Synopses & Reviews
Pulling my radiation mask out of my pocket, my rough hands snagged the fine gauze. How could such a thin weave protect me from death? You cant see radiation, or smell it, or feel it. Could a mask stop it so easily?Nyles life with her grandmother on their Vermont sheep farm advances rhythmically through the seasons until the night of the accident at the Cookshire nuclear power plant. Without warning, Nyles modest world fills with protective masks, evacuations, contaminated food, disruptions, and mistrust. Things become even more complicated when Ezra Trent and his mother, refugees from the heart of the accident, take temporary shelter in the back bedroom of Nyles house. The back bedroom is the dying room: It took her mother when Nyle was six; it stole away her grandfather just two years ago. Now, Ezra is back there and Nyle doesnt want to open her heart to him. Too many times shes let people in, only to have them desert her. If she lets herself care for Ezra, she knows hell end up leaving her, too.
Review
“Hesse transcends the specific to illuminate universal questions of responsibility, care, and love. . . . Hesse portrays her characters anguish and their growing tenderness with such unwavering clarity and grace that she sustains the tension of her lyrical, understated narrative right to her stunning, beautifully wrought conclusion.”—
Kirkus Reviews, Pointer
“The characters overcome adversity, not through heroic deeds of epic proportions, but through simple acts of kindness. The message is poignant, but not overpowering. Hesse has displayed considerable skill in creating a contemporary tale of hope and love rising, like a phoenix, from destruction and despair.”—School Library Journal, Starred Review
“The authors understated approach heightens the emotional impact of her searching and memorable tale.”—Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
“Hesse in Phoenix Rising deals with the effects of a leak at a nuclear plant, a young girls awakening sexuality, the meaning of friendship, the strength of family ties, and the courage to love—and she does this with a grace and power that could make her novel ‘a favorite with younger teens.”—Voice of Youth Advocates
Synopsis
Thirteen-year-old Nyle learns about relationships and death when 15-year-old Ezra, who was exposed to radiation leaked from a nearby nuclear plant, comes to stay at her grandmother's Vermont farmhouse.
Synopsis
Nyle's life with her grandmother on their Vermont sheep farm advances rhythmically through the seasons until the night of the accident at the Cookshire nuclear power plant. Without warning, Nyle's modest world fills with protective masks, evacuations, contaminated food, disruptions, and mistrust.
Nyle adjusts to the changes. As long as the fallout continues blowing to the East, Nyle, Gran, and the farm can go on. But into this uncertain haven stumble Ezra Trent and his mother, refugees from the heart of the accident, who take temporary shelter in the back bedroom of Nyle's house.
The back bedroom is the dying room: It took her mother when Nyle was six; it stole away her grandfather just two years ago. Now Ezra is back there and Nyle doesn't want to open her heart to him. Too many times she's let people in, only to have them desert her.
Karen Hesse's voice and vision are grounded in truth; she takes on a nearly unharnessable subject, contains it, and makes it resonate with honesty. Part love story, part coming of age, Phoenix Rising is a tour de force by a gifted writer.
Synopsis
An accident at a nuclear power plant ignites a story of loss, love, and courage.
About the Author
Karen Hesse lives with her husband in Brattleboro, Vermont, less than twenty miles from an active nuclear power plant. After watching a television documentary on Chernobyl, she could not shake the images of nuclear disaster and its consequences. “I began to wonder how a radioactive leak would affect my family, my neighbors, our relationships with each other and with the rest of the world,” Ms. Hesse says. These disquieting reflections—and a great deal of research—culminated in Phoenix Rising. Ms. Hesse is also the author of Letters from Rifka, winner of the Christopher Medal, the National Jewish Book Award, an ALA Notable Book, and an ALA Best Book for Young Adults. Some of her other books for young readers include Wish on a Unicorn, Lavender, and Sable. Her newest book, Brooklyn Bridge was published by Feiwel and Friends in Fall 2008.