Still Life with Tornado
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4.8 • 9 Ratings
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- $9.99
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- $9.99
Publisher Description
A heartbreaking and mindbending story of a talented teenage artist's awakening to the brokenness of her family from acclaimed Printz award-winner A.S. King.
Sixteen-year-old Sarah can't draw. This is a problem, because as long as she can remember, she has "done the art." She thinks she's having an existential crisis. And she might be right; she does keep running into past and future versions of herself as she wanders the urban ruins of Philadelphia. Or maybe she's finally waking up to the tornado that is her family, the tornado that six years ago sent her once-beloved older brother flying across the country for a reason she can't quite recall. After decades of staying together "for the kids" and building a family on a foundation of lies and domestic violence, Sarah's parents have reached the end. Now Sarah must come to grips with years spent sleepwalking in the ruins of their toxic marriage. As Sarah herself often observes, nothing about her pain is remotely original—and yet it still hurts.
Insightful, heartbreaking, and ultimately hopeful, this is a vivid portrait of abuse, survival, resurgence that will linger with readers long after the last page.
“Read this book, whatever your age. You may find it’s the exact shape and size of the hole in your heart.”—The New York Times
“Surreal and thought-provoking.”—People Magazine
★ ”A deeply moving, frank, and compassionate exploration of trauma and resilience, filled to the brim with incisive, grounded wisdom.” —Booklist, starred review
★ ”King writes with the confidence of a tightrope walker working without a net.”—Publishers Weekly, starred review
★"[King] blurs reality, truth, violence, emotion, creativity, and art in a show of respect for YA readers."—Horn Book Magazine, starred review
★ “King’s brilliance, artistry, and originality as an author shine through in this thought-provoking work. […] An unforgettable experience.” SLJ, starred review
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
With its unforgettable narrator and its unexpected mix of surrealism, comedy, and tragedy, A.S. King’s Still Life with Tornado knocked our socks off. King is known for tackling dark subject matter in her YA bestsellers, and she has serious cred with high school–age readers. But adults will love this book, too, for its wit, intelligence, and dead-on insights on family dynamics and the thrilling, grueling process of growing up.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Sarah is 16 and going through an emotional crisis. She is a talented artist but she has stopped creating art, as well as going to school. Instead, she spends her days wandering around Philadelphia, where she literally encounters other versions of herself. She meets 10-year-old Sarah, 23-year-old Sarah, and even 40-year-old Sarah all of whom try to get her to face traumatic memories and truths that she has been repressing and denying. Voice actor Vacker's first-person narration empathetically conveys all the complexities and nuances of Sarah's emotional state: denial and defensiveness, confusion, fear, anger, and pain. Listeners feel the character struggling to understand her family problems and work out her inner turmoil, while simultaneously trying to avoid doing so by creating a stable facade. Vacker subtly differentiates among the book's characters but doesn't create unique voices for them. For example, she uses a higher pitch to sound childish for 10-year-old Sarah, a deeper, angry pitch for Sarah's father. This production excellently brings to life the novel's portrayal of a teenager struggling to survive and overcome childhood trauma. Ages 14 up. A Dutton hardcover.
