About the Author:
Susan Whitcher is the author of, among other books, Real Mummies Don't Bleed: Frily Tales for October Nights and The Key to the Cupboard. She lives in West Linn, Oregon.
From School Library Journal:
Grade 10 Up-Whitcher's writing is cohesive, well constructed, and compelling, which makes this disturbing novel all the more bleak. Anna, 15, loses her virginity to Thorn, an English professor/poet. He is clearly manipulative and perverse-he pressures her into sleeping with his boss and he, in turn, sleeps with her best friend, Pauline. Dylan, a teenaged boy whom Anna meets accidentally, provides ballast in her life. The two tell each other that they are otherwise romantically engaged but their friendship grows, as does his disapproval of her adult lover. In a horrific party scene (reminiscent of Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut), Dylan is arrested and Anna prevails upon Thorn to get him out of custody. This leads to a believable, yet frightening discourse in which Thorn warns Anna about how careful they need to be about their relationship in front of the authorities. Dylan's rescue reveals his life to be more unfortunate than he had led Anna to believe. Nevertheless, after a violent climax in which she is almost raped by some reckless teens, he rescues her and their romantic future seems likely. The adult lover, in the meantime, never receives censure from any other quarter. While Whitcher's alarming plot, skillfully embedded themes, and clear voice are reminiscent of Francesca Lia Block's The Hanged Man (HarperCollins, 1994)-both protagonists even obsess over the tarot-Block's heroine seems to become empowered by The Hanged Man's denouement whereas Anna simply changes alliances. This disconcerting book demands discussion rather than solitary reading.
Francisca Goldsmith, Berkeley Public Library, CA
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