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Format: Hardcover
ISBN-10: 038097553X
ISBN-13: 9780380975532
Aug 1998
Publisher: Harpercollins Childrens Books
168 pages
Grade:
From 10 to 12
An Avon Flare Book
Language: English |
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* ML=ships from multiple locations, AE/AP/AA=ships from U.S. Military location.
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* ML=ships from multiple locations, AE/AP/AA=ships from U.S. Military location.
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* ML=ships from multiple locations, AE/AP/AA=ships from U.S. Military location.
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* ML=ships from multiple locations, AE/AP/AA=ships from U.S. Military location.
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Synopsis
Sixteen-year-old Sienna, always a colorless outsider to the intense personal and professional relationship of her famous artist parents, finds herself tentatively growing closer to her father and realizing her own artistic potential after he is diagnosed with a brain tumor.
| Details | | Series: | An Avon Flare Book |
| Size | | Length: | 168 pages | | Height: | 8.8 in | | Width: | 6.3 in | | Thickness: | 1.0 in | | Weight: | 12.0 oz |
Industry Reviews
Fifteen-year-old Sienna, a budding artist, is proud to be the daughter of renowned sculptor Hugh Scully. But she has always felt distant from him and Marianna, her mother ("I don't think they ever viewed themselves as parents. They were too absorbed in the art world, and in each other"). When Hugh is diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor, Sienna is determined to make a connection with her father before it is too late. While Marianna is out of town, Sienna agrees to drive Hugh to his favorite refuge, Birch Cove Island. Traveling from Pennsylvania to Maine (with a side trip to Manhattan), she learns more than she bargained for about Hugh's extramarital affairs, his lost dreams and the compromises he made to achieve fame. She also makes some realizations about herself and her own artwork. This emotionally charged coming-of-age story borrows the glamorous trappings of the art world, taking in albeit simplistically the politics and oversize egos there. Lantz (Someone to Love) deftly trails Sienna's loss of innocence as she becomes aware of her father's physical and psychological limitations and learns to accept them ("Hugh Scully will never need me the way I need him, will never love me completely and unconditionally, will never be the parent I want him to be"). Although Hugh fails as a father, he emerges as a successful mentor, leaving his daughter and the audience with a potent warning: "Don't follow me.... The road I took will lead you away from feelings, from life. Let yourself experience the world." Ages 12-up. (Aug.)
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Gr 8 Up-For 15-year-old Sienna, it's no picnic being the daughter of world-famous sculptor, Hugh Scully. He has always been a commanding, passionate, and self-centered artist, and her mother, Marianna, is consumed with promoting his work. Neither parent notices their daughter's emerging art talent, or much else about her; clutching her sketchbook, she is but a shadow in her father's studio doorway. Hugh goads her about being uptight, passionless, afraid of taking risks, and about still being a virgin. Disturbingly, instead of getting angry, Sienna continues to respect him and doubt herself. Then he is stricken with a malignant, inoperable brain tumor, and he turns to his daughter to help him travel to their island home in Maine. Sienna's initial satisfaction over being the one Hugh looks to for support quickly turns to pain and embarrassment. As their trip unfolds, Hugh begins his confessions of a lifetime of personal dissatisfaction. She catches him in an extramarital affair, and, at long last, sees him as a fallible human being. Due to the inexplicable ties that weld child to parent, Sienna begins to understand and forgive. Overly dramatic moments upset the balance of this novel, compromising Sienna's potential to shine as a strong and competent young woman. Issues of how Sienna deals with Hugh's suicide or her mother after he is gone are left unresolved. However, teens will empathize with Sienna as she contends with her self-centered parents.-Alison Follos, North Country School, Lake Placid, NY
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