School Library Connection
Teachers of history, geography, or world cultures could use it to explore intercultural oppression around the world, both historically and in modern times, as well as the beliefs and practices of Buddhism and the worldwide problem of poaching. Counselors might also use this book to inspire discussions with students who have lost a close friend or loved one...Its exotic setting and themes of hope and healing resonate.
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A book readers will not soon (if ever) forget…The World on Either Side is the prime example for other authors to aspire to. The World on Either Side will be a difficult book to put down.
Trilby Kent
"With a compelling voice and eye for evocative detail, Diane Terrana captures the rawness of grief and the dislocation of being a stranger in a strange land. Valentine's journey is part vivid travelogue, part healing odyssey, part high-stakes adventure, astutely narrated and punctuated with poetry, geopolitics and humor. A work of refreshing moral complexity about characters seeking atonement and redemption—and finding the courage it takes to love and to live."
CM: Canadian Review of Materials
Sure to be enjoyed by many kinds of readers. It is at once a thrilling adventure story, a heartbreaking romance, and an engaging current issues exploration. Highly Recommended.
author of The Darkhouse Barbara Radecki
"Air. This exquisite novel will have you gasping for it. Valentine's heartbreak and her desperate race through the jungles of Thailand had me holding my breath, smiling and weeping, despairing and hopeful. The World on Either Side is a heart-pounding journey to healing and love."
School Library Journal
08/02/2019
Gr 8 Up-Sixteen-year-old Valentine has found it extremely difficult to get over the death of her boyfriend Amir, so much so that she refuses to get out of bed, go to school, or see her friends—and she attempts suicide. To help her daughter recover, Valentine's mother forces her to go on a trek through Thailand where she encounters extreme physical danger, makes new friends, begins to love both a boy and a baby elephant, and finds the courage to go on. Set in the area of Thailand that borders Myanmar (Burma), Valentine encounters members of the Karen tribes and learns of the conflict between them and the Myanmar government army that is engaged in a genocidal war. Thereby lies some of the issues of the book. While the research is apparent, the book contains no source notes or acknowledgments. Also, some of the items presented as facts are only partially true. A brief explanation of the conflict as a preface or author's note would have been a nice addition to supplement the narrative and to introduce readers to the conflict that forms one of the main plots of the book. While the novel attempts to put the events into context, it also has such complexity for a fairly short book that the author often defaults to preachiness in order to get her lesson across. The characters are well developed but not always believable. VERDICT While this is an exciting read with a compelling plot, it's not recommended because of its flaws.-Janet Hilbun, University of North Texas, Denton
Kirkus Reviews
2019-06-05
In Terrana's debut, a grieving Toronto teen travels to Thailand for a mountain trek that goes terribly awry.
Valentine is overwhelmed with despair when her boyfriend, Amir, is punched to death at a football game. After Valentine is hospitalized following a drug overdose, her mother, a newly minted Buddhist, takes her on a "shock-treatment" tour of the mountains near the Thai-Myanmar border. Valentine's journey opens her eyes to issues such as the ethical paradoxes of tourism and the atrocities of armed conflict in the region. But her grief is still so raw that she mutilates herself; and Lin, the mahout's helper she's attracted to despite her guilt, is tortured by his own past. A gruesome encounter with elephant poachers separates Valentine and Lin from their party. The two plunge deeper into the jungle to flee the savage hunters and guide an orphaned baby elephant to safety. The visceral first-person narrative moves fluidly between Valentine's harrowing flight, her conflicted relationships with Lin and her mother, and the poetry in which she seeks an answer: Even when besieged by violence and death, can one keep walking toward love and life? The trekkers are assumed white, and Amir is an Arab Canadian Coptic Christian. Other characters are Thai, Burmese, and Karen. Despite her mother's gentle pushback, Valentine and fellow trekkers never fully move past their judgmental reactions to local customs.
An often grim, sometimes lyrical, and ultimately hopeful tale of grief and redemption. (author's note) (Fiction. 14-18)
