An Amazing Whirlwind of Emotions and History

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly
(Review based on Advanced Reader Copy.)

You've got to respect a historical fiction novel for teens that has three pages of bibliography.

In this emotional whirlwind of a book, an American high school student--lost in despair over the death of her younger brother and the mental instability of her mother--finds herself through music and the history of the French revolution.

Andi is the equivalent of a musical prodigy, and when her brother dies, music is the only thing besides caring for her mother that keeps her going. (The anti-depressants help, but only just.) She's flunking out of her private school, and she gets an ultimatum: complete a well-orchestrated senior thesis or don't graduate. Andi's dad sweeps her off to Paris, hoping she can focus on graduation while he tests a 200-year-old heart for proof that it belonged to the dauphin, son of Marie-Antoinette. In the process, Andi discovers a hidden diary belonging to another 17-year-old girl, Alexandrine Paradis, the daughter of a puppeteer, who finds herself companion to the dauphin right before the start of the French revolution. Andi's depression continues to rise and fall, and she gets pulled into Alexandrine's story of pain, faith, and hope as Alex tries to survive the bloody massacres of her time and save the child prince. As Alex writes, "They are a truthful account of these bitter, bloody days." Andi finds herself absorbed in the past, so much so that one night she finds herself thrown into the horror of Alexandrine's world, unsure of what is dream and what is reality.

A story within a story could easily backfire or become confusing, but Donnelly pulls it off with a simultaneous grace and intensity that is impressive. Andi acts as a conduit between worlds, and her emotional responses to both are what make Revolution truly successful. Her depression is raw and tangible, not the never-ending list of adjectives some writers use to describe sadness. Donnelly makes both her character and her emotions--sorrow, hope, passion--available and accessible to readers, which is no easy task.

This is a great read for lovers of history, music, and modern-day dramas... and just about anyone else, for that matter. Highly recommended--Revolution captures the depths of depression and the heights of passion in a truly beautiful way, all the while exploring how history isn't always as distant as it may seem.

-Jenny

Age 14+ (some mature content)

Copyright October 2010

ISBN: 9780385737630

Available as an eBook

Image from www.goodreads.com

Byron, Keats, and Shelly Re-imagined

So Shelly by Ty Roth

Loosely based on the lives of George Gordon, Lord Byron, John Keats, Mary Shelly, and Percy Shelly, this re-imagining is set in a small town in Ohio, with the main characters in high school. Narrated by Keats, who is both the observer and the minimal participant in the lives of Byron and Shelly, this novel is told in alternating chapters between the present and the past.

In the present, Byron and Keats reminisce about the life of Shelly as they fulfill her last wishes, a "romantic adventure" that is So Shelly. As they both navigate their own memories of Shelly and piece together the reasons for Shelly's tragic death, a tentative friendship is formed.

In the chapters about the past, we discover that both Byron and Shelly have very dysfunctional families. Byron grows into a pathological, egocentric, and sex-obsessed teen. Shelly (an amalgamation of Mary Shelly and her husband Percy) is more than Byron's best friend with no limitations. As they both dabble in combined and separate endeavors, their relationship never turns romantic (despite Shelly wanting otherwise). Keats observes their mutually destructive friendship from the sidelines.

Keats has his own set of problems. He's obsessed with death. As he narrates, he throws out statistics about death. His father and mother are dead, and his older brother Tom is also on his way to death's door. Keats himself will also die young, this he knows.

I picked this book up initially because of the cover, but once I started reading I was both shocked and awed by the contemporary lives of these great writers. Once you pick this book up, it will be hard to put it down. All three characters are flawed, but their flaws are what make them great. I've only read about Percy Shelly, but it's well worth reading about them all.

My favorite passage is the last in the book from Keats: "So, what I said at the beginning, I'll repeat at the end: learn to deal with the truth of dying, and you'll experience the awesomeness of living. Death and love are real. That's all I know on earth, and all I need to know."

-Ruby

Ages 15+ (mature content)
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers (February 8, 2011)
ISBN: 9780385739580
Also available as an eBook.