Equinox

Publishers Weekly

Set on small Douglas Island near Seattle, Killingsworth's (Circle Within a Circle) uneven novel details a week in the life of a 14-year-old girl. Autumn, the narrator, is upset when her father, Harley, announces that their family will be leaving the island; she likes their log cabin and the relaxed pace of life with her artisan dad and her commuter mom, who comes home only on weekends. Harley claims that Autumn needs a better school. (The true reason is revealed late in the book, when Autumn discovers that her mother and another woman have been lovers for years.) Autumn sets out to prove how much she already knows by writing and drawing everything she sees and hears in a journal. Her descriptions grow tedious, but the interactions between Autumn and her father, and with wise lighthouse keeper Forrest, breathe life into this quiet story. In one scene, Autumn makes lunch for her father, sets it by the door of his workshop, then hurries away so that he won't feel forced to talk. In another, she and Forrest make their own paper to cover her journal. These scenes demonstrate how familiar they are with each other and their routines and why Autumn is so adamant about staying. However, the more dramatic developments, such as the revelation about her mother, feel forced, and there may not be enough narrative tension to pull readers in. Ages 10-14. (Aug.). Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.

KLIATT

Autumn, age 14, has always loved her life on tiny Douglas Island off the coast of Washington State, but now her father has announced that it's time they moved to bigger San Juan Island nearby. Autumn is very upset, and as her father's reasons for the move become clearer, she is even more disturbed—it's not just so Autumn can get a better education, it turns out, it's also because her parents are "drifting apart," as her father puts it, and he wants to keep them all together. During the week Autumn's mother lives and works on San Juan Island, while Autumn and her father stay in their log cabin on the little island, with no indoor shower or electricity, but with the beauty of the natural world all around them. Autumn cherishes that beauty and tries to draw it, assisted by the wise and kindly island lighthouse keeper, who gives her a journal in which to write and draw. Autumn's journal entries and b/w drawings form this novel, which takes place over the span of a few days, with an epilogue set a few months later. Another friend of Autumn's on the island is a free-spirited young woman named Jane, who works with Autumn's mother—and Autumn is shocked when she finds out that her mother and Jane are having an affair, one of the reasons she and Autumn's father are no longer close (but there's no explicit sex here at all, for those who need to know.) The cozy world Autumn has taken for granted is shaken up: she is at a tipping point, like the equinox, balanced between her past, now called into question, and her unknown future. Change is coming, and Autumn must come to terms with it. The author (who is also the illustrator) of this sensitive, quiet but moving novel lives in thenorthwest himself and clearly communicates his own love of the natural world. Autumn, her father, and the lighthouse keeper are all fully rounded characters (the mother is something of a mystery figure, perhaps intentionally), and it's easy for readers to understand and to sympathize with Autumn's plight. The ending is realistic and upbeat, as Autumn goes off to San Juan Island to live with her mother and Jane during the week and attend a magnet school for art, returning to her father and the little island on weekends. This story will be of particular interest to YAs living in the northwest, but Autumn's struggle to cope with secrets revealed and to accept change will resonate with YAs everywhere. KLIATT Codes: J—Recommended for junior high school students. 2001, Henry Holt, 118p. illus., $16.95. Ages 13 to 15. Reviewer: Paula Rohrlick; KLIATT , July 2001 (Vol. 35, No. 4)

Children's Literature

Two times a year¾once in the fall and again in the spring¾an equinox occurs when the sun moves directly over the equator and the length of day and night is the same. The world of fourteen-year-old Autumn experiences an equinox of sorts when it is about to be abruptly changed from it normal routine. Autumn's artisan father Harley wants to move from quiet, remote Douglas Island near Seattle to a larger island for better educational opportunities for Autumn and so that the family can be together. Autumn's mother works at a museum on this larger island during the week and commutes to Douglas Island on the weekends. Autumn suspects that there is more to this move than what is being stated. In this slow moving novel detailing one week of events, she learns that her parents' relationship has serious fissures and that her mother has been having an affair with a young female coworker who also lives on Douglas Island. The journal-like format of this novel is long on expressions of feelings and descriptions of scenery but short on action and excitement. Autumn is encouraged to keep a journal by the kindly lighthouse keeper, Forrest, so that she can show Harley how much the island means to her. She plunges into this project wholeheartedly, but the author's simple text and tranquil pencil sketches fail to elicit much enthusiasm. In spite of its shortcomings, Killingsworth's novel is successful in conveying Autumn's family life with sensitivity and dignity, as well as how she comes to grips with the changes that love for her family dictate in her life. 2001, Henry Holt, $16.95. Ages 12 to 15. Reviewer: Jeanette Lambert

