Revolution

Author: Jennifer Donnelly, narrated by Emily Janice Card and Emma Bering

Reading level: Grade 9 and up

Summary:

This story is taking place during the French Revolution. It portrayed the life of two young women during the Revolution. Andi Alpers is a depressed modern-day teenager. She is taking antidepressants and flunking her classes. She is also grieving over her younger brother’s death. She plays guitar to find comfort and relief. While in Paris with her estranged father, a Nobel geneticist hired to match the DNA of a heart said to belong to the last dauphin of France, Andi is ordered to work on her senior thesis about a French composer. She discovers a diary hidden within a guitar case that relates the last days of Alexandrine, companion to the doomed prince. The story then alternates between Andi's suicidal urges and Alexandrine's efforts to save the prince.

Reviews:

There is so much to this story, so many layers revealed, often slowly. I always think that getting inside Andi's mind is difficult because she puts up defenses that make it hard even for the reader to get close to her. The adults in her life have let her down so often that there is no hope for her there, and yet she's isolated herself from almost everyone in order to squelch the pain she feels over Truman. When Virgil appears and offers her something to hold on to, it almost makes you want to scream at her to grab him and never let go, yet Andi's tenuous hold on life is so fragile it seems possible that she will not make it. It is only as she loses herself in the pages of Alex's diary that she can discover what it is she needs to do in order to make peace with her losses.

Donnelly's writing is rich and full of depth, and the parallel lives of these two young women are both equally engaging. There is so much feeling among the pages, and Andi's self-destructive behavior makes your heart hurt as you are forced to experience her life. Donnelly weaves history effortlessly into the story, and I was particularly impressed with her grasp of historical music. The voices of Andi and Alex are going to be with me a very long time and I cannot recommend this one highly enough. Jennifer Donnelly, your writing never lets me down.
Overall I enjoyed the story and the characters very much. While this novel isn't going to be for everyone I think the audience it's intended for will eat it up. I really enjoyed it, it was a fun and satisfying read.Secondary characters are all well crafted. Andi's best friend, Vijay, is a clever, brilliant young man, whose mother, Mrs. Gupta could rival six Jewish mothers who want their sons to go to Harvard. And Alex's family, who may love each other, but must spend every waking moment trying to survive, could live in any era.

Award: 2011 Odyssey Award