Did I miss something? Did I read a different version of Still Life With Tornado than everyone else? Because I hated this book. I hated Sarah. I hated Umbrella. I didn’t like the magical realism aspect of having multiple Sarahs that everyone could see despite every other aspect of the book being set in a realistic world. The Art Club/ Miss Smith story line had nothing to do with the big reveal! Was it even really resolved, or just there? The “pay off” at the end was not enough […]
I’m not sure why AS King isn’t a worldwide phenomenon, worshipped by all who are lucky enough to read her books.
This is the fifth AS King book I’ve had the pleasure of reading during my tenure as a Cannonballer…I read Please Ignore Vera Dietz way back in CBR3, Ask the Passengers in CBR6, and earlier this year I read the mind-bending Still Life with Tornado and the amazing Glory O’Brien’s History of the Future. And after reading this one, I found myself wondering why teens (and parents! parents should be reading these!) all over the world aren’t universally singing the praises of AS King.* I know. These books aren’t exactly […]
This is why I still visit the YA section of my library.
There are very few writers — of any genre — that absolutely grasp how to write dialogue that an actual human being would say. And I think its especially difficult when it comes to YA characters. Rainbow Rowell can do it. Andrew Smith can do it. And my god, AS King can do it, too. Years and years ago (for CBR3!!!), I read Please Ignore Vera Dietz, a book I still think about every once in a while. It was so different from anything else I had read […]