JUNE 2018 - AudioFile
Based on a true story and read by skilled narrator Xe Sands, this coming-of-age novel commemorates Italian painter Artemisia Gentileschi. Early on, Sands entwines notes of patience and wistfulness into Artemisia’s voice as the girl spends her days studying her father’s trade and reminiscing about her mother’s empowering bedtime tales. Listeners will quickly be swept away by the steady rhythm of Sands’s words as she reveals Artemisia’s life through captivating free verse. After Artemisia is raped by her tutor, Sands’s tone shifts from an innocent teen’s to a desperate woman’s, one who is seeking to remedy her brokenness and is determined to not be silenced by shame or society’s view of her. Sands’s extraordinary performance throughout this painful yet victorious story is not to be missed. V.C. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
★ 04/16/2018
McCullough's debut, told primarily in verse, introduces 17-year-old Artemisia Gentileschi, who was in real life a talented young painter during the Italian Baroque period. Grudgingly trained by her father and forced to sign his name to her clearly superior work, Artemisia chafes against the confines of being a woman in a male-dominated world. When an established artist takes an interest in her, Artemisia reaches for the opportunity to improve her craft, but she soon learns that his interest is less than noble and her protestations are no protection. Interspersed throughout Artemisia's story are those of ancient heroines Susanna and Judith, two women who stand against men who covet their bodies and seek to destroy. As Artemisia tries to tell the truths of these women on canvas ("I know/ what it is to be watched,/ to be leered at what it is to be a thing"), she grows into her own power and finds the strength to stand against her own rapist. A haunting, stirring depiction of an unforgettable woman, Artemisia's story will resonate deeply with readers today and beyond. Ages 14–up. Agent: Jim McCarthy, Dystel, Goderich & Bourret. (Mar.)
From the Publisher
"Haunting ... [Blood Water Paint] does not read like historical fiction. It teems with raw emotion, and McCullough deftly captures the experience of learning to behave in a male-driven society and then breaking outside of it."—The New Yorker
"An impassioned, lushly described account of a young woman who refuses to dwell in secret shame. Blood Water Paint fits smoothly into the current conversation surrounding the #MeToo movement."—Chicago Tribune
"Coming out of the novel, I knew I would be haunted and empowered by Artemisia’s story for the rest of my life."—Amanda Lovelace, bestselling author of the princess saves herself in this one
★"McCullough has managed to vividly capture a singularly brave, resilient feminist who became an icon during a time when women had almost no agency. Her story and the stunning verse through which it is told will resonate just as strongly with readers today. A captivating and impressive debut about a timeless heroine." —Booklist, starred review
★"McCullough’s beautifully crafted text will inspire upper-middle/high school readers to research the true story upon which this powerful piece of historical fiction is based. The poetry is clear and revelatory, exploring Artemisia’s passion for both art and life. The expression of her intense feelings is gripping and her complexity of character make her a force to be reckoned with, both in her times and in ours."—SLJ, starred review
★"A haunting, stirring depiction of an unforgettable woman, Artemisia's story will resonate deeply with readers today and beyond."—Publishers Weekly, starred review
★"Luminous."—Shelf Awareness, starred review
"A visceral reminder that women have suffered and stood strong throughout time.”—Mindy McGinnis, award-winning author of The Female of the Species.
