On the Edge of Gone, by Corinne Duyvis

On January 29, 2035, the comet is going to hit the earth. They’ve been preparing for it for a year and a half now. Of course, not everyone can be saved. It’s irrational to believe so. The most skilled, or wealthy, were selected to depart before impact, leaving on generation ships headed for distant planets capable of sustaining human life. 

Some were lucky enough to win the lottery and secure passage. Others might consider themselves lucky enough for a spot in a permanent shelter. Many more find their ways into temporary shelters, designed to endure the initial impact, but little more than that. Its occupants will have to venture out into the dark, dust covered planet and survive on mere hope. 

Denise is a beautiful young girl from just outside Amsterdam. She is seventeen. She loves animals, particularly cats. And she has autism. Denise’s mother is a drug addict. Her sister, Iris, is a transgender event organizer and social activist. Her estranged father has secured a place in a permanent shelter a world away, but for her and her mother and sister, they must seek out a temporary shelter in the area. Despite the lack of confidence in herself, it will fall on Denise to save her family. It is a race against time to survive.

This story deals with many current and relevant issues. Most importantly, it is a lesson in what we are capable of doing. This is a lesson, not only for those who might struggle with autism or some other disability, but for anyone who has ever doubted themselves, for anyone who has ever felt the weight of the world upon their back. It is a story about the triumph of the human spirit and the struggle of good over evil that is within us all.

This is a well-told story with uncharacteristic heroes, antiheroes, and villains. Both plot and characters were sufficiently developed, but I was not entirely engaged, nor was I completely satisfied with the conclusion, which sought to save nearly everyone from doom. However, I imagine a younger audience may find this story exciting. It is a dystopian adventure of unique proportions. I would rate it 3 out of 5 on my review scale, but one must consider my overall indifference to the fantasy/science fiction genre. 

Corinne Duyvis is a renowned, award-winning fantasy/science fiction author. On the Edge of Gone has won the Neukom Institute Literary Arts Award for Speculative Fiction. Like Denise, in the novel, Duyvis lives in Amsterdam and has autism. She is also co-founder and editor of Disability in Kidlit as well as the originator of the #ownvoices hashtag.

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Mosquitoland, by David Arnold

“Sometimes a thing doesn’t seem real until we say it out loud . . . 

“I am Mary Iris Malone, and I am not okay.” – Mim  

Mary Iris Malone (Mim) may not be okay, but she has the potential to be one of the greatest narrators of her generation.

“I am a collection of oddities, a circus of neurons and electrons: my heart is the ringmaster, my soul is the trapeze artist, and the world is my audience. It sounds strange because it is, and it is, because I am strange.” – Mim

“Do so with gusto, because my God, there's nothing sorrier than a gusto-less existence.” – Mim

Mim is in freefall. Her world, as she’s known it, has crumbled, or exploded, or imploded. She could explain it better. In any case, it’s been turned upside down. Mosquitoland is the story of her journey to put her world back together, to save her mom, to find herself, to find others like her. Are there any? 

“I have limited experience, but I know this: moments of connection with another human being are patently rare. But rarer still are those who can recognize such a connection when they see one.” – Mim

She overhears her father and his new bride, a Denny’s waitress, talking . . . discussing something . . . about her? . . . about her mother?. Something is wrong. Her mother needs her. Mim jumps a Greyhound from Mosquitoland (Jackson, Mississippi) to Cleveland, Ohio, where her mother is holed up. Along the way, she meets an extraordinary cast of characters, causing her to take several detours. 

“So I float in silence, watching the final touches of this perfect moonrise, and in a moment of heavenly revelation, it occurs to me that detours are not without purpose. They provide safe passage to a destination, avoiding pitfalls in the process.” – Mim

She discovers some hard truths along the way, as well.

“Pain makes people who they are.” – Mim

“I wish wishing were enough, but it's not. Sometimes you need a thing.” – Mim 

Her journey is an adventure worth taking . . . certainly worth reading.

“I'm feeling reckless - or honest, maybe. Sometimes, it's hard to tell the difference.” – Mim

In the end, she finds herself . . .

“Sometimes you walk into a room one person, and when you come out the other side, you're someone else altogether.” – Mim

“As simple as it sounds, I think understanding who you are—and who you are not—is not the most important thing of all Important Things.” – Mim

“But that’s the personality of change, isn’t it? When it’s slow, it’s called growth; when it’s fast, it’s change.” – Mim

. . . and she finds home.

