A Look at a Book from a New Favorite Author

REVOLUTION              By: Jennifer Donnelly              4.5 Stars

This book is about two girls: Andi, who lives in present day Brooklyn and Alex, who lives in 18^th century France. Donnelly does a fantastic job of weaving a story line that applies to each girl and century individually but with remarkable similarities that allow the novel to be seamless.

Andi’s 10 year old brother was killed two years previously and she has in a depressive state ever since. She uses music to cope with her Nobel Peace Prize winning father, who abandoned the family, and her mother who went crazy after Truman died. However, the music and her meds are failing to keep her away from a disastrous end.

Alex comes from a poor family trying to feed themselves at the beginning of the French Revolution. Alex’s farting puppet show is the only thing that can make the young prince, Louis-Charles, laugh after losing his older brother. For this reason, Queen Marie-Antoinette hires Alex to care for Louis-Charles, but soon the royal family and Alex are involved in the French Revolution in a way they never imagined possible.

Donnelly’s other young adult fiction, A Northern Light has similar historical novel excellence, but this book will take you to even greater depths. It is a book that might be hard for one to reconcile their feelings about. I both hated and loved it. Donnelly said it better than I could on page 200 with:

“I don’t like hope very much. In fact, I hate it. It’s like the crystal meth of emotions. It hooks you fast and kills you hard. It’s bad news. The worst. It’s sharp sticks and cherry bombs. When hope shows up, it’s only a matter of time until someone gets hurt.”

Revolution taught me things I wished I learned earlier, but at the same time wish I never knew. It will take you on an emotional rollercoaster as you learn more about significant historical events that make you wonder why we as a people still haven’t learned ways better ways. Yes, we don’t have the guillotine anymore, but the same problems that brought on the revolution still exist today.

Through the book I have come to understand that we can’t change others, but we can change how we handle our unique situations for the better. You might learn something different, but hopefully you will still enjoy Revolution as much as I did.

            Donnelly, J. (2010). Revolution. New York, NY: Delacorte Press.