Because of the Sun

November 1, 2016
A teen girl finds solace in The Stranger, the New Mexico desert, and a blossoming romance as she struggles to grieve the death of her emotionally abusive mother. Dani Falls' provocative and cruel single mother, Ruby, is literally mauled to death by a bear in their Florida backyard. After the newsmaking violent death, a social worker informs the white 17-year-old that she's to live with a maternal aunt she's never met in a small New Mexico border town. Accompanied by only a copy of Albert Camus' The Stranger and an obsessive fear that the euthanized bear is going to return for her too, Dani resides in virtual silence, taking long, dangerous walks in the desert sun. Then she stumbles upon Paulo, the movie-loving Mexican-American gas station cashier who helps her, looks out for her, and introduces her to his wise and nurturing grandmother. She starts school. She speaks to her aunt, who shares the tragic secrets of Ruby's past. Although Dani's connection to Meursault, Camus' protagonist, is a major theme, readers don't need to know anything about the French classic to follow Dani's journey. The author's dreamlike language is at once beautiful and brutal, capturing the lows and highs of Dani's journey to figure out how to move forward knowing she both loved and hated her mother. This lyrical coming-of-age story effectively explores the complicated nature of love and grief. (author's note) (Fiction. 14-18)

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November 1, 2016

Gr 9 Up-This story shows how two losses, one past and one present, affect the life of high school senior Dani Falls. After her mother dies in a tragic bear attack, Dani is forced to move across the country to New Mexico to live with a previously unknown aunt. She deals with her feelings of detachment and grief by reading Albert Camus's The Stranger and walking in the desert. As she gets to know her formerly estranged aunt and her new neighbors, Dani learns more about her mother's past, which helps her to come to terms with her own. With well-integrated story lines and fully developed characters, this title explores tragic loss and the human ability to overcome it. The occasional strong language is authentically woven into the narrative, while the author's vivid descriptions of the New Mexico landscape immerse readers in the setting. VERDICT An engaging tale that will appeal to fans of darker contemporary novels.-Tegan Anclade, Lake Villa District Library, IL

Copyright 2016 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

November 15, 2016
Grades 9-12 Dani has never had a great relationship with her abusive, seemingly unloving mother. But when a horrible accident claims her mother's life, a numb Dani is sent to New Mexico to live with an aunt she never knew existed. Used to a life on the move, prickly Dani doesn't know how to interact with her newly discovered relative, pushing everyone away and secretly fearing that she was partially responsible for her mother's death. As she gets to know her new town, she meets Paulo, an aspiring filmmaker who works at the local gas-station market. As Dani also gets to know her aunt, she slowly learns about her family's history and the abuse that her mother and aunt suffered from their own parents. Readers should note that, while this novel contains incidents of physical violence and emotional abuse, it is a beautiful and moving tale that accurately captures the complications and dysfunctions of different families and examines how to slowly rise above the past and create a future.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2016, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2017
After her harsh, alcoholic mother's death from a freak bear attack, seventeen-year-old Dani is overwhelmed by her complicated emotions. She moves in with an estranged aunt in New Mexico, and Dani's grief manifests in self-isolation and emotional detachment. While Dani eventually begins to heal with the help of new friends, her lyrically narrated dissociation--inspired by Camus's The Stranger--may alienate casual readers.

(Copyright 2017 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)