“It's more than an address, or even the house you grew up in. People say home is where the heart is, but I think maybe home is the heart. Not a place or a time, but an organ, pumping life into my life. There may be more mosquitos and stepmothers than I imagined, but it's still my heart. My home.” – Mim

Mim is a genius narrator with shocking wit and imagination, but she is a flawed character. She struggles with and within herself. She deals, daily, with mental health issues, but to what degree is up for interpretation. Her father, obsessed with the inevitability of the destruction of his daughter’s state of mind, is hell-bent on keeping her numb and controlled with Abilitol, an anti-psychotic medication, which Mim, herself, feels is completely radical and unnecessary. This is an incredible, intelligent, and humorous tale of self-discovery, teen angst, sex, exploration, and the human experience. I would recommend this to every teenager and everyone who has ever been a teenager. It is a great story of a terrific journey, a modern-day Odyssey, or this generation’s On The Road. It belongs on everyone’s bookshelf, at home, and in schools.

The plot, seeming simple enough, is a complicated roadmap of intricate detours, all essential to the overall story. Every character bursts from the pages with unbelievable detail. This is one of my favorite reads so far. I give it a 5 out of 5 on my scale of good reads.

follow the author on Twitter @roofbeam 

David Arnold is the genius behind Mim. From Lexington, Kentucky, he claims to be a “fierce believer in the power of kindness and community. And chips. He believes fiercely in chips” (Mosquitoland). 

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Piecing Me Together, by Renée Watson

tener éxito: to succeed
“When I learned the Spanish word for succeed, I thought it was kind of ironic that the word exit is embedded in it” (Jade, p. 2).

Jade Butler is, by her own definition, plain. She is a black teenager from the impoverished, hardscrabble North Portland area, beginning her junior year in high school. She is a talented collage artist, and she is brilliant, spending much time in the library tutoring her fellow students. 

“Lots of people can’t find beauty in my neighborhood, but I can. Ever since elementary school, I’ve been making beauty out of everyday things – candy wrappers, pages of newspaper, receipts, rip-outs from magazines. I cut and tear, arrange and rearrange, and glue them down, morphing them into something no one else thought they could be. Like me. I’m ordinary too” (Jade, p. 10).

Piecing Me Together is the Newberry Honor, Coretta Scott King Award winning novel by Renée Watson. It is the story of Jade Butler. Jade is ambitious and strives for success. She takes advantage of every opportunity made available to her. She is a scholarship recipient, and every morning, takes a long bus ride from her neighborhood, in North Portland, to St. Francis, an elite private high school in the city. Essentially, Jade travels from one world to another every day. What she wants is to make it out of her neighborhood and to do something important. St. Francis offers a travel program which would allow her to work in other countries, helping small communities in need. She wants to go to Argentina or Costa Rica. She wants to be part of a program that’s about what she can give rather than what she needs. Instead, the school offers her a place in a mentorship program for African-American girls called Woman to Woman. She’s not excited about the prospect, but never refuses a potential opportunity. Through the program she is introduced to successful women who inspire her in many ways, but when a young girl, her own age, in a nearby neighborhood, is assaulted by police and hospitalized, Jade is disturbed by the fact that no one in her St. Francis world seems to be troubled by the news. In her neighborhood, it is a frightening and all too common occurrence. She decides to utilize her newfound contacts and rallies her friends to organize a social justice event and fundraising benefit to raise awareness of the recent tragedy.

This is a story mirroring current events in our nation. It deals with elements of race relations, prejudice, injustice, non-violent social activism, and the power of women in society. These are all topics in need of discussion in today’s classrooms.

We see Jade, as brilliant as she is at the beginning of the story, grow and change throughout the school year. Other characters grow and change alongside her. Indeed, there are few, if any, flat characters in the novel. Although there is no suspenseful, action-packed burst of conflict and resolution in the story, it unfolds gently and intelligently. The reader comes to know and care for the characters, and is better for having read Jade’s story.

I would rate this story 4 out of 5 possible points. It is extremely well-written and an important story. 

Renée Watson is a New York City author who has written middle school, adolescent, and young adult novels, as well as picture books. She teaches creative writing and theater in public schools and community centers across the country. She also teaches courses at the University of New Haven and at Pine Manor College. She is involved with several literary organizations and community involvement projects. Watson grew up in Portland, Oregon.

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