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Overview
In 1937 — the summer that Amelia Earhart disappears — 13-year-old LaMarr's flamboyant mother, Charmaine, flies off with a stunt pilot and doesn't return. Sent to live with an aunt and uncle, LaMarr awaits her mother's return while attempting to track down her long-lost father. A crusty old man, a former Teddy Roosevelt Rough Rider, befriends her. The old man's friendship and wisdom help LaMarr finally accept the probability that her mother is gone forever.In 1937, when LaMarr's glamorous mother is lost in a plane crash and she goes to live with her aunt and uncle, it takes the thirteen-year-old some time to reconcile herself to the idea that her mother has not gone to Hollywood to become a movie star.
Synopsis
In 1937 — the summer that Amelia Earhart disappears — 13-year-old LaMarr’s flamboyant mother, Charmaine, flies off with a stunt pilot and doesn’t return. Sent to live with an aunt and uncle, LaMarr awaits her mother’s return while attempting to track down her long-lost father. A crusty old man, a former Teddy Roosevelt Rough Rider, befriends her. The old man’s friendship and wisdom help LaMarr finally accept the probability that her mother is gone forever. Kezi Matthews was the recipient of a School Library Journal Best Book of the Year for John Riley's Daughter. “Matthews ... sees all her characters, even the most deeply flawed, with a compassionate eye.” — Kirkus Reviews
Publishers Weekly
Matthews (Scorpio's Child) again offers a resonant novel exploring a youngster's immense loss and gradual healing. As the tale opens in 1937, the 13-year-old narrator, LaMarr, is on a bus heading to South Carolina. "I was scared-so deep down inside that it felt like my bones were crumbling," she says, then explains that several days earlier the plane carrying her dancer mother and her mother's stunt-pilot beau disappeared over the ocean. Settling into the home of her mother's warm, big-hearted brother and his cool, crusty wife, LaMarr bottles up her loneliness and fright, certain that a letter from her mother will arrive any day. The girl strikes up a saving friendship with a wise elderly man-a writer of pulp westerns-who alone recognizes the depth of her sorrow. Together, the two track the around-the-world flight of LaMarr's idol Amelia Earhart on a map tacked to the wall. The disappearance of her plane triggers a dramatic catharsis: "Something wild and dark rose up inside me, like a tornado... and whatever it was holding me together gave way." A mystical element involving angels seems underdeveloped and incompletely integrated. However, the author tightly weaves together the tale's remaining threads to create an eloquent and affecting work. Ages 10-14. (Nov.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.
Editorials
Publishers Weekly
Matthews (Scorpio's Child) again offers a resonant novel exploring a youngster's immense loss and gradual healing. As the tale opens in 1937, the 13-year-old narrator, LaMarr, is on a bus heading to South Carolina. "I was scared-so deep down inside that it felt like my bones were crumbling," she says, then explains that several days earlier the plane carrying her dancer mother and her mother's stunt-pilot beau disappeared over the ocean. Settling into the home of her mother's warm, big-hearted brother and his cool, crusty wife, LaMarr bottles up her loneliness and fright, certain that a letter from her mother will arrive any day. The girl strikes up a saving friendship with a wise elderly man-a writer of pulp westerns-who alone recognizes the depth of her sorrow. Together, the two track the around-the-world flight of LaMarr's idol Amelia Earhart on a map tacked to the wall. The disappearance of her plane triggers a dramatic catharsis: "Something wild and dark rose up inside me, like a tornado... and whatever it was holding me together gave way." A mystical element involving angels seems underdeveloped and incompletely integrated. However, the author tightly weaves together the tale's remaining threads to create an eloquent and affecting work. Ages 10-14. (Nov.) Copyright 2002 Cahners Business Information.VOYA
Matthews's enjoyable writing style features many descriptive details and similes. The end of the book and the events leading up to it had multiple meanings and at times were confusing. I especially did not understand the origins of Truly. Was he an angel or a hallucination? This book illustrates the importance of making peace with past events. VOYA Codes: 3Q 3P M J (Readable without serious defects; Will appeal with pushing; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2002, Cricket Books, 168p,— Kristen Moreland, Teen Reviewer