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This Raging Light
Author:
Laure, Estelle
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Class:
Fiction
Age: 14-19
Language: English
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LC: PZ7.1
Grade: 9-12
Print Run: 50000
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ISBN-13: 9780544534292
LCCN: 2014046836
Imprint: HMH Books for Young Readers
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
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Pub Date: 12/22/2015
Availability: Out of Stock Indefinitely
List: $17.99
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Hardcover
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Physical Description:
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276 pages ; 22 cm
H 8.25",
W 5.5",
D 1.06",
0.86 lbs.
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LC Series:
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Brodart Sources:
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Brodart's For Youth Interest: Popular
Brodart's Insight Catalog: Teen
Brodart's TOP Young Adult Titles
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Bibliographies:
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Texas Tayshas Reading List
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Awards:
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Horn Book Guide Titles, Rated 1 - 4
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Starred Reviews:
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TIPS Subjects:
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Romance
Family Life
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BISAC Subjects: |
YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Family / Parents
YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Family / Siblings
YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Romance / General
YOUNG ADULT FICTION / Social Themes / Friendship
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LC Subjects:
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Abandoned children, Fiction
Abandoned children, Juvenile fiction
Best friends, Fiction
Best friends, Juvenile fiction
Family problems, Fiction
Friendship, Fiction
Friendship, Juvenile fiction
JUVENILE FICTION / Family / Parents
JUVENILE FICTION / Family / Siblings
JUVENILE FICTION / Love & Romance
JUVENILE FICTION / Social Issues / Friendship
Love stories
Love, Fiction
Responsibility, Fiction
Responsibility, Juvenile fiction
Romance fiction
Sisters, Fiction
Sisters, Juvenile fiction
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SEARS Subjects: |
Abandoned children, Fiction
Abandoned chldren, Fiction
Family life, Fiction
Friendship, Fiction
Sisters, Fiction
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Reading Programs: |
Accelerated Reader Level:
4.1
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Points: 7.0
Reading Counts Level:
5.2
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Points: 15.0
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| Annotations |
| Brodart's TOP Young Adult Titles | 12/01/2015 |
| Lucille and her little sister are secretly living alone now that dad has snapped and their mom has left town indefinitely. While trying to pay the bills and keep their secret, Lucille unwittingly falls in love with her best friend's brother. Friends and anonymous helpers soon show Lucille how to find the light in a life filled with so much darkness. First novel, 288pp. |
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| Journal Reviews |
| BookPage | 12/16/2015 |
| Seventeen-year-old Lucille and her 10-year-old sister, Wren, have been abandoned by their father (who went crazy) and their mother (who left town, leaving no forwarding information). Lucille is left to pay the bills, maintain the house and care for her sister. She's worried that if anyone finds out, she and her sister will be placed in foster care, so her best friend, Eden, is the only person she can count on. To complicate things, Lucille has been secretly lusting after Eden's twin brother, Digby. Forced to find a job to make ends meet, Lucille applies to a local restaurant known for its knockout beautiful waitresses (think black hot pants and cleavage-revealing tank tops). Lucille hides her desperation through lies to Wren, Wren's teachers, her boss and even to herself, refusing to ask for help while sinking further in quicksand. With Eden and Digby on Lucille's side, things go smoothly--until they don't. A series of events, including a huge plot twist that brings a new meaning to friendship, force Lucille to reveal her struggles. Debut author Estelle Laure delivers an emotionally charged, artistic view of a world where parental abandonment and the fear and threat of state custody are very real. Lucille is externally strong yet internally fragile, while Wren is perceptive and displays an impeccable willingness to love and forgive. Laure captures the desperation for acceptance on a variety of levels in this poetic, heartbreaking read that will resonate with teens. Erin A. Holt. BookPage Yay! YA Web Exclusive Review. BOOKPAGE, c2015. |
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| Booklist | 11/01/2015 |
