Overview
Virgin Territory explores the power of faith and our need to believe in miracles. Sixteen-year-old Dylan Flack is uprooted from his cozy life in New York City by the death of his mother of cancer the night before 9/ll. He finds himself transplanted to Jupiter, Florida, and in the chaos of the move discovers that his father has lost their treasured collection of family photos. Dylan feels that he has begun to lose the memory of his mother's face, and without access to those pictures of their past together, each day stretches darkly into a future without hope. Enter: the Virgin Club, a nomadic group of trailer kids whose mostly single parents drag them all over the country in search of sightings of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Although not looking for membership in any club, Dylan falls in love with their leader, Angela, who believes that change occurs in direct proportion to desire and the willingness to take risks. In a series of misadventures and brushes with the law in what Dylan comes to think of as "virgin territory," she teaches Dylan to risk a future without his favorite parent. Miraculously his newfound courage leads to a long overdue confession from his father that brings them closer together and catapults Dylan into a future that holds more promise.Synopsis
Virgin Territory explores the power of faith and our need to believe in miracles. Sixteen-year-old Dylan Flack is uprooted from his cozy life in New York City by the death of his mother of cancer the night before 9/ll. He finds himself transplanted to Jupiter, Florida, and in the chaos of the move discovers that his father has lost their treasured collection of family photos. Dylan feels that he has begun to lose the memory of his mother's face, and without access to those pictures of their past together, each day stretches darkly into a future without hope. Enter: the Virgin Club, a nomadic group of trailer kids whose mostly single parents drag them all over the country in search of sightings of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Although not looking for membership in any club, Dylan falls in love with their leader, Angela, who believes that change occurs in direct proportion to desire and the willingness to take risks. In a series of misadventures and brushes with the law in what Dylan comes to think of as "virgin territory," she teaches Dylan to risk a future without his favorite parent. Miraculously his newfound courage leads to a long overdue confession from his father that brings them closer together and catapults Dylan into a future that holds more promise.
Publishers Weekly
Fifteen-year-old Dylan is sleepwalking through his life in Jupiter, Fla., where he moved nine years ago with his father after his mother died. But everything changes at the start of summer vacation when an image of the Blessed Virgin Mary (aka the BVM) appears in the bark of a tree at the golf course where Dylan works. Devotees arrive in droves, hoping for cures to various illnesses, and when Dylan meets Angela, the daughter of a BVM pilgrim, he falls hard. Angela invites him to join the "Virgin Club," with fellow teens Crispy and Desirée, whose mothers also follow BVM sightings around the country. For the first time in years Dylan finds himself taking risks and caring deeply about his new friends. There are some jarring inconsistencies in the setting (Dylan was apparently five years old in 1997, six in 2001, and, although the story is set in 2010, people are still talking about Pluto's 2006 demotion from planet status). But Lecesne (Absolute Brightness) delivers a quiet journey that is occasionally humorous and often moving. Ages 12 up. (Sept.)