The House No One Sees
Adina King. Macmillan/Feiwel and Friends, $19.99 (304p) ISBN 978-1-250-33719-1
A teen attempts to forge her own future while navigating her mother’s opioid dependency in King’s spellbindingly surreal, fairy tale–infused debut. On her 16th birthday, a text message plea for help from her estranged mother finds Penelope Ross reluctantly traveling to her dilapidated childhood home and once again trying to rescue her mother from the grip of “poison apples.” But returning to the house that long ago stopped being home awakens a painful labyrinth of suppressed memories that swallows Penny—until she accepts that the only way out is through. Directly addressing her mother and the house, Penny’s first-person narration alternates between present-day prose and verse-relayed memories that strive to transform pain into hope through “a kaleidoscope of words.” Imagistic and metaphor-driven text enchants, but the fragmented, aching narrative—which examines poverty, neglect, addiction, abuse, and first love through the lens of “Sleeping Beauty,” “Snow White,” Greek mythology, and more—occasionally feels disjointed, obscuring clarity. Penny’s quiet growth from “the house no one sees” to becoming a teen with agency and a future nevertheless casts a dizzying, dazzling spell. Back matter includes a resource list. Penny cues as white. Ages 14–up. Agent: Ginger Knowlton, Curtis Brown. (Mar.)
Details
Reviewed on: 11/27/2024
Genre: Children's
Compact Disc - 979-8-228-54495-6
MP3 CD - 979-8-228-54496-3