Review: Diana Geers of Teens read too.com www.teensreadtoo.com/GardenOfEve.html

Review: Hornbook

Still deep in mourning for her mother, who died ten months before, Evie and her father move from Michigan to rural New York. He has bought a house and apple orchard but neglected to mention that it’s beside a cemetery, and that the orchard, with its black, twisted trees, is considered by the townsfolk to be cursed. Evie quickly makes two friends: elderly Maggie, who grew up in the house, and a mysterious boy who claims, despite Evie’s skepticism, to be Alex, a boy who died the week before and is buried in the graveyard. Strangely, Maggie’s late brother has left Evie a birthday present—a seed, which may have come from the Garden of Eden. Evie discovers that she has her own role to play in the events that unfold, and finds too that her relationship with her father changes as they learn how to move on with their new life together. Believably and with delicacy, Going paints a suspenseful story suffused with the poignant questions of what it means to be alive, and what might await on the other side—questions that neither the children nor the adults can answer with certainty, even at the end.
s.d.l.

Review: Booklist

After she and her dad move to upstate New York to reclaim an old, decaying orchard, Evie understands that her father is trying to escape her mother’s recent death. She finds herself beginning to believe the legend that the barren orchard and its surrounding town are cursed after another girl named Eve disappeared many years earlier. Her sense of supernatural and real worlds colliding feels especially strong after she meets the sad ghost-child Alex, who had been buried in the small cemetery adjacent to their house just days before. An eleventh birthday letter from her mother and a small stone box ontaining a single seed force Evie and her dad to come to grips with their new life and its possibilities. Symbolism abounds in this beautifully written book—life, death, the tree of life, Adam and Eve, and the Garden of Eden are all alluded to and explored. Although challenging for its intended audience, the story offers hope to those readers who will identify with Evie, Alex, and the adults who love them.

— Frances Bradburn

Evie and her mom had a very special relationship where they were able to bring their imaginations into the world of magic through bedtime stories. Evie longs for the days before her mother became ill, but it is not to be when her mother dies. In hopes of a new start Evie and her father move to Beaumont, New York where Evie takes a journey into a fairy tale of her own. 

At first the dismal apple orchard that her father purchased is too dreary for Evie and to top it off it’s next door to a cemetery. The events that occur after Evie meets a boy that looks just like a local boy that died, the curse of the farm and the girl that vanished, and the gift of a single seed are nothing less than spectacular. 

Her father has always been a scientific man and that if there is no explanation than it cannot be real. 

“Evie,” he said at last, “you know I’m a realist. I always have been. I trust what I see with my eyes, and it’s hard to believe anything you’ve told me is true…” “But I can tell you this, I’m not going to make the same mistake again. If you need a seed to find Adam and bring him home, then, by God, we’re going to find a seed.”

Through her journey Evie’s father begins to BELIEVE in the unexpected and unexplainable.

K.L. Going immerses you in the heart and soul of Evie from the start and you’ll feel the beat of your heart in your head with every word you read. Kudos to K.L. Going for this wonderful heartfelt novel!

