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INTERMEDIATE FICTION
Selznick, Brian

Kaleidoscope

208 pp. | Scholastic | September, 2021 | Trade ISBN 978-1-338-77724-6 $19.99 | Ebook ISBN 978-1-338-77725-3 $12.99
(2) 4-6 Through an attention-grabbing text and distinctive graphite illustrations, Selznick (The Invention of Hugo Cabret, rev. 3/07; The Marvels, rev. 9/15) presents an enigmatic yet engrossing work. In three sections (Morning, Afternoon, and Evening), but adhering to no formal plot line, Selznick weaves together recurring concepts, themes, and imagery across space and time, with a character named James--himself ever-changing--being the most reliable constant. An apple serves as a gift from a young boy to an invisible giant; later, the fruit begins a seventy-five-thousand-page entry in a widower's reference book. Other motifs--books, spiders, angels, ancient Egypt, shipwrecks, changelings, mythology, keys--appear intermittently. Each brief chapter is prefaced by an arresting double-page abstraction that resembles the view through a kaleidoscope, followed by a representational image--literally drawing the reader into the next story. Selznick's text is deeply sensory, tactile, and intimate, with a notable emphasis placed on the importance of human contact ("I wanted to hold those notebooks again because it would be like holding him again"). The appended author's note explains that the work was largely written during pandemic isolation. A sense of closure is implied through the book's three-part structure; however, meaning and interpretation are (perhaps frustratingly for some) left to the individual reader, and likely to evolve upon re-reading.
Reviewer: Patrick Gall | Horn Book Magazine Issue: January, 2022

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