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A review by margeryb
Thornhill by Pam Smy
3.0
This is a Brian Selznik-style book, told in alternating pages of text and pages of wordless illustrations (save for a few newspaper articles and hand written notes). In this case, the story alternatives between a diary written by a girl named Mary, who is living in a girl's home in 1982, who is conflicted with selective mutism and another girl who terrorizes, and illustrations of the life of Ella, a girl in 2017 who is living a very lonely life with an implied dead mother and workaholic father.
This story is creepy and unsettling, as it is meant to be. The isolation of the dual protagonists is created not just by the narrative, but by the form the narrative takes. Mary's diary as the only text portion of the story means there is no third person narration to give perspective. We are limited to her point of view and thus are drenched in her loneliness, while the loneliness of Ella's life through the illustrations where she is constantly alone and searching for connections is more than evident.
I could nitpick, but I give this story four stars because I read it eagerly in one day. I wanted to know what was going to happen next with each of the girl's story lines, I wanted to know how they would intersect, I want to know, and I kept turning pages. The book hit the marks and had the effect that it was trying to hit.
My only hesitation is that this was labeled as a children's book in my library. I would disagree. Its more appropriate for a YA audience. It is dark with no happy ending except a twisted one.
This story is creepy and unsettling, as it is meant to be. The isolation of the dual protagonists is created not just by the narrative, but by the form the narrative takes. Mary's diary as the only text portion of the story means there is no third person narration to give perspective. We are limited to her point of view and thus are drenched in her loneliness, while the loneliness of Ella's life through the illustrations where she is constantly alone and searching for connections is more than evident.
I could nitpick, but I give this story four stars because I read it eagerly in one day. I wanted to know what was going to happen next with each of the girl's story lines, I wanted to know how they would intersect, I want to know, and I kept turning pages. The book hit the marks and had the effect that it was trying to hit.
My only hesitation is that this was labeled as a children's book in my library. I would disagree. Its more appropriate for a YA audience. It is dark with no happy ending except a twisted one.