VOYA

Autumn loves life with her father, Harley, on a tiny island in the San Juan Islands of Washington state. Her mother works on the big island, commuting home on weekends. When Harley announces that they are moving to the big island, he says that it is for Autumn's sake, so she can get a decent education. Autumn senses that there is more to it, and she is correct. Innocently snooping in her friend and neighbor Jane's house while Jane is away, Autumn discovers pictures of her mother with a lover—Jane. The discovery drives her out into a gathering storm, where the high tide of the equinox traps her and almost sweeps her away. The falling barometer readings that Autumn records in her journal subtly foreshadow a change. Nevertheless the revelation about her mother comes with a shock that reflects Autumn's feelings. Until this point, Killingsworth's book reads like a comfortable, familiar story of change and adjustment. Suddenly it becomes a contemporary problem novel whose thought-provoking subject is not revealed on the cover. Autumn's initial panic is more believable than her apparent quick adjustment. As her mentor tells her, though, "Good families are pretty hard to find; it doesn't really matter what they're shaped like." Such a drastic redefinition of one's own family, however, reasonably might involve more trauma than is apparent here. This appealing book contains likeable characters and an intriguing setting. The seriousness and relative rarity of Autumn's situation is unexpected and in such a story does not ring entirely true. Still, readers will find Autumn a thoughtful, independent character and will enjoy debating her ultimate decision about her future. VOYA CODES: 4Q 3P JS (Better than most, marred only by occasional lapses; Will appeal with pushing; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9; Senior High, defined as grades 10 to 12). 2001, Henry Holt, 118p, $16.95. Ages 12 to 18. Reviewer: Kathleen Beck

From The Critics

Autumn believes she has the perfect life on small Douglas Island, where her intimate relationships with the weather, the landscape and the island's few inhabitants are deftly described by novelist Monte Killingsworth. Although her mother works on a larger nearby island, and is only home on weekends, she and her father are very close. Now, that she is 14 years old, Autumn's father decides they should all move to the larger island, presumably so she can have more educational opportunities. As Autumn fights to stay on Douglas Island and keep her world intact, she discovers a devastating secret about her mother, and the real reason her father wants to move. Soon, she begins to question all that had seemed certain in life. However, in time, Autumn discovers that she can move on through difficult times and changes in life, and still remain close to the people she loves. Killlingsworth artfully shows that honesty between parents and children is essential. Though Autumn, readers see that often the only choice we have in difficult situations is how we choose to deal with unchangeable circumstances. That choice is critical in terms of our well being and of those around us. Genre: Coming of Age/Family Relationships. 2001, Henry Holt & Company, 128 pp., $16.95. Ages 12 up. Reviewer: Susanne L. Johnston; Menomonie, Wisconsin

School Library Journal

Gr 5-7-Fourteen-year-old Autumn is on the precipice of major life changes. Her easy-going, somewhat solitary life on a remote, rustic island is threatened when her father announces plans for the two of them to join her commuting mother on San Juan Island. The teen has been quite content with her mother's weekend visits; times spent with her mother's coworker, Jane, who has recently built a cabin on their island; and laid-back conversations with the island's "caretaker," Forrest; and with her dad, Harley. Her father, who painstakingly collects wood and creates dulcimers, rocking chairs, and smaller handicrafts, never went to college but wants more for his daughter. When he says that the move is necessary to keep their family from drifting apart, Autumn begins to reexamine her world and the people she loves. Forrest presents her with a journal and encourages her to use her eyes and formidable drawing talents to capture her island memories. Searching for details and looking for fundamental truths, she discovers her mother's romantic relationship with Jane and must decide on the best living situation for her and for Harley. The topic is handled with a quiet sensitivity, and Autumn is a fascinating character. Readers will also enjoy meeting Forrest and Harley and seeing the island through the protagonist's eyes. Some readers may question her ultimate decision but all will respect her resiliency.-Marilyn Payne Phillips, University City Public Library, MO Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information.

Kirkus Reviews

Autumn's world is shaken when her father suggests they leave their cherished island refuge for the mainland. Harley and Autumn are fine in their low-key life removed from the hustle bustle of the big city where Mom spends her week at the Whale Museum. Killingsworth ("Circle Within a Circle", 1994) lets the tide and barometer readings along with Autumn's new journal become metaphors for the storm that shakes this 14-year-old at the intrusion of adult concerns into her child's consciousness. Self-conscious prose and mental wanderings that mirror the action combine with an adult sensibility to create one of those stultifyingly precious non-stories. Valuable for the introduction of an adult lesbian relationship of a caring parent, unfortunately this presents no real sense of child. Wise, caring old friends like the art professor who lives in the lighthouse always with the exact right words and the child herself acts more like 40 than 14. Immediately on discovery of photos that make the facts about her mother clear, Autumn says, "I need to imagine them together, with friends and alone in the dark. I need to feel, somehow, their affection for each other and to know most of all that it does not include me." The carefulness of the language and the artificiality of the sentiment are juxtaposed to create an appealing book for lovers of language who desire neither plot, character, nor reality. Some of the details, such as the making of paper and the improvised shower for the house without running water, help to carry readers past the musings. Any teen seeking refuge from life's care who puts on a George Winston CD and curls up in a big chair with a lunch of French bread, cheese, and an apple willfind a soul sister in Autumn. For the rest, the symbols are a little too obvious, the pace a little too slow and the sentiments a little too easy. "(Fiction. 12-14)"