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Searching... Avon-Washington Township Public Library | Teen Fiction Book Hardback | 120791002318039 | T ALT | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
Jane has traveled the world with her father and brother, but it's not until her fractured family-still silently suffering from the loss of Jane's mother many years before-inherits a house and a history in Coney Island that she finally begins to find a home. With the help of a new community of friends, a mermaid's secrets, and a tattooed love interest with traffic-stopping good looks, the once plain Jane begins to blossom and gains the courage to explore the secrets of her mother's past.
Colorful characters, beautiful writing, and a vibrant, embattled beachfront backdrop make this the perfect summer read for anyone who has ever tried to find true love or a place to call home.
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Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 5-7-Tara Altebrando's story (Dutton, 2011) interweaves family sorrows, the history of Coney Island, carnival "freaks," and first love. Jane, her brother, and her father have moved many times since the death of her mother. The family moves to Brooklyn from London when the siblings inherit the home in Coney Island where their mother grew up. Jane hopes to get to know her mother better by learning about boardwalk life. The author incorporates a lot of fascinating Coney Island history as Jane meets a unique group of characters at her unconventional high school, among them a little person named Babette, Legs the Giant, and Leo, a familiar but mysterious tattooed boy. Along the way, she learns about her family's carnie past. Intriguing characters and a deft blend of carnival history both past and present draw listeners in. Erin Moon is a strong narrator, giving all the characters unique voices. Her excellent pacing helps convey Jane's confusion. The combination of personal loss and growth, eccentric characters, and the sad decline of both people and places will intrigue teens-B. Allison Gray, Santa Barbara Public Library System, CA (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
When Jane and her brother inherit the house in Coney Island where their late mother grew up, they move in with their father, planning to stay one year to prepare the house for sale. Sixteen-year-old Jane has lived everywhere from London to Tokyo, but amid Coney Island's rundown attractions and checkered history, she hopes to find clues about the mother she desperately misses. Palpable without being melodramatic, Jane's longing is well-wrought, as is the supporting cast of teenage dwarves, giants, and other Brooklyn natives, including a love interest for Jane. The mysteries Altebrando (What Happens Here) weaves into her story (what is the Dreamland Social Club? what iconic Coney sites do the keys Jane finds unlock? why is the carousel horse chained to a radiator in their living room so important?) will keep readers engaged, though not much really happens. Rather, this is a languid, introspective novel about a search for identity and meaning; against the backdrop of impending gentrification and development, both Jane and Coney Island itself are caught between the pull of the past and the uncertainty of the future. Ages 14-up. (May) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Horn Book Review
Jane, her brother, and their father move back to the Coney Island home in which her mother, who died when Jane was young, grew up. She's befriended by a group of sideshow carny teens, including "goth dwarf" Babette and handsome, mysterious, heavily tattooed Leo, both fighting against encroaching gentrification. Altebrando's wistful narrative reads like a warts-and-all love letter to Coney Island. (c) Copyright 2011. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
In this evocative homage to Coney Island, the "Playground of the World," a 16-year-old girl searches for clues about the mother she barely remembers.Upon their grandfather's death, Jane and Marcus Dryden and their father move into their mother's childhood home on Coney Island. Jane soon discovers that her mother, Clementine Porcelli, the daughter of two carnies, founded the still-active Dreamland Social Club at Coney Island High School. She sets out to learn more about Clementine and the mysterious club. With the help of an old set of keys and a tattooed musician named Leo, she unlocks the various haunts of her mother's youth and finds the sense of adventure she lost when her mother died. Along the way, Jane realizes that "normal" is a matter of perspective and gains insight into the complicated and contentious history of the town's periods of growth and decline. Altebrando provides exceptional depth in both the setting and the motley cast of Coney Islanders, teen and adult, living and dead. Occasionally breaking the third-person narrative with Jane's memories of her mother, the author breathes life into the long-dead Clementine, while weaving in the attractions of Coney Island's fabled past.The result is a memorable tale of personal growth and acceptance that will make teens eager to join a Dreamland Social Club of their own. (author's note) (Fiction. 14 up)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Jane, a self-admitte. Looky Lo. afraid to take risks, is the type of girl with a closet full of gray skirts. Her high-school career has been defined by constant moves throughout Europe as her widower father searches for work. Yet, when her grandfather dies, the family inherits a new house in her mother's childhood home, near Coney Island in Brooklyn. Jane must acclimate to a high-school atmosphere in which the cliques resemble sideshow acts. As Jane and her brother, Marcus, delve into their departed mother's past, she recaptures bits of memories of life before her mother died and clues about her mother'. carn. past amid the glitz of Coney Island in its heyday. This novel offers typical teenage issues and the angst over making friends and catching the right boy's eye, but it is also a study in diversity, acceptance, and what it means to b. norma. as introverted Jane learns that everyone has his or her own freakishness to overcome.--Anderson, Eri. Copyright 2010 Booklist