Junior Library Guild Selection
**Starred Review** Kirkus
**Starred Review** PublishersWeekly
**Starred Review** PublishersWeekly
**Starred Review** SchoolLibraryJournal
CHASING SHADOWS is Swati Avasthi's second novel and a definite departure from SPLIT, her wonderful first book.
One of the twists she's employed to make this book different is to include graphic-novel pages like the one that follows. These pages don't just reduplicate visually what readers are told; they stand in place of text.
One of the twists she's employed to make this book different is to include graphic-novel pages like the one that follows. These pages don't just reduplicate visually what readers are told; they stand in place of text.
 |
| Artwork by Craig Phillips |
Backstory
In CHASING SHADOWS the principle characters are Holly, her twin brother Corey, and their best friend and girl friend, Savitri (Sav).
The three of them are high schoolers in their senior year, and while deeply bound to one another, they realize that the coming year will most likely see their group fall apart as Savitri, the most academic of the group, awaits responses from Princeton and other first tier schools.
It's not that Corey and Holly aren't interested college, but they aren't inspired to leave the home town they love.
The three of them are high schoolers in their senior year, and while deeply bound to one another, they realize that the coming year will most likely see their group fall apart as Savitri, the most academic of the group, awaits responses from Princeton and other first tier schools.
It's not that Corey and Holly aren't interested college, but they aren't inspired to leave the home town they love.
Related books...
SPLIT by Swati Avasthi - Sixteen-Year-Old Jace Witherspoon arrives at the doorstep of his estranged brother Christian with a re-landscaped face (courtesy of his father’s fist), $3.84, and a secret.
All of this turmoil about schools and the future is brutally stripped away and made moot when Corey is shot and dies. His sister doesn't recall much of the nightmare event, but Sav bears the scars of a survivor who wishes she could have saved him.
(Corey, Holly, and Sav are seriously into freerunning)
As a read, I found this story gut wrenching. Swati's portrayal of Corey's family's and friend's grief made me have to put the book down twice. But I always came back. Basically because there's a mystery to be solved. And because I needed to know what the girls would do. Were they crazy enough to try to find Corey's assassin. And could Sav find the strength to leave and find her future.
Another element that worked to keep my attention was the question of the strange alternative world that was portrayed. While she was in a coma, Holly 'entered' this world where Corey was being dragged off by Death. (a simplification) The story was written so that I was never certain whether this was a product of the drugs Holly was given, a sign of madness, or whether it was simply a view into a real other world.
CHASING SHADOWS won't be a read for everyone. It's very much into the drama, and it's not a topic that everyone is going to take to heart. One of Avasthi's strength though is her characters. They live. They breathe. They are dimensional and so realistic that it's hard not to be drawn into the stories where she places them. Suitable for Adults and Young Adults.
Pam~
------------------------------------------------------------------
Review: INFINITE SKY
Review: REALITY BOY
Review: FANGIRL (light-hearted drama)
------------------------------------------------------------------
by Swati Avasthi
Craig Phillips (Illustrator)
Reading Information:
Word Count: 61,004
Page Count: 320
Accelerated Reader: 4.2 / points: 9.0
AR quiz: 160989
No comments :
Post a Comment