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Clarke, Judith
6 Reviews
(2)
YA
A woman in her sixties, Clementine, looks back to the most disturbing, charismatic character of her childhood: her older cousin Fan who lives with a mentally unstable, abusive mother. In this story of love and sadness, Clarke's baroque, metaphor-rich style matches the high emotional pitch of early adolescence--iron loyalties, rage at injustice--all set against a stark Australian landscape.
Reviewer: Sarah Ellis
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
September, 2010
(1)
YA
Like an extended treasure hunt, Clarke's novel traces eight characters through chance meetings, family rifts, and decisive moments to a final, festive celebration of unity. The family's small decisions, actions, and experiences converge in a miracle of identities revealed, kindness rewarded, and apologies accepted. Clarke's sharp, poetic prose evokes each character's inner life with rich and often amusing vibrancy.
Reviewer: Deirdre F. Baker
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
May, 2007
(3)
4-6
An omniscient narrator tells the story of students in Ms. Dallimore's class 7B as they work on the essay assignment, "Who am I?" This abstract novel--tinged with eerie surrealism--focuses on the question of identity as it moves from character to character connecting the lives of the students and their families.
Reviewer: Marika Hoe
(2)
YA
Clem's family, their interrelationships reconfigured by some mysterious grief, have moved inland from their beloved Australian coast. Dad is virtually absent; Mum neither speaks nor listens; Vida, fourteen, is quick-tempered, especially with younger sister Jess. Skillfully shifting point of view in a compelling third-person narrative, Clarke depicts her characters' attempts to deny the past. The resolution is satisfying and surprising.
Reviewer: Joanna Rudge Long
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
September, 2003
(3)
YA
Six stories focus on several generations of an Australian family, pinpointing pivotal moments and exploring the connections between them. In 1935, Kenny, fourteen, rides his bicycle into an unknown future after his father's sudden death; in 2002, James, tortured by his parents' arguing, is heartened by the greeting of a strange boy on an old-fashioned bicycle. Honest, graceful, and resonant, the stories speak to the essence of the human condition.
Reviewer: Martha V. Parravano
(4)
YA
Luke's family, teachers, and girlfriend are worried about his erratic behavior, but are unable to penetrate the Australian teenager's emotional confusion and isolation. The novel features one arresting metaphor--a mysterious night train--but the format, which shifts among multiple perspectives, is so diffuse that characterizations remain one-dimensional and we never come to more than a superficial understanding of the disturbed protagonist.
Reviewer: Peter D. Sieruta
6 reviews
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