Review of Shelter Island: A January Hoolihan and Crisscross Adventure
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[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Shelter Island: A January Hoolihan and Crisscross Adventure" by Jill Wisoff.]
Jill Wisoff's debut novel, Shelter Island, features a young 12-year-old girl named January and her eight-year-old friend, Crisscross. This is the first in a series about their adventures. The girls both come from dysfunctional homes and are subject to neglect, abuse, and poverty. Their lives are filled with trauma due to their parents’ drug addictions. The setting is in the ‘90s in and around New York City. I enjoyed the descriptions of many of the city's landmarks and the island town location.
The summary for this book intrigued me because it is January's back-to-school essay for her 8th-grade English class. As a retired English teacher, I have read hundreds of essays on the topic of summer vacation activities, but January's essay is unique. The book is listed with a reading level for ages 12 to 17, but I would only recommend this for a mature audience. The crude language and sexual innuendos are not suitable for middle schoolers. One of the characters is a rapper, and his lyrics include phrases such as "skank ho,” “bones her,” “dickweed,” and “loves to suck." If I had put this book on a junior high reading list, I would have probably been fired.
Another reason this book is too advanced for young adults is that the narrative is hard to follow. The author occasionally uses a dinkus to indicate a change, but not always. Due to the author's stream-of-consciousness writing style, I chose not to note grammatical errors, so my rating is four out of five stars. The difficulty of following the haphazard plot is the reason for the deduction.
If you are a fan of Salinger, Faulkner, and Joyce, you will enjoy reading about these two independent, fearless young ladies who develop survival skills and thrive in a hostile environment. January isn’t exactly a female version of Holden from The Catcher in the Rye, but she comes close.
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Shelter Island: A January Hoolihan and Crisscross Adventure
View: on Bookshelves |
Jill Wisoff's debut novel, Shelter Island, features a young 12-year-old girl named January and her eight-year-old friend, Crisscross. This is the first in a series about their adventures. The girls both come from dysfunctional homes and are subject to neglect, abuse, and poverty. Their lives are filled with trauma due to their parents’ drug addictions. The setting is in the ‘90s in and around New York City. I enjoyed the descriptions of many of the city's landmarks and the island town location.
The summary for this book intrigued me because it is January's back-to-school essay for her 8th-grade English class. As a retired English teacher, I have read hundreds of essays on the topic of summer vacation activities, but January's essay is unique. The book is listed with a reading level for ages 12 to 17, but I would only recommend this for a mature audience. The crude language and sexual innuendos are not suitable for middle schoolers. One of the characters is a rapper, and his lyrics include phrases such as "skank ho,” “bones her,” “dickweed,” and “loves to suck." If I had put this book on a junior high reading list, I would have probably been fired.
Another reason this book is too advanced for young adults is that the narrative is hard to follow. The author occasionally uses a dinkus to indicate a change, but not always. Due to the author's stream-of-consciousness writing style, I chose not to note grammatical errors, so my rating is four out of five stars. The difficulty of following the haphazard plot is the reason for the deduction.
If you are a fan of Salinger, Faulkner, and Joyce, you will enjoy reading about these two independent, fearless young ladies who develop survival skills and thrive in a hostile environment. January isn’t exactly a female version of Holden from The Catcher in the Rye, but she comes close.
******
Shelter Island: A January Hoolihan and Crisscross Adventure
View: on Bookshelves |
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