| Grades 9-12. "Rage, rage against the dying of the light" is exactly what high-school senior Lucille does in Laure's debut. Dad has a nervous breakdown, attacks Mom, and exits; Mom leaves soon thereafter; and Lucille is left caring for herself, the family home, and fourth-grade sister Wren, who just loves fat-mama jokes. Lucille's support network grows as her responsibilities multiply--chef-boss Fred, neighbor Mrs. Albertson, and the mother of Lucille's twin friends Eden and Digby are each attentive to Lucille and Wren in their own ways. The twins have the deepest impact, but Lucille and Digby complicate life when they venture dangerously beyond their childhood platonic friendship. Readers finding themselves with increasingly mature accountabilities will appreciate Laure emboldening Lucille with a savvy resilience that withstands the pressures from adult authority, even while learning the invaluable life lesson that we are all in this together. Bush, Gail. 288p. AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION, c2015. |
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| Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books | 03/01/2016 |
| Ad. Gr. 8-10. Lucille's mother departs for a two-week vacation "to gather her thoughts," but instead of returning she merely mails seventeen-year-old Lucille $100 and a terse note; since Lucille's father left the family after a violent altercation earlier that year, that means Lucille's on her own in taking care of the house and her younger sister, Wren. Lucille grits her teeth, finds a job, and arranges impromptu care for fourth-grader Wren; mostly she depends on the assistance of her devoted best friend, Eden, and Eden's twin brother, Digby, whom Lucille loves in more than a friendly way. As her mother shows no sign of returning, the strain begins to tell on Lucille, but her defensive ways make it hard for her to open up and seek the help she needs, even when things go from bad to worse. Laure writes engagingly, and Lucille's narration effectively conveys the way her valid fury at the situation splashes onto those who seek to help. Her maybe-romance with Digby is tantalizing, and the book limns both her uncertainty about his feelings and frustration with that uncertainty. The story spins out of control, however, when it throws additional tragedy into the mix and then fails to resolve most of the significant threads, so the ramped-up tension of Lucille's situation never achieves any satisfying release and readers will be left with important questions (what is up with Lucille's mother?) unanswered. The notion of a teen holding her family together when the adults have let go is still a potent one, though, and while readers may wish for more resolution, they'll sympathize with driven and loving Lucille. DS. 288p. THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIV. OF ILLINOIS, c2016. |
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| Horn Book | 01/01/2016 |
| High School. Lucille and Wren's mother has been gone for weeks now, on a "vacation" to clear her mind after her husband's nervous breakdown. That leaves high schooler Lu in charge of her innocent, good-natured, nine-year-old sister. Lu is determined to keep their mother's absence a secret from anyone who could potentially intervene and split the siblings up. Her only confidantes are her best friend, Eden, and Eden's (dreamy) twin brother, Digby. When maintaining the ruse becomes increasingly difficult, especially as there are bills to pay and groceries to buy, Lu gets a job at a trendy Mexican restaurant (where the uniforms consist of short-shorts and high heels). Her fierce devotion to Wren, and her ability to care for her, lends Lu maturity beyond her years but feels credible thanks to the author's astute characterization. Most importantly, readers will empathize with and invest in Lu emotionally--and cheer when romance finds her in her darkest hour. A late-in-the-story tragedy tips toward melodrama, but Laure's debut stands out for her keen understanding of the spectrum of human emotions, and her ability to put tough feelings into beautiful prose. katrina hedeen. 277pg. THE HORN BOOK, c2016. |
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| Horn Book Guide | 05/01/2016 |
| 2. High schooler Lucille's mother has been gone for weeks, leaving Lu in charge of nine-year-old sister Wren. Lu is determined to keep this a secret from anyone who could split them up, though maintaining the ruse is increasingly difficult. Lu's beyond-her-years maturity feels credible thanks to astute characterization. This debut stands out for Laure's ability to put tough feelings into beautiful prose. keh. 277pg. THE HORN BOOK, c2016. |
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| Kirkus Reviews | 09/15/2015 |
