the accident that killed Cedar Lee's father and younger brother, her family still feels freshly broken. Her mother moves the remainder of the family out to her hometown of Iron Creek for the summer. Cedar's mom throws herself into fixing up their new house, leaving Cedar and her younger brother Miles to explore the area on their own. Cedar can't shake her grief, especially when small trinkets that remind her of her brother Ben start appearing on her windowsill. Then Cedar notices that a strangely dressed boy rides by her house on his bike at the same time every day. She follows the boy and winds up with a new friend and a job at the Summerlost theater festival. As she dives into an old town mystery with Leo, she feels her heart slowly start to heal. Condie focuses mainly on Cedar's healing. Miles and her mother are present, and their journey through grief is certainly evident, but more care is given to Cedar and the development of her new relationships through the theater program. Leo is a vibrant secondary character, as are some of the other charming folks Cedar meets throughout her stay in Iron Creek. Have this on hand for readers who enjoy a sweet, heartfelt story. VERDICT A first purchase for middle grade collections, particularly where realistic fiction and coming-of-age stories are in demand.—Carli Worthman, Carmel Middle School, Carmel, IN
2015-11-25
A year after losing two family members, a girl spends the summer in a small town with a Shakespeare festival. Mom buys a summer house for herself, 12-year-old Cedar, and 8-year-old Miles in Iron Creek, where Mom grew up. It's been a year since a drunk driver killed Cedar's father and other little brother, Ben. As Cedar gets a job selling concessions at the Shakespeare festival, makes a friend named Leo, and finds herself and Miles obsessed with a morbid soap-opera arc on TV, Condie touches everything lightly but deftly with the family's grief. Leo and Cedar research—and give unauthorized tours about—a long-dead, famous actress from the town; Cedar's pulled by that research because she knows, now, that things can disappear forever. Ben was disabled (maybe autistic), and their relationship was sometimes difficult. Her relationship with Miles is stolid and understatedly touching. Details are careful and never extraneous; there's a reason it matters, at a certain moment, that "the milk was perfectly cold and the bananas not too ripe" in a bowl of cereal. Despite indicating that Cedar bonds with Leo because they're both outsiders—she as a biracial Chinese-American, he for vaguer reasons—an explanation for their friendship isn't necessary. Although Cedar's narration as a character of color is largely convincing, white is still the default for other characters unless otherwise specified. There's no monumental grief breakthrough, nor should there be: this is the realistic going on, day by day, after bereavement. Honest, lovely, and sad. (Fiction. 10-13)
★ "Condie is at her best . . . grabbing readers’ interest from the first page." —Publishers Weekly, starred review
"A nuanced portrait of grief deeply grounded in the middle-school mind-set." —Booklist
"Honest, lovely, and sad." —Kirkus Reviews
★ "Thoughtful, poetic chapter endings guide readers new to psychological depth toward meaningful connections between plot events and thematic reflections." —BCCB, starred review
Praise for Ally Condie’s Atlantia:
“Utterly captivating. A heroine unlike any I’d met before, a setting I’d never glimpsed, a story I’d never imagined. Atlantia is fresh, wild, and engrossing. I love Ally Condie.” —Shannon Hale, award-winning, bestselling author of Austenland and Dangerous
“A gorgeous, crumbling underwater world, a murder mystery, a sweet romance, a sinister plot, long-protected secrets… they’re all here! But what made us love this new stand-alone from talented Ally Condie? Rio. She’s a strong, brave, self-sacrificing heroine who never gives up.” —Justine Magazine
“Condie brings tremendous depth to her world-building, finding terrific details in a culture created both to help people survive, and to perhaps keep them under control.” —Salt Lake City Weekly
"A fast-paced fantasy adventure tale in a richly drawn dystopian future . . . this is a title that’s sure to be immensely popular with teens." —School Library Journal
“Each mystery leads into another, and Condie keeps readers guessing to the end.” —Shelf Awareness
Praise for the International bestelling Matched trilogy:
"This futuristic fable of love and free will asks: Can there be freedom without choice? The tale of Cassia's journey from acceptance to rebellion will draw you in and leave you wanting more." —Cassandra Clare, New York Times-bestselling author of The Infernal Devices and The Mortal Instruments series
"A superb dystopian romance." —The Wall Street Journal
"The hottest YA title to hit bookstores since The Hunger Games." —Entertainment Weekly
"A fierce, unforgettable page-turner." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"Condie's enthralling and twisty dystopian plot is well served by her intriguing characters and fine writing. . . . Cassia's metamorphosis is gripping and satisfying." —Publishers Weekly, starred review
* "Condie’s prose is immediate and unadorned, with sudden pings of lush lyricism [and] reveals seeming to arrive on almost every page." —Kirkus Reviews, starred review
"Distinct . . . authentic . . . poetic." —School Library Journal
"Love triangle + struggle against the powers that be = perfect escape." —MTV.com
Narrator Phoebe Strole illuminates the depth of a girl’s grief in her performance of this story about a transformative summer. Twelve-year-old Cedar is honest about her ongoing sadness a year after her father and brother died in a car accident. Strole highlights the combination of cynicism and humor Cedar uses to earn approval and as a defense mechanism. As she leaves her family’s new summer home, her friend, Leo, helps her get a job at a local Shakespeare festival. Strole hits the right notes as Cedar slowly softens—opening herself to kindness and delving with almost breathless wonder into the mystery of an actress’s death years before. A.F. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine
Narrator Phoebe Strole illuminates the depth of a girl’s grief in her performance of this story about a transformative summer. Twelve-year-old Cedar is honest about her ongoing sadness a year after her father and brother died in a car accident. Strole highlights the combination of cynicism and humor Cedar uses to earn approval and as a defense mechanism. As she leaves her family’s new summer home, her friend, Leo, helps her get a job at a local Shakespeare festival. Strole hits the right notes as Cedar slowly softens—opening herself to kindness and delving with almost breathless wonder into the mystery of an actress’s death years before. A.F. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine
