Library Journal Review
| Blume's latest is based on events from her own life and will hold appeal for both young adult and adult readers. It is December 1951 in Elizabeth, NJ, and ninth grader Miri Ammerman lives with her unwed mother, Rusty, and her grandmother Irene. During the winter, three planes crash in Elizabeth, affecting the community in multiple ways. The junior high students speculate about the reasons for the crashes; UFOs and communist sabotage are the most popular. Miri falls in love with an older boy, learns secrets about her parentage, and must deal with her friend Natalie's strange behavior and eating disorder. Newspaper reports and bits of 1950s popular culture such as Elizabeth Taylor haircuts, a 17" Zenith TV, and Nat King Cole lyrics are referenced in this blend of fact and fiction. Kathleen -McInerney brings a young, enthusiastic tone to her narration. VERDICT Recommended for libraries with historic fiction collections and Blume lovers of all ages everywhere.-David Faucheux, Lafayette, LA © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. |
Publishers Weekly Review
| In 1952, the New Jersey town of Elizabeth is traumatized by three separate plane crashes in the span of one year. Blume's novel explores the events of that tumultuous period through the eyes of 15-year-old Miri, her family, other residents of the town, and relatives of the victims. Narrator McInerney expertly voices the myriad of characters, ranging from small children to teenagers to the elderly, giving each a distinct voice and portraying the conflicting emotions and events, both large and small. In addition to the trauma of the plane crashes, Miri and her friends are going through adolescence, high school, first loves, and plans for college or jobs. Through her narration, McInerney is able to convey all the characters' horror and reaction to the tragedies. She also captures their coming-of-age story, the little joys and sorrows and insecurities of growing up, the sense of small-town life in the 1950s-and the mature perspective of Miri as she returns to her hometown 35 years later for a memorial. This is a thoughtful, insightful tale, well told and well narrated. A Knopf hardcover. (June) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved. |
School Library Journal Review
| In the winter of 1951-52, three separate airplanes crashed into Elizabeth, NJ, near Newark Airport. Blume was a young teen at the time, and she revisits the events of those months in her latest novel told in the third person from multiple points of view. The main character, 15-year-old Miri Ammerman, lives in Elizabeth with her single mother, Rusty. Miri's Uncle Henry is a small-town journalist who makes a name for himself writing about the crashes for the local paper. Miri's grandmother Irene keeps the family fed and befriends a man who was widowed in the first crash. These and other protagonists' viewpoints help to build a picture of life in New Jersey in the early 1950s. Although there are many voices, Blume skillfully weaves their stories together so that it is always clear who each character is and what their connections are to one another. Miri experiences first love (with a non-Jewish boy) and begins to learn the truth about her father and his family. Her best friend Natalie, whose family and life Miri has always envied, begins a downward spiral into anorexia and believes that she is hearing messages from a dancer named Ruby who died on the first plane. This is a wonderful picture of a community living their lives while responding to not just one catastrophe but three. VERDICT Fans of Blume will clamor for this, but so, too, will any teen who enjoys a well-written coming-of-age novel that strongly evokes a specific time and place.-Sarah Flowers, formerly of Santa Clara County (CA) Library © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. |