| When a teen is left on her own to care for herself and her sister, the most inconvenient thing possible happens: she falls in love. Five months ago, Lucille Bennett's father was institutionalized for attacking Lucille's mother, who has subsequently abandoned her daughters. Survival is in Lucille's hands: working to pay bills, taking care of her 10-year-old sister, Wren, and ensuring their secret stays secret. Now is not the time to fall in love, but fall she does, with Digby, her best friend's twin brother, and although he has a girlfriend, Digby reciprocates Lucille's feelings. After much careful dancing around each other and avoidance of their emotions, a tragedy brings them close. Lucille's intuition and strength keep her afloat. Her first-person narration is lyrical, akin to that of a Francesca Lia Block character, but there's an undercurrent of roughness in her voice. The book's title references Dylan Thomas' "Do Not Go Gentle Into that Good Night," and Lucille takes the poem's directive to heart. When she locates her missing father at a local halfway house, she gives him a good telling-off that will have readers cheering. A heartbreakingly hopeful, lyrically told exploration of the abandoned children-selfish parents trope. (Fiction. 12-18). 288pg. KIRKUS MEDIA LLC, c2015. |
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| Publishers Weekly | 09/28/2015 |
| Ages 14-up. Seventeen-year-old Lucille is hypercompetent but, then again, she doesn't have much choice. Her father has had a breakdown, her mother took off, and someone has to take care of her younger sister, Wren. In an assured debut, Laure gives Lucille a fierce stubbornness that keeps her going, even as it stops her from asking for help. The only person Lucille trusts is her best friend Eden and--because they're a package deal--Eden's twin brother, Digby. But Digby is complicated: even though Lucille has known him since they were seven, she has started to feel like she'll die if he doesn't touch her, and she'll die if he does. The characters are well drawn, and Laure effectively depicts the adrenaline rush of love and sex. But with everything Lucille is wrestling to manage--finding money for food, paying taxes, keeping her car running, lying about her mother's absence, and parsing her feelings for Digby--a potentially fatal accident brought into the mix feels like overkill. (Dec.). 288p. PUBLISHERS WEEKLY, c2015. |
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| School Library Journal | 11/01/2015 |
| Gr 8 Up. Lucille is a 17-year-old with substantial responsibilities; her mother disappeared two weeks earlier, leaving the teen in charge of her nine-year-old sister, Wren. Two months ago, Lucille witnessed her father's mental breakdown and subsequent violence, and he now resides in a halfway home. The sisters are on their own with little money. The protagonist is terrified of the authorities swooping in before she turns 18 (and can legally take custody of Wren). Waiting tables by night while attending high school by day, Lucille trudges along. Best friend Eden steps in to help. Pining after Eden's twin brother, Digby, complicates matters for Lucille. Laure offers a unique problem novel in which the troubles--though deadly serious--are never treated with unnecessary melodrama. Lucille still stresses over typical teenage issues like her crush on Digby and the uncomfortable heels she has to wear to work. The author uses poetry to bridge the gap from grief to joy, including references to Dylan Thomas, as evidenced by the title. While there is a definite beginning, middle, and end of this tale, all problems are not wrapped up neatly at its culmination. VERDICT A good choice for savvy readers and book discussion groups; this title will invite comparisons to Cynthia Voigt's contemporary classic Homecoming. Tara Kehoe, New Jersey State Library Talking Book and Braille Center, Trenton. 288p. SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, c2015. |
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| ~VOYA (Voice of Youth Advocates Magazine - Retired Journal) | 12/01/2015 |
| 3Q 3P J S. With titular words from Dylan Thomas's poem "Do Not Go Gentle into That Good Night," This Raging Light explores the resilience of a teenage girl named Lucille who is fighting to survive. While adolescence is a challenging episode even in the best of circumstances, Lucille not only has to cope with the universal issues of growing up, but also a litany of truly traumatic burdens: an emotionally limited father who lives in a grungy halfway house after his prison release; the abandonment of a mother who leaves Lucille in charge of a little sister struggling with obesity and wobbly self-esteem; a tawdry job as a cocktail waitress at a seedy club to pay the bills; and a best friend in a coma. Add to this bubbling stew worries about schoolwork and creating a meaningful future for herself and her sister and the possibility that she may just be falling in love with her best friend's twin brother, and you have the chaotic backdrop of this heart-felt coming-of-age novel. While the book deals with such harrowing topics as child neglect, addiction, and domestic abuse, it is written in a rather breezy tone. Therefore, it is an excellent book to recommend to sheltered readers who want stories about formidable life problems, but who are not yet mature enough to read the truly gritty novels such as those by Ellen Hopkins, Beatrice Sparks, and Simone Elkeles. This is a perfect transitional book, a sort of "calamity lite" if you will.--Suzanne Osman. 288p. VOICE OF YOUTH ADVOCATES, c2015. |
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9780544534292,dl.it[0].title
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