Reviewed by Donna M. McDine

*Starred* Review - Publisher's Weekly -

Ages: 12-17
  In her most impressive achievement yet, Going (Fat Kid Rules the World) gets inside the mind of a teenager who has fallen between the cracks and, facing his options, knows he's "shit out of luck." Like the narrator of Chris Lynch'sInexcusable , 16-year-old Iggy Corso is an unreliable narrator whose account of events clashes with what readers know of how the world works. The brilliance of the novel is the way in which Iggy's perceptions call into question readers' own sense of society's structure and inner workings. Born of an addicted mother and living in New York City public housing with his parents (both addicts), Iggy knows that a high school education is his only means of escape. Yet he faces expulsion for "acting out" in class. He knows he needs to come up with a "How-to-Change-Everyone's-Mind- about-Me plan," so he can attend a hearing and get back into school. When Mo, his only friend, scores some drugs on credit from Freddie, the drug dealer whom Iggy blames for his parents' addiction, the author fluidly juxtaposes the two friends' realms. Mo, who is "renouncing" his Upper East Side life, heads home to get the money for the drugs from his mother and takes Iggy with him. Some humorous scenes of Iggy interacting with the Park Avenue crowd demonstrate what a fish out of water he is. Yet, when Mo believes that all can be fixed up with Freddie easily, their roles shift and Iggy reigns as the expert in the world of New York's underbelly. The adults here are just as well-drawn as the teens; a sympathetic principal, cop and priest, as well as Mo's mother, all help pave the way for Iggy's internal growth. The book delivers a powerful anti-drug story without being preachy, and in perhaps the book's greatest strength, the events remain painfully authentic to Iggy's circumstances. Readers will be rooting for Iggy as he performs his ultimate heroic deed.
Ages 14-up.(Sept.)

Copyright © 1997-2005 Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

*Starred* Review - Booklist

Gr. 8-11.
   When he is suspended from high school for an altercation with a teacher, Iggy feels completely misunderstood. As he waits for the hearing that will decide whether he will be expelled, he vows to change everyone's perception of him by following his principal's advice: "Do something that contributes to the world." Expecting no support from his drug- addicted mother and "stoned off his ass" father, Iggy turns to a former tutor and friend, Mo, a college-dropout interested in pot and Eastern religions. Then Mo's own drug habit escalates. With Iggy tagging along, Mo heads to his wealthy mother's apartment for money, and in Mo's mother, Iggy finds the parental care he craves. Readers will want to talk about the shocking ending and its religious imagery, which raises questions about martyrdom, class politics, and the many ways that children can slip away from help. The author of Printz Honor Book Fat Kid Rules the World (2003), avoids heavy symbolism and message by grounding her story in realistic, grimly vivid urban details, and she creates a memorable character in Iggy, whose first-person voice is earnest, angry, sarcastic, and filled with small insights that reveal how people care for and mistreat each other. Teens will connect with Iggy's powerful sense that although he notices everything, he is not truly seen and accepted himself.

-Gillian Engberg

*Starred* Review from School Library Journal:

Gr 9 Up.
   Iggy Corso, 16, doesn't do drugs, even though he was born addicted to crack. He lives in a city housing  project, in an apartment filled with furniture that his stoned and drunken father collects from the street. Iggy's mother is an addict who has been AWOL for a month. The cool thing about the teen is that, despite his parents and his environment, the doesn't feel sorry for himself. A freshman who has failed two grades and been suspended eight times, he takes things for what they are, until he gets suspended again, pending a hearing. His principal says to him, "You've had a lot to overcome...but....We can all...do something that contributes...." After listening to this, Iggy realizes that his only chance for the future is to get back into school. The principal's statement haunts him throughout the book. He enlists help from his so-called mentor/friend, Mo (who was suspended from pre-law school after being caught smoking pot), but his association with this disaffected youth from a wealthy family creates a whole new set of problems. Thick pencil lines run down the inner margins of the pages; Iggy's life is like these lines, on the edge, reaching out, searching for somewhere to go. The story is told in widely spaced paragraphs, making it a good choice for reluctant readers. Like Troy Billings in Going's Fat Kid Rules the World (Putnam, 2003), Iggy Corso is unforgettable.

Shannon Seglin, Chantilly Regional Library, Fairfax County, VA

Review from Kirkus:

Gr 9 Up.
   This charmer, set just before Christmas, will haunt readers long after experiencing the final pages. Iggy, a 16-year-old freshman, is about to get kicked out of high school permanently, pending a hearing. Iggy recognizes that he needs a legal guardian and legal representation to accompany him, but he will have neither. His parents are druggies and his meth-   addicted mother has been missing for weeks. Iggy decides that he needs a plan to show the world what he's really made of. He finds Mo, his supposed mentor, a college dropout who's renounced all material goods. Short on funds, Mo decides to buy drugs on credit--from the same dealer who supplies Iggy's parents--and then takes Iggy to his wealthy mother's apartment to ask for money. Here, Iggy's plan gels and all readers are left to do is hang on for the incredible ride. Wild plot twists combined with Iggy's endearing narration will keep turning pages and readers cheering this strangely heroic anti-hero.
(Fiction. YA)

