Displacement

Publishers Weekly

An exploration of grief, guilt, and redemption, Chaltas's second novel in verse covers rocky terrain both physical and mental, as recent high school graduate Vera wrestles with the drowning death of her younger sister, Amy. Feeling abandoned by her disengaged, globe-trotting mother and cerebral older sister, Vera decamps for the desolate mining town of Garrett, which she discovers by accident. Despite Vera's abundant pain over Amy's death and her family's inability to prevent it, Chaltas (Because I Am Furniture) doesn't let it overwhelm her story, giving Vera a voice that flits between acerbic and self-deprecating, a passion for geology, and a lust interest in gorgeous, half-Hopi Lon, who provides Vera with part-time employment. As pared down as the desert landscape into which Vera immerses herself, Chaltas's verse regularly surprises with economically graceful descriptions that make her settings and characters come alive (of Lon: "And then/ that smile flashes on,/ Vegas neon, baby,/ so genuine it hurts"). A delicate suggestion of ghostly horror gives the novel further dimension, without distracting from the insights and truths Vera slowly unearths. Ages 12–up. (June)

School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up—Struggling to cope with her grief over her sister's sudden death, Vera runs away to the desert mining town of Garrett. Soon after her arrival, she moves into an abandoned house and settles into a routine that includes doing odd jobs for Milo, a potter, and minor bookkeeping for Lon, a cute, half-Hopi to whom she feels an instant attraction. The 17-year-old also indulges in her passion for geology, going on long, sweaty rock-hunting hikes. All of these activities temporarily distract her from her pain, but at night, alone in her home (nicknamed "the Hovel"), she bitterly recalls the actions of her neglectful, absentee mother ("the Moth") and composes postcard messages to her older sister, Carole, in which she blames her for not preventing Amy's death. Vera buries the postcards under her bathroom floor, where they serve as a not-so-subtle metaphor for her own state of mind. Visions of her sister's ghost, as well as a tragic turn of events in Garrett, force Vera to confront her grief head-on. Using spare verse rife with emotional depth, Chaltas beautifully maps out Vera's journey from profound sadness to eventual redemption. Readers who appreciated Morgan Matson's Amy and Roger's Epic Detour (S & S, 2010) and Jandy Nelson's The Sky Is Everywhere (Dial, 2010) will pick this novel up in a heartbeat.—Lalitha Nataraj, Escondido Public Library, CA

Children's Literature - Kristy Kilfoyle

Vera is not your typical run-away. She is a science-minded high school graduate, who has left it all behind. To escape? To heal? At the outset, Vera herself seems unsure of her motive. When she steps off a cross-country bus and walks into the small desert town of Garrett, she encounters unique and extraordinary characters, other folks who seem to be hiding from something. Vera squats in one of the many abandoned homes on the outskirts of town and begins assisting Milo, a local potter, with his pieces. High-paying work with Lon, an attractive and unpredictable Native-American man leads to more trouble than its worth and their complicated relationship will intrigue readers. As the truth of Vera's family life is revealed bit by bit, the picture of her sadness comes into focus. Ultimately, life in the middle of nowhere cannot drive away the visions of Vera's recently deceased younger sister, Amy. Told in narrative verse, this original tale has a constant undercurrent of melancholy, but there is always the hope that Vera will allow herself to heal and forgive. It is a hard journey, but one worth taking. Recommended for reluctant readers or those dealing with grief. Reviewer: Kristy Kilfoyle

School Library Journal

Gr 9 Up—Struggling to cope with her grief over her sister's sudden death, Vera runs away to the desert mining town of Garrett. Soon after her arrival, she moves into an abandoned house and settles into a routine that includes doing odd jobs for Milo, a potter, and minor bookkeeping for Lon, a cute, half-Hopi to whom she feels an instant attraction. The 17-year-old also indulges in her passion for geology, going on long, sweaty rock-hunting hikes. All of these activities temporarily distract her from her pain, but at night, alone in her home (nicknamed "the Hovel"), she bitterly recalls the actions of her neglectful, absentee mother ("the Moth") and composes postcard messages to her older sister, Carole, in which she blames her for not preventing Amy's death. Vera buries the postcards under her bathroom floor, where they serve as a not-so-subtle metaphor for her own state of mind. Visions of her sister's ghost, as well as a tragic turn of events in Garrett, force Vera to confront her grief head-on. Using spare verse rife with emotional depth, Chaltas beautifully maps out Vera's journey from profound sadness to eventual redemption. Readers who appreciated Morgan Matson's Amy and Roger's Epic Detour (S & S, 2010) and Jandy Nelson's The Sky Is Everywhere (Dial, 2010) will pick this novel up in a heartbeat.—Lalitha Nataraj, Escondido Public Library, CA

Kirkus Reviews

In first-person free verse with halting rhythm, 17-year-old Vera narrates her sojourn in a tiny desert town she's never seen and doesn't know.

Vera wants to be someplace unfamiliar, someplace that doesn't invoke her younger sister, who died in a drunken ocean swim, nor her older sister, who's tried to replace their absent mother but seems aloof, so she hitch hikes to the desert and gets out at Garrett, where "nobody knows me." Despite her obvious grief, Vera's voice doesn't easily inspire sympathy. In a mostly abandoned mining town characterized by "scraping-the-bean-can / unapologetic / starkness," Vera squats in a deserted house and scoffs at the two part-time jobs she finds ("It's certainly not what my once best friend Rob / would have called 'rocket surgery' "). Mercantile owner Tilly lisps, her pronunciations mercilessly spelled out: "He'th an artitht! / Bowlth, jugth, plateth, / thellth it all it all on the Internet." Vera crushes on Lon, a businessman whose Indian identity is frequently reiterated: "I glare at him, / leaning forward / having dumped the heaviest words / directly onto his black-feathered Native head." Lon doesn't live up to Vera's expectations ("Frickin' noncommunicating-handsome-half-Hopi," she stews), and the text casts him as bad guy; only Milo the ceramicist is truly likable here.

The verse's irregular, faltering beat matches Vera's defensive grief well, but Vera herself retains an unlikable air of entitlement even as she moves on from the desert and back into her real life.(Fiction. 12-15)