The title refers to a rock band assembled in London in 1967 by its manager Levon Frankland, whom we last saw briefly reminiscing about the very same band in a 2015 scene from The Bone Clocks. But happily this is only one element in a book bristling with pleasures from the more traditional side of his palette. True, it does feature one soul that’s migrated enough to require Horologist intervention - and possibly to baffle anyone who hasn’t read his previous fiction. Which is why Utopia Avenue, Mitchell’s first novel since then, comes as a such a relief. (Sample sentence from the showdown: ‘Incorporeally, I pour psychovoltage into a neurobolas and kinetic it at our assailants.’) Worse still, The Bone Clocks was swiftly followed by Slade House in which the Anchorite-Horologist struggle was explained even more painstakingly. The climax came in a full-scale showdown between two kinds of immortal beings: the virtuous Horologists, who achieve immortality by means of their souls entering and reanimating naturally deceased children, and the villainous Anchorites - who achieve it by killing ‘engifted’ children and drinking their souls.
In 2014’s The Bone Clocks, for example, Mitchell’s strange fondness for the transmigration of souls as a narrative device was given a backstory of particularly punishing and increasingly silly thoroughness. Occasionally, though, it can feel rather like the type shown by Mrs Doyle in Father Ted, with Mitchell refusing to take no for an answer as he forces more and more would-be treats on his already sated readers. Not only that but, as he’s said, ‘each of my books is one chapter in a sort of sprawling macro-novel’, with many of the same characters and events being either updated or given fuller backstories.Īt its best, this generosity has resulted in some of the most lavishly satisfying fiction of recent times. Ever since Ghostwritten in 1999, he’s specialised in big novels bursting with storytelling in all kinds of genres - most famously Cloud Atlas, where six very different novellas were immaculately intertwined. Those Kids from Fawn Creek will enchant fans of Rebecca Stead, Jerry Spinelli, and Kate DiCamillo.There aren’t many authors as generous to their readers as David Mitchell. Newbery Medal and Newbery Honor winner Erin Entrada Kelly explores complex themes centered on family, friendships, and staying true to yourself. Who will claim Orchid Mason? Who will save Orchid Mason? Or will Orchid Mason save them? She's wearing a flower behind her ear.įawn Creek Middle might be small, but it has its tightly knit groups-the self-proclaimed "God Squad," the jocks, the outsiders-just like anyplace else. Orchid-who was born in New York City but just moved to Fawn Creek from Paris-seems to float. When Orchid Mason arrives and slips gracefully into Renni's chair, the other seventh graders don't know what to think. Renni's desk is empty, but Renni still knows their secrets is still pulling their strings. That's because Renni Dean's father got a promotion, and the family moved to Grand Saintlodge, the nearest big town. There are thirteen desks in the seventh-grade classroom. And in this small factory town where everyone knows everything about everyone, that's not necessarily a great thing. There are twelve kids in the seventh grade at Fawn Creek Middle School. From Erin Entrada Kelly, the winner of the Newbery Medal for Hello, Universe and a Newbery Honor for We Dream of Space, this contemporary school story set in small-town Louisiana is about friendship, family, deception, and being true to yourself and your dreams. "A raw, real exploration of belonging that's also sweetly hopeful."-Publishers Weekly (starred review)Įvery day in Fawn Creek, Louisiana, is exactly the same-until Orchid Mason arrives. "An emotionally resonant story about authenticity and belonging."-Kirkus Reviews (starred review) "A powerful and thought-provoking story."-Shelf Awareness (starred review)
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