*Starred Review* Seventeen-year-old Edna is in the midst of having a fight with her mother when a telephone call forces her mother to say, “All fights postponed.” She has been told she has cancer. Edna begins an affair with her art teacher, Mr. Howland, while her mother is in the hospital. Making it clear she will not visit her mother, and ignoring a father who ignores her, Edna is given a “free pass” to do what she wants. And what she wants is to live in the cocoon that surrounds her and Mr. Howland, eating lunches in seclusion, going to their secret spot for sex. Her questions about a long-dead brother reveal more about her than she would be comfortable with anyone knowing. Although this story has been done before, it is the way Levchuk writes it that is both startling and affecting. Sunday, December 28, 2008
*Starred Review* Seventeen-year-old Edna is in the midst of having a fight with her mother when a telephone call forces her mother to say, “All fights postponed.” She has been told she has cancer. Edna begins an affair with her art teacher, Mr. Howland, while her mother is in the hospital. Making it clear she will not visit her mother, and ignoring a father who ignores her, Edna is given a “free pass” to do what she wants. And what she wants is to live in the cocoon that surrounds her and Mr. Howland, eating lunches in seclusion, going to their secret spot for sex. Her questions about a long-dead brother reveal more about her than she would be comfortable with anyone knowing. Although this story has been done before, it is the way Levchuk writes it that is both startling and affecting. 
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