03/30/2015
The particular cruelty that can arise in female adolescent friendship is explored in Frankel's engaging but somewhat convoluted debut. Its problem arises from two interesting but complicated stories that vie for the reader's attention. Callie's story is primary—a 13-year-old orphan raised by her mother's best friend, Rebecca. The seemingly carefree girl is suddenly accused of bullying someone in her class, and shortly thereafter Callie's life unravels. Rebecca, über devoted to her charge, can't help but get involved and reflect on her own problematic teen friendships—notably the bond she had with Callie's free-spirited mother, and a debacle with her other close friend Lara, who ended up marrying Rebecca's cousin, Curtis. The contrast between Rebecca inadvertently antagonizing Lara years earlier (she made fun of Lara's stuttering, not knowing Lara was within earshot) and what's now possible in the age of social media is eye-opening, and Frankel perceptively depicts a spiral of brutality that would have been unheard of just a decade ago. But the combination of these story lines results in unnecessary melodrama and undermines the impact of Callie's riveting story. (May)
‘Do you know your children?’ Thus begins Hyacinth Girls, a book with razor-sharp teeth, a pumping heart, and wide-open eyes; a plunge into the secret, murky waters between the bullies and the bullied. In her debut, Lauren Frankel conjures up real girlhood, the kind you don't read about in storybooks: complicated, troubling, and true.”
—Miranda Beverly-Whittemore, New York Times bestselling author of Bittersweet
“Suspenseful and highly thought-provoking, Hyacinth Girls deftly illuminates the potentially harrowing landscape of teenage friendships while lending fresh perspective to the complex issue of bullying.”
—Kimberly McCreight, New York Times bestselling author of Reconstructing Amelia
“Quite the twisty tale.” —New York Daily News
“Disconcerting and suspenseful, Frankel’s debut offers insights into the pressures of adolescence, the cruelty of society—and how little we know our children.”—People
06/01/2015
When we first meet Rebecca Lucas, the naïve yet well-meaning dental hygienist who narrates most of this novel, she has just commissioned a billboard displaying a teenager's face with the question: "Do you know your children?" The teenager is Callie, the daughter of Rebecca's best friend Joyce who was killed when Callie was young. The mystery of Joyce's death, revealed in bits and pieces throughout the story, is connected to a small-town puzzle that Rebecca and Joyce tried to solve themselves when they were teens. The perspective of the story shifts between these flashbacks and the current drama unfolding at Callie's school, where she is accused of bullying—though Rebecca is convinced that Callie and her catty friends are in fact the victims. Callie gets to tell her side of things about halfway through, with details of the heartbreaking cruelty that teenage girls inflict on one another. VERDICT Frankel's debut includes beautiful turns of phrase and poetic language, and although it's a bit predictable, the plot zips along nicely. This could serve as a quick read for fans of literary thrillers or a cautionary tale for parents of teenagers.—Kate Gray, Worcester P.L., MA
10/01/2015
Rebecca, guardian to 13-year-old Callie, has just learned that Callie has bullied Robyn, a girl from school. Certain that Callie would never do such a thing, Callie's friends stand up for her, and the accusation goes nowhere. When Callie herself becomes the target of relentless bullying, it appears to Rebecca that Robyn turned the tables and has become the bully. Rebecca, treading on very unfamiliar ground, is Callie's guardian because her best friend Joyce was killed in an automobile accident. As the first narrator, Rebecca relates the events in Callie's life while seeking to understand how to handle it based on her own childhood relationships with Joyce. Callie doesn't know the real story behind her mother's accident, or of her father's subsequent suicide. This leaves the girl unsure of who she is and whether or not she might become like the imaginary people she believes they were. Teens' interest will pick up when Callie tells her story. Readers need both perspectives in order to understand how Rebecca, through her struggles to understand, keeps missing clues to what is really going on. Fearing for Robyn's life as much as for Callie, Rebecca is determined to make everything all right, but sometimes, others intervene to make decisions for themselves. Teenage friendships, loyalty, and when to stand one's ground is at the heart of this story. VERDICT The race to the suspenseful end will keep readers reading long into the night; the conclusion will inspire much thought.—Connie Williams, Petaluma High School, CA
2015-02-17
When a bully turns into a target, it's hard to know whom to blame. And, as this twisty debut demonstrates, whom to believe.Murder and suicide don't make for an auspicious entrée into motherhood, but that's how Rebecca becomes the caretaker of her late best friend's daughter, Callie, when the girl is only 4. Frankel introduces us to this odd little family nine years later, as teenage Callie's face goes up on a billboard next to a pointed question: "Do you know your children?" The answer isn't a mystery (spoiler: no), but we spend the rest of the book retracing Rebecca's and Callie's steps to find out why not. A lonely dental hygienist with insomnia and an awkward budding romance, Rebecca means well but lacks the intuition to see through Callie's lies about the misery her school life has become. Callie blames Robyn, an unpopular girl in her class, for the trouble Callie and her friends have been getting into. Rebecca's version of support looks like willing gullibility, driven by her insecurity about playing the role of mom: "I had never been a great one at connecting the dots," she tells us, and we soon find out she's not being modest. As she peels away the layers of Callie's story, much of which is revealed through instant messages and texts between the girls, Rebecca discovers that her worst fears about herself and her young charge are depressingly accurate. It seems clear that we ought to root for Rebecca and Callie, but it's much less apparent if their redemption is even an option. Hell hath no misery like a mean girl scorned.
