11/15/2021
Making a persuasive point about the hazards and temptations of impostorhood, Williams (Pizza, Love, and Other Stuff That Made Me Famous ) interweaves two tales in this gently propulsive romance. An aspiring writer in 2007, contemporary narrator Jess Morgan, 17 and cued as white, feels pressure to live up to her appearance-oriented mother’s rigorous academic expectations while simultaneously cultivating a cool-girl facade for her popular boyfriend. Story line number two comes into play when Jess encounters a cache of journals that belonged to her deceased great-great-aunt Anna, and hires geeky, cute pale-skinned college student Evan Hermann to translate them from the original Russian. The pair soon finds that the journals are written from the point of view of Anastasia Romanov, the believed-executed daughter of Russia’s last czar. The subsequent telling alternates between the duo’s modern-day sleuthing and translated journal excerpts from a century back that provide a beguiling chronicle of Anastasia’s life as an indulged royal, then a prisoner with her family, and later as a destitute political pawn on the run. As the story behind the diaries eventually becomes clear, it confirms Jess’s decision to strive for a more authentic self. Characters who come on the scene with seemingly full-fledged back stories and Jess’s chatty, self-examining narrative make for a breezily engaging read. Ages 13–up. Agent: Elizabeth Rudnick, Mackenzie Wolf. (Jan.)
Anna’s narrative on Jess’ life is noteworthy and satisfying by the time the tale is untangled… An interesting take on storytelling and identity” — Kirkus Reviews
“A genre-blending novel that is sure to grip readers to the very end, mixing mystery, romance, historical fiction, and a touch of purpose into one terrific experience.” — Booklist
“This is a book that will sit with readers, making them question what exactly is a person’s truth… This excellent, engaging mystery is a first purchase.” — School Library Journal
A genre-blending novel that is sure to grip readers to the very end, mixing mystery, romance, historical fiction, and a touch of purpose into one terrific experience.
A genre-blending novel that is sure to grip readers to the very end, mixing mystery, romance, historical fiction, and a touch of purpose into one terrific experience.
03/01/2022
Gr 9 Up— Jess Morgan takes lying to herself to a whole new level, twisting herself into knots to fit in and please others. To those around her, she is a cheerful, upbeat, fun-loving high school girl with a boyfriend. In reality, she is incredibly introverted, easily overstimulated, and burned out by day-to-day life. She prefers reading or writing alone in her room to most social interactions. While helping her mom clean out a great-aunt's attic, she stumbles across diaries in a foreign language. With the help of a local college student studying Russian, she secretly translates the diaries and uncovers an incredible mystery as to the possible identity of Grand Duchess Anastasia Romanov. As Jess unravels the lost woman's words, will she find a way to tell her own true story? Told in alternating chapters between present-day Jess and the mystery writer from the early 20th century, this is a book that will sit with readers, making them question what exactly is a person's truth. The author's note at the end gives further detail about the Romanovs. Characters are cued as middle-class and white. VERDICT This excellent, engaging mystery is a first purchase for school and public libraries.—Kristen Rademacher
2021-10-26
While helping to clear out her late great-great-aunt Anna’s house, 17-year-old Jess uncovers a chest full of diaries written in Russian hidden away in the attic. She enlists the help of Evan, a college student majoring in Russian, to help her translate them. What they discover leads them to believe that Anna, who lived a quiet life married to Jess’ great-great-uncle Henry, may have been the Russian royal who was rumored to have escaped when the rest of her family was executed in 1918. As Jess and Evan work their way through the diaries, readers are treated to long excerpts in which young Anastasia details her unlikely escape to the United States via Western Europe. Jess strives to please everyone around her by acting like someone she’s not—from her mother, who wants her to attend Harvard, to her boyfriend, who knows her as nothing but easygoing and agreeable—and she finds parallels to her own struggles in Anastasia’s existence as an imposter. Jess’ present-day sections set in 2007 are the more engaging of the two storylines, though the influence of Anna’s narrative on Jess’ life is noteworthy and satisfying by the time the tale is untangled. Apart from Jess’ best friend, a Chinese American transracial adoptee, main characters read as White.
An interesting take on storytelling and identity. (author's note, sources, further reading) (Fiction. 13-18)
Jennifer Jill Araya narrates the first-person viewpoint of 17-year-old Jess, a practiced imposter. Araya’s wry tone works well for a girl who lies to her boyfriend and who plans to go to Harvard just to make her parents happy. When Jess discovers the journals of her late great-great-aunt, she hires brainy Evan to translate the Russian diaries into English. While the contrast between Evan’s honesty and Jess’s duplicity is clear, Araya reflects their genuine relationship as it develops. She also transitions smoothly into portraying the story’s other protagonist, the vibrant, sensitive young woman who just may be Anastasia Romanov, possibly the only member of the Russian royal family to have escaped assassination in 1918. Romance, history, and a search for identity are well balanced in this production. S.W. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
FEBRUARY 2022 - AudioFile
Jennifer Jill Araya narrates the first-person viewpoint of 17-year-old Jess, a practiced imposter. Araya’s wry tone works well for a girl who lies to her boyfriend and who plans to go to Harvard just to make her parents happy. When Jess discovers the journals of her late great-great-aunt, she hires brainy Evan to translate the Russian diaries into English. While the contrast between Evan’s honesty and Jess’s duplicity is clear, Araya reflects their genuine relationship as it develops. She also transitions smoothly into portraying the story’s other protagonist, the vibrant, sensitive young woman who just may be Anastasia Romanov, possibly the only member of the Russian royal family to have escaped assassination in 1918. Romance, history, and a search for identity are well balanced in this production. S.W. © AudioFile 2022, Portland, Maine
FEBRUARY 2022 - AudioFile
