Helpful Score: 1
After hearing amazing things about Lisa Ann Sandell's stunning writing, I was more than disappointed in A MAP OF THE KNOWN WORLD. There is wonderful descriptive prose, yes--the kind that makes you want to stop after every period and drink in the sentence you-ve just read, the kind that makes you think, Wow. This is what writing is about.
Unfortunately, this lyrical language is interspersed with really elementary dialogue and predicaments. Cora may be a high school freshman, but high school freshmen do NOT need to sound so whiny, shallow, explosive, and unreasonable. I hardly felt any connection to the characters at all, and instead wanted to smack them on their heads for being so one-dimensional. The story, too, is predictable; you hardly need to read the book in order to know what the ending is.
All in all, A MAP OF THE KNOWN WORLD an admirable attempt at lyrically dealing with the difficult subject of death. However, the lack of connection I felt to the characters undermined the attempt. Read it once to savor the occasional delicious line of prose, but not to feel as if this is a world that you can believe in and empathize with.
Unfortunately, this lyrical language is interspersed with really elementary dialogue and predicaments. Cora may be a high school freshman, but high school freshmen do NOT need to sound so whiny, shallow, explosive, and unreasonable. I hardly felt any connection to the characters at all, and instead wanted to smack them on their heads for being so one-dimensional. The story, too, is predictable; you hardly need to read the book in order to know what the ending is.
All in all, A MAP OF THE KNOWN WORLD an admirable attempt at lyrically dealing with the difficult subject of death. However, the lack of connection I felt to the characters undermined the attempt. Read it once to savor the occasional delicious line of prose, but not to feel as if this is a world that you can believe in and empathize with.
Helpful Score: 1
Reviewed by Jennifer Rummel for TeensReadToo.com
Anger and pain consume Cora; they have since last year when her brother died.
Now her family's broken, barely speaking to each other and barely surviving. Nate's the one who died, but Cora feels the brunt of her parent's disappointment, sadness, and anger.
She's not allowed out after dark, she must come straight home from school, and she can't get into a car without a parent's approval. .
All summer long, she's spent the days inside her room imagining the places in the world she'd rather be, while drawing maps and pictures of her travels. Now she must face reality and start high school.
She doesn't enter as an unknown, but as the sister of her dead brother. Everyone knew Nate, but not everyone liked him.
Cora's just trying to survive, but along the way her heart opens. She talks to her brother's best friend, who was in the car that night, and things change. He shows her a side of her brother she didn't know.
Lisa Ann Sandell writes a breathtakingly beautiful and heart-wrenching novel that will haunt you long after you're finished.
Anger and pain consume Cora; they have since last year when her brother died.
Now her family's broken, barely speaking to each other and barely surviving. Nate's the one who died, but Cora feels the brunt of her parent's disappointment, sadness, and anger.
She's not allowed out after dark, she must come straight home from school, and she can't get into a car without a parent's approval. .
All summer long, she's spent the days inside her room imagining the places in the world she'd rather be, while drawing maps and pictures of her travels. Now she must face reality and start high school.
She doesn't enter as an unknown, but as the sister of her dead brother. Everyone knew Nate, but not everyone liked him.
Cora's just trying to survive, but along the way her heart opens. She talks to her brother's best friend, who was in the car that night, and things change. He shows her a side of her brother she didn't know.
Lisa Ann Sandell writes a breathtakingly beautiful and heart-wrenching novel that will haunt you long after you're finished.