*Starred* Review from Publisher's Weekly:

Gabe King, Going's (Fat Kid Rules the World) sympathetic narrator, has a list of fears longer than he is tall (No. 29 is that he'll never get any taller). All manner of bugs make him antsy but his biggest worries, justifiably, are two sixth-grade bullies. He's so intent on keeping his distance he's willing to stay in fourth grade rather than move up to fifth, where he'll once again have to share a cafeteria and playground with bullies Duke and Frankie. Gabe's best friend, Frita, the only black kid in his class, has other ideas: she plans to spend the summer of 1976 "liberating" Gabe from the things that scare him (she gives him a spider for a pet and makes him try the rope swing over the catfish pond). In solidarity, Frita makes her own "fear list"; chillingly, the Ku Klux Klan takes the top spot, and, poignantly, the list includes "not having Gabe with me in the fifth grade." Full of humanity and humor, this well-paced novel offers a dollop of history with its setting in rural Georgia at the moment local boy Jimmy Carter's presidential bid is gaining momentum. The villains' credibility makes them scary, and both Gabe and Frita's refreshingly functional families are exquisitely drawn, especially Terrance, Frita's menacing older brother (No. 6 on Gabe's list). Although Gabe gets the title role, wise, brave Frita is clearly the star. Ages 10-up. (June)

Richie's Picks: Great Books for Children and Young Adults

"Ms. Going seamlessly weaves together the issues of name calling, racial prejudice, and heroism in this story for all ages. It is a superb book for this week; it being National No Name Calling Week."

Fat Kid Rules the World
has been chosen as a
Michael L. Printz Honor Book!

Read More

FAT KID RULES THE WORLD has been chosen by
YALSA as one of the Best Books for Young Adults from the past decade.

Prior to ALA's Annual Conference in Chicago, which took place June 23-29, 2005, participants chose 100 titles from YALSA's annual Best Books for Young Adults, Alex and Michael L. Printz awards lists, selecting ten titles per year.

For more details, you can visit
http://teenreads.com/features/yalsa-best-of-best.asp

* Starred review * School Library Journal

The opening lines of this first-person narrative immediately hook readers as they enter the lonely, troubled, self-deprecating world of Troy Billings, a 296-pound 17-year-old who contemplates ending his life by jumping off a New York City subway platform. He is interrupted by Curt MacCrae, a legendary punk-rock guitarist and sometime-student at W.T. Watson High School.

When Curt connects with him and "saves his life", Troy is amazed that someone, especially someone as cool as Curt, wants to befriend him. An unlikely, almost symbiotic relationship develops between these two.

Curt convinces Troy to be the drummer

Troy's voice is candid, irreverent, realistic, and humorous. He imagines the events of his life in facetious headlines always related to his weight. Curt himself is the product of a dysfunctional family, and he has plenty of problems of his own, including a reliance on drugs.

Going has created three-dimensional characters whose behavior rings true. There are many unexpected twists and turns, including the horrifying and hysterically gross depiction of Troy's first gig. Fans of Joyce Carol Oates's Big, Mouth & Ugly Girl(Harper Collins, 2002) will love this wonderful, engrossing tale.

- Renee Steinberg, Fieldstone Middle School, Montvale, N]

Fat Kid Rules the World was named a
Best Book of 2003
by School Library Journal.

* Starred review * Booklist

"His name is Troy, but to the world -- and in his internal dialogues -- he is the Fat Kid. Really Fat. Almost 300 pounds of sweating, unhappy insecurity. Then out of a moment of despair comes magic. As Troy considers whether to splatter himself on a subway track, Curt MacCrae, a charismatic punk rocker/homeless kid/dropout, comes along and stops him.

