Glimpse

by Carol Lynch Williams

Overview

In one moment
it is over.
In one moment
it is gone.

The morning grows
thin, grey
and our lives-
how they were-
have vanished.
Our lives have
changed

when I walk in
on Lizzie
my sister
holding a shotgun.

Twelve year old girl Hope's life is turned upside down when her older sister Lizzie becomes an elective mute and is institutionalized after trying to kill herself. Ever since their dad died Hope and Lizzie have relied on each other from a young age. Their mother is a reluctant and unreliable parent at best, who turns tricks to support the family. Throughout the course of this lyrical and heartbreaking narrative readers and Hope discover that the mother is prostituting Lizzie and it’s up to Hope to bring the truth to light to save her sister.

With raw and haunting writing reminiscent of Ellen Hopkins and Elizabeth Scott, Carol Lynch Williams is a promising new YA voice.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781416997306
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books
Publication date:	06/22/2010
Pages:	496
Product dimensions:	7.48(w) x 5.48(h) x 1.54(d)
Lexile:	630L (what's this?)
Age Range:	14 - 17 Years

About the Author

Carol Lynch Williams is a PEN Award–winning author of more than a dozen books and a graduate of the Vermont College MFA program. Carol facilitates the children’s writing conferences at Utah Valley University and Brigham Young University. She lives in Utah with her family. Visit her at CarolLynchWilliams.com.

Read an Excerpt

1.

In one moment

it is over.

In one moment

it is gone.

The morning grows

thin, gray

and our lives—

how they were—

have vanished.

Our lives have

changed

when I walk

in on Lizzie

my sister

holding a shotgun.

She fingers the

trigger.

Looks up.

My sister.

My sister just looks

up at me.

Touching

the trigger

of that gun.

© 2010 Carol Lynch Williams

Editorial Reviews

Williams (The Chosen One) opens her latest novel with a bang--almost. Written in spare yet resonant verse ("Last night/ me and Lizzie/ sit/ in the dark,/ sit on my bed,/ in the quiet of/ night./ We're all grown up,/ I think./ But we are/ having us some/ troubles"), the book is told from the unreliable perspective of 12-year-old Hope, whose 14-year-old sister, Lizzie, threatens to shoot herself on page one. Lizzie is hauled off to a mental hospital, but the reason behind the suicide attempt remains unclear--even to Hope. As the story progresses, clues about the girls' upbringing are revealed in a series of flashbacks. Hope's memories paint a picture of sporadic sisterly bonding (secret club meetings in the attic, lip-synching to Jesus Christ Superstar), while other incidents (their father's death, Lizzie's crying spells, their alcoholic mother's abusive temper and prostitution) hint at a darker reality. Williams's decision to wait until the end to divulge the cause of Lizzie's misery is a gamble, but one that works. The truth-- exposed after Hope reads her sister's diary--is appalling. Ages 12-up. (June)

Publishers Weekly

"Glimpse is a subtle punch in the gut. Williams’ demonstrates how courage, resilience, and love can help young people in the most dire of situations survive. This is a book I will read again and one I will recommend to teachers and to my own students." — Chris Crowe, author, professor at BYU and former ALAN president.



" An edge-of-the-seat thriller written in sharp, glinting shards of words. Held in, held back, whispered and shouted. Fantastic!" — Tim Wynne-Jones, author of the Uninvited

"A brutal, gripping story." —BOOKLIST

"A page-turner for Ellen Hopkins fans."—KIRKUS

"This well-paced, raw novel-in-verse is a worthy purchase, especially for Ellen Hopkins's fans who are looking for another verse novel in which teens overcome dire circumstances."—SCHOOL LIBRARY JOURNAL, August 2010

From the Publisher

Gr 9 Up—Lizzie and Hope learned long ago that they had to watch out for one another. Their neglectful mother, who turns tricks for a living, has left the girls to fend for themselves for nearly as long as they can remember. Yet when Hope walks in on Lizzie and finds her holding a gun, everything changes. After Lizzie is sent to a psych ward, her sister is left to wonder when and why things got so bad. Though Lizzie's terrible secret will be quickly evident to readers, Hope's painful, yet poignant, self-realizations unfold more slowly. This well-paced, raw novel-in-verse is a worthy purchase, especially for Ellen Hopkins's fans who are looking for another verse novel in which teens overcome dire circumstances.—Jill Heritage Maza, Greenwich High School, CT

School Library Journal

From the middle of page one, when Hope walks in on her sister holding a shotgun and "thinking about // leaving" (killing herself), emotional velocity never slows. They've grown up intricately bonded: "It is your job, / Liz, / to take care of your / little sister. // And you, Hope, / Momma said / her finger pointing like / she meant it, / you take care of Lizzie." Momma's harsh (musing that she should've aborted them), money's short and Daddy's dead; but the girls have each other and the freedom to roam around their Florida town, so what's causing this new violent depression that forces Lizzie into hospital lockdown? Despite the close first-person narration, hints emerge before Hope quite comprehends them; readers may envision two possibilities about the nature of Lizzie's trauma, by the time dedicated Hope figures it out. Williams leans hard on her free-verse line breaks for drama ("And I almost / forget / every / awful / thing / in / my / life"), and it works. A page-turner for Ellen Hopkins fans. (Fiction. YA)

Kirkus Reviews