June 21, 2021
Music and the generosity of strangers provide healing in Larkin’s emotionally expansive latest (after Swimming for Sunlight). In 1994, 16-year-old April performs her songs at open mic nights around her small hometown in Upstate New York. Then, after her disapproving father destroys her guitar, she strikes out on her own and lands in Ithaca, where, over the course of a few intense months, she establishes something like a found family. But a betrayal and a fear that she’d be found out for lying about her age prompt April to flee rather than face rejection by those she’s come to love. Fast forward three years and April is still on the road—and when the opportunity to create a home comes once again, she must choose whether to run away or go all in and finally discover whether art and stable relationships have to be mutually exclusive. Some parts of April’s story (such as the career path of her high school sweetheart) come off as contrived, but several of the supporting characters feel authentic, as does the sometimes harrowing depiction of April’s life as a young woman traveling and performing solo night after night. This hopeful story will move readers.
Starred review from July 1, 2021
Sixteen-year-old April Sawicki has been on her own since her father left their rundown motor home. She finds solace in music, and several well-received performances at open mics lead her to believe that she might be able to make it as a musician. Then April's father breaks her guitar in a fit of rage, and April leaves. Penniless and homeless, she lands in Ithaca, New York, lying about her age to land a job at an edgy coffee shop. Her boss, Carly, and a regular customer, Adam, support her as she struggles to get by. When someone threatens to reveal her secret, she flees, setting up a pattern that will define much of her young life. While April outwardly embraces her nomadic lifestyle, she craves a home where she belongs. Larkin (Swimming for Sunlight, 2019) has created a memorable character in April, whose journey toward belonging and self-acceptance will resonate with readers. The depiction of the mid-1990s is pitch-perfect and will invoke feelings of nostalgia, especially in Gen Xers who came of age during this era. Fans of Caitlin Moran's How to Build a Girl (2014) will enjoy traveling alongside April.
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August 1, 2021
In 1994, high school student April Sawicki is living alone in a rickety motor home owned by her dad. He moved out a few months earlier to live with his girlfriend, Irene, and her son. April's mother had walked out when she was small, and April has little memory of her. When April discovers that Irene is pregnant, she packs up her dad's car and hits the road. She manages to eke out a living playing guitar and singing in coffeehouses. She almost seems determined to avoid happiness, as if she doesn't deserve it. Once or twice April finds a place and people who seem like home and family, but something happens to make her keep moving. As she gets older, she begins to play in pubs, though she prefers the sober, more appreciative coffeehouse customers. By the end of the book, she's in her early 20s and pregnant, but upon learning that the father of her child is not the man she's fallen in love with, she hits the road one last time. April's story is Dickensian: She moves from one not-quite-catastrophe to another until she finally finds a happy ending that feels a bit contrived. VERDICT Recommend this to teens who enjoy long coming-of-age stories. It could be a stepping-stone to Jane Eyre.-Marlyn Beebe, Long Beach P.L., CA
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