For the price of a meal, Curt befriends Troy, and he sees something under all those layers: a potential musician, a friend, and someone with the ability to see through life's bull.

First-time novelist Going has put together an amazing assortment of characters. Troy is the ultimate fat kid, the kind whose every move, every thought is predicated on what it is like to wear a coat of blubber. Curt, as thin as Troy is fat, is a combination of Kurt Cobain, Ratso Rizzo, and a fairy godfather. He sprinkles Troy with the dirt and grime of punk rock and brings out the prince hiding inside the weight (to the book's credit, Troy doesn't get any thinner).

Equally well drawn are the lesser characters, including Troy's father, a former Marine with an innate sense of what kids need. The narrative could have been tighter in places, but this is an impressive debut that offers hope for all kids -- dross transmuted into gold."

Booklist named Fat Kid as one of its
Top 10 Youth First Novels
and the Audio Book was named as a
Top 10 First Novels for Young Listeners

* Starred review * Bulletin for the Center of Children's Books

"At six foot one and nearly three hundred pounds, Troy Billings has but one dream -- to make an inconspicuous exit from the world. Filthy, emaciated, usually homeless Curt MacCrea [sic] finds him contemplating the subway tracks, claims to have saved his life, and demands a free meal.

Curt has something to offer, too: a new dream for Troy, in which he's the drummer in Curt's proposed punk band, Rage/Tectonic. Troy knows he's being cajoled, wheedled, and manipulated by Curt at every turn, but an immediate rise in his social status convinces him to stay aboard this train; Curt is indeed a gifted guitarist and a school legend, and any friend of Curt is a force to be reckoned with.

Troy has no drumming experience, but he's swept into the current of Curt's determination, and by gad, he actually learns to drum, or at least to provide the powerhouse banging that can drive the real star's screaming riffs and raging lyricism.

Troy's contemptuous younger brother begins to offer some respect, and Mr. Billings, an ex-Marine who believes anything can be achieved through will and discipline, surprises Troy by encouraging his efforts and treating Curt with unexpected kindness.

Going draws her characters with compassionate acuity; Troy's bumbling advance toward drumming competence and self-respect is funny and heart-wrenching, while Curt's semi-stoned rush at stardom exposes both his brokenness and his promise. Likewise, Going cuts through the theatrical pretenses of punk rock to capture the angst and artistry.

The language is raw, but the relationships are tender, and readers who followed the sadder fortunes of Koertge's Stoner and Spaz will grasp thankfully at the possibility of double salvation."

Fat Kid was chosen as a Blue Ribbon book
by the Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books.

Read More

"Young Adult books return, with an edge..."
By BOB HOOVER
June 4, 2003

...Called the "Young Adult" market, the field was considered all but dead five years ago, but has been revitalized with an edgier tone...

...Book editor Stephanie Zvirin’s suggestions of good reads for teens: “Fat Kid Rules the World” by K.L. Going...

Read the entire story

Powells.com

...In this outstanding, funny, and edgy debut, Going tells an engaging story of two unlikely friends who meet when a high-school dropout talks a boy out of suicide--and who ultimately save each other.

Read the entire review

Cynthia Leitich Smith: Children's Literature Resources

"Outstanding voice and sense of place. Highly memorable characters. A tour de force for the fat kid in all of us. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED...

The Story Behind The Story: K.L. Going on FAT KID RULES THE WORLD. Here's a sneak peek. Find out more..."

Read the entire interview

Richie's Picks: Great Books for Children and Young Adults

"FAT KID RULES THE WORLD is totally phat! While the joyfulness and quirkiness of the story and the body image issue may allow for grouping this book with some others you've read before, K. L. Going is truly a new voice on the YA scene... "

Read the entire review

Fat Kid was also named as one of
Richie's Picks Best Books of 2003
and will be featured on Richie's upcoming local
cable TV show called, "Shut Up! I'm Reading!"

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