  | Full Text Reviews: School Library Journal - 08/01/2015 Gr 9 Up—It's September 1890, and Josephine "Jo" Montfort has been called home from Miss Sparkwell's School for Young Ladies upon her father's death. The police said it was an accident, but Jo knows her father would never have been so careless as to clean a loaded gun. When rumors of suicide reach her ears, she feels compelled to discover the truth of what happened that night in her father's study. Risking her reputation, the teen searches for answers wherever the clues take her, even to the dangerous slums and docks of New York City. With a handsome and nosy newsman as her reluctant guide, Jo begins to learn more about her family's murky history. Each secret she uncovers leads to another, stirring up her past and threatening her future. Donnelly's latest is a glimpse into the changing societal structure of turn-of-the-century New York City, personified by Jo Montfort. She is a girl trapped by her family's expectations and yearning for a different life, sentiments that will resound with today's teens. She and her co-amateur detective and forbidden romantic interest, Eddie Gallagher, are likable, well-drawn, and interesting. While there may not be many surprises for discerning readers, interest is maintained as they unravel the puzzle through Jo's naive eyes. The plot moves forward at steady pace and short chapters break the novel up into easily devourable pieces. VERDICT A beautifully written mystery that will appeal to a variety of readers.—Heather Miller Cover, Homewood Public Library, AL - Copyright 2015 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission. Booklist - 09/01/2015 *Starred Review* Reporter Eddie says to newspaper heiress Jo Montfort, “You’re a very unusual girl,” and in some ways it’s true: rich and accomplished young women in 1890s Manhattan aren’t supposed to have aspirations beyond a good marriage. But Jo, clever and curious, dreams of being a reporter like Nelly Bly. When her father is found dead in their Gramercy home—authorities say he shot himself accidentally while cleaning his gun, but Jo knows he was too intelligent about firearms to clean it loaded—her life takes a dramatic turn as she struggles to determine the true cause of his death, be it murder or suicide. As her dangerous, potentially reputation-ruining exploration continues, she repeatedly encounters Eddie Gallagher, a smart and ambitious reporter who alternates between aiding Jo and trying to send her home. But she perseveres and soon finds herself drawn into the seedy underbelly of New York as she seeks out information in whorehouses, dens of thieves, and insane asylums—all places where a proper young lady might not belong, but a true reporter can’t avoid.Donnelly, whose A Northern Light (2003) was a Printz Honor Book, has crafted a remarkable portrait of a girl struggling with the constraints of an overbearing society and looking for answers in the midst of deep grief. The writing is lovely and nuanced and the plot fast-paced and thrilling, though savvy readers will probably guess at least some of the twists. What really sets this apart is the characterizations. Jo is no stock heroine: she is brave and smart and determined, yes, but also rash and impulsive and frequently so blinded by familial loyalty that she doesn’t see things other characters—and the reader—might. Her slowly unfolding romance with Eddie doesn’t detract from her ambition or her goal, and the judgmental rigidity of her society and the mystery surrounding her father’s death are as much a roadblock to her longed-for journalism career as they are to this unsanctioned relationship.And then there is Fay. The smart-talking street thief with a hard-luck life and a bitter future could have been introduced as many things: a foil for the privileged Jo, her romantic rival for Eddie, or just a cautionary reminder of the cost of a fall from grace. Instead, Fay and Jo slowly form a close bond, quickly becoming close confidants despite their different upbringings and outlooks. Eddie says that Jo is not like other girls, but, true to form, Jo disagrees. “Most girls are a lot like me,” she says. “Wanting answers to their questions.” This is the ultimate truth to which Donnelly continues to circle back, that there is no solid line dividing different kinds of girls. Fictional or otherwise, people can’t be split into good or bad, rich or poor, unusual or plain. It’s that realization that elevates this from just a well-crafted historical thriller into a smart, insightful, timely depiction of a young woman poised on the brink of a new world after the shattering of another, armed with the qualities and the companions to see her through. - Copyright 2015 Booklist. Loading...
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