Silent Echoes

March 1, 2007
Gr 9 Up-Part problem novel, part historical fantasy, "Echoes" jumps back and forth between 19th-century New York City and the present. In 1882, Lucy, 16, has been forced by her father to act as a medium in sham sé ances for the wealthy. Much to her surprise, at her first session she hears the voice of Lindsay, whom she assumes is a spirit. In the present day, Lindsay feels trapped by her alcoholic mother and abusive stepfather. She hides in her closet to avoid their fighting and is surprised when Lucy answers her cries for help. Lindsay gradually discovers that they hear one another only when they are in the same place in their respective times. Eventually the girls unravel the reasons they are able to converse across time, and each one helps the other out of a no-win situation. Lucy can understand Lindsay's use of slang a little too easily, and occasionally it's difficult to accept the plot gyrations by which the two main characters manage to find themselves in the same setting; but it's all good fun, and if readers leave more knowledgeable about the early women's movement in the United States, all the better. Prostitution and the fight to get women ready access to birth control are both discussed. This novel will appeal to fans of Libba Bray's "A Great and Terrible Beauty" (Delacorte, 2003)."Kristin Anderson, Columbus Metropolitan Library System, OH"

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2007
It's 1882, and the Spiritualist movement is at its height. Sixteen-year-old Lucy and her father are doing very well summoning spirits, even gaining entree into the highest levels of New York society. Then, to Lucy's shock, she calls up what seems to be a real spirit-- though as readers will know (since the story is told in alternating chapters), it's Lindsay, a present-day teen. While Lindsay, whose family situation is unsettled, worries that the voice she hears means that she is schizophrenic, Lucy is concerned with her romances and the direction she wants for her life. The story goes on too long, which may be the price for telling two fleshed-out tales, and as with more traditional time-travel stories, the mechanics of how things work out are not always smooth, even though the explanations are reasonable. Readers will appreciate both the characters and the connections they make as Jablonski cleverly twines the girls' lives and makes plausible not only how they have come into contact but also why.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)