"Both a grave reminder of how little has changed and a hopeful testament to how much more we might achieve, McCullough's debut is a must read."—Gae Polisner, author of The Memory of Things
"Blood Water Paint is a deftly layered portrait, at once intimate and universal."—Melanie Crowder, author of Audacity
"McCullough's stunning, immersive debut tells a timely story that's sure to stay with you long after you finish."—Buzzfeed
"Timeless and, alas, all too timely."—Kirkus
"[W]ill resonate with modern feminists."—BookPage
“McCullough’s debut novel is one of a kind. ... [A] truly inspiring and impactful story."—Romatic Times
"Filled with hope and an important message that women’s voices cannot be silenced."—Book Riot
"For lovers of writers like Laurie Halse Anderson and An Na."—Bustle
“A stunning portrait.” –Bitch
“Can be inhaled in a day.” –Paste
“Deeply moving…”—Brit & Co
"This intensely passionate and powerful exploration of women’s lives, stories, truths, and power is a masterpiece." —Teen Librarian Toolbox
Amelia Bloomer Top Ten
Amelia Elizabeth Walden Award Finalist
Booklist Editor's Choice Top of the List
Boston Globe Best Books
Book Page Best of the Year
Bustle Best of the Year
Chicago Public Library Best of the Best
Cooperative Children’s Book Center Choices List
Globe and Mail 100: Favourite Books of the Year
National Book Award Longlist
Pacific Northwest Booksellers Association 2019 Book Award
A Publishers Weekly Flying Start
School Library Journal Best of the Year
Shelf Awareness Best Children's & Teen Books of the Year
Texas Tayshas Reading List
YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults
YALSA Teen's Top Ten Nominee
YALSA William C. Morris Award Finalist
School Library Journal
★ 01/01/2018
Gr 8 Up—Artemisia Gentileschi, 17-year-old daughter of a mediocre Renaissance painter, assists her choleric father Orazio in his studio, mixing colors but, moreso, trying to save face for him by finishing paintings that he is incapable of completing. Remembering the stories of strong biblical women which her now-deceased mother recounted to her—stories meant to strengthen her womanly resolve in a society that valued only men—Artemisia is determined to be the painter her father will never be; thus, when her father hires Agostino Tassi (Tino) to teach her perspective, she is thrilled to have someone who can help her achieve new artistic heights. As she paints Susanna and the Elders, her relationship with Tino changes, and he finally seduces her. At first she is emboldened by his "love," but, when she realizes that he has simply used her, she is determined to bring him to court in an effort to save her honor. Using free verse for Artemisia's words and prose for her mother's stories, McCullough's beautifully crafted text will inspire upper-middle/high school readers to research the true story upon which this powerful piece of historical fiction is based. The poetry is clear and revelatory, exploring Artemisia's passion for both art and life. The expression of her intense feelings is gripping and her complexity of character make her a force to be reckoned with, both in her times and in ours. VERDICT A thrilling portrait of a woman of character who refused to be dismissed; this belongs on every YA shelf.—Nancy Menaldi-Scanlan, formerly at LaSalle Academy, Providence
JUNE 2018 - AudioFile
Based on a true story and read by skilled narrator Xe Sands, this coming-of-age novel commemorates Italian painter Artemisia Gentileschi. Early on, Sands entwines notes of patience and wistfulness into Artemisia’s voice as the girl spends her days studying her father’s trade and reminiscing about her mother’s empowering bedtime tales. Listeners will quickly be swept away by the steady rhythm of Sands’s words as she reveals Artemisia’s life through captivating free verse. After Artemisia is raped by her tutor, Sands’s tone shifts from an innocent teen’s to a desperate woman’s, one who is seeking to remedy her brokenness and is determined to not be silenced by shame or society’s view of her. Sands’s extraordinary performance throughout this painful yet victorious story is not to be missed. V.C. © AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Review
2017-12-06
Baroque artist and feminist icon Artemisia Gentileschi is given voice in a debut verse novel.Only 17, Artemisia is already a more gifted painter than her feckless father. But in 17th-century Rome, the motherless girl is only grudgingly permitted to grind pigment, prepare canvas, and complete commissions under his signature. So when the charming Agostino Tassi becomes her tutor, Artemisia is entranced by the only man to take her work seriously…until he resorts to rape. At first broken in body and spirit, she draws from memories of her mother's stories of the biblical heroines Susanna and Judith the strength to endure and fight back the only way she can. Artemisia tells her story in raw and jagged blank verse, sensory, despairing, and defiant, interspersed with the restrained prose of her mother's subversive tales. Both simmer with impotent rage at the injustices of patriarchal oppression, which in the stories boils over into graphic sexual assault and bloody vengeance. While the poems (wisely) avoid explicitly depicting either Artemisia's rape or subsequent judicial torture, the searing aftermath, physical and mental, is agonizingly portrayed. Yet Artemisia's ferocious passion to express herself in paint still burns most fiercely. Unfortunately, those who lack familiarity with the historical facts or context may emerge from this fire scorched but not enlightened. McCullough's Rome is a white one. A brief note in the backmatter offers sexual-violence resources.Nonetheless, an incandescent retelling both timeless and, alas, all too timely. (afterword) (Historical fiction. 14-adult)
