SEPTEMBER 2015 - AudioFile
Bahni Turpin’s narration of the author's first YA title begins dreamily, wistfully as Giselle lies alone in a hospital bed, trying to piece together what has occurred. She and her twin sister, Isabelle, were born holding hands, as they were doing in the car just before it crashed. Moments before, the family’s primary concern had been being late to Isabelle’s concert and the parents’ impending separation. Turpin’s voice grows harsh as a demanding sheriff enters the hospital room and posits that the accident may have been deliberate. Turpin provides emotional anchoring as Giselle floats from guilt to comforting memories of her Haitian grandparents’ home, a disjointed history of the twins’ unbreakable bond, and Giselle’s worries about her now twin-less identity. S.W. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
Publishers Weekly
★ 06/08/2015
Giselle, an art lover, and Isabelle, a budding composer, are 16-year-old Haitian-American twins living in Miami. After the SUV carrying the girls and their recently separated parents is hit, Giselle’s world unravels. Danticat (Krik? Krak!) vividly represents the path from shock to healing as Giselle and her parents grapple with Isabelle’s death. When the police start questioning the circumstances of the accident, friends Jean Michel and Tina help Giselle uncover startling details about the driver, a subplot that propels the novel forward with the suggestion that Isabelle’s death was not in vain. Danticat’s gracious and poetic language haunts as Giselle moves through “star-blinding pain,” both physical and emotional, discovering the inner world of her sister and reconciling the guilt she feels at being the surviving twin. With a dynamic family of uncles, aunts, grandparents, and family friends, Giselle creates a bridge for herself, moving from twinned to “untwinned” and to a place where the best of her sister lives on in her. Danticat’s final scenes are at once heartbreaking and uplifting. Ages 12–up. Agent: Nicole Aragi, Aragi Inc. (Sept.)
From the Publisher
Praise for Untwine:NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Literary Work2015 VOYA Magazine Perfect TenCCBC Choices List selectionBank Street College of Education Best Children's Books of the Year, 2016New York Public Library Best Books for Teens selection"I fell in love with Untwine. It's a book I want to give my daughter, my sister, my best friend. Danticat is a master." — Jacqueline Woodson, National Book Award-winning author of Brown Girl Dreaming"A genuinely moving exploration of the pain of separation." — The New York Times Book Review* "Danticat... shines in this young adult novel... A bit mystery, a bit romance... a touch of humor, well-crafted characters and strong writing make this a book to recommend[.]" — School Library Journal, starred review"[T]his tale of grief and resilience should appeal to people who love Danticat's fiction for adults, too[.] Danticat takes several staples of young imaginations (and some old ones, too) — and spins something beautiful yet down to earth out of each one. While Danticat fully grounds Giselle in her identity as a Haitian-American teen in Miami, this gentle young artist could speak to any teen anywhere coping with a major loss." — The Philadelphia Inquirer*"[A]t once heartbreaking and uplifting." — Publishers Weekly, starred review"An honest, endearing exploration of family, grief, and perseverance." — Kirkus Reviews
Library Journal - Audio
05/01/2017
Danticat's first young adult novel, originally published in 2015, features the lush and lyrical prose that is her hallmark. Giselle, the teenage protagonist, is introduced to the audience from her hospital bed, where she is recovering from an unanticipated tragedy. Somewhat insensible to the world, she wonders what is happening to her parents, successful Haitian immigrants who recently announced their separation, and Isabelle, her identical twin, whose hand she has held at every important juncture of their lives, beginning at birth. Giselle's reflections on family, grief, the nature of twinness, the things other than appearance that mark her as similar to Isabelle, and their divergent artistic pursuits—music for Isabelle and visual art for Giselle—are woven with her increasingly greater awareness of the world outside of her hospital bed. Bahni Turpin seamlessly voices the Haitian and American accents of the novel's large cast of characters. VERDICT Although entirely suitable for teenage audiences, this audiobook would be a rich addition to any general fiction collection.—Nicole Williams, New York
School Library Journal
★ 07/01/2015
Gr 7 Up—Identical twins Isabelle and Giselle were born with their fingers entwined and the doctors had to separate them, digit by digit. Now at 16, their parents are separated and considering divorce and the twins are developing their own interests and friends. As the unhappy family is running late to Isabelle's school orchestra concert, the two are once again holding hands when the red minivan hits their SUV. For several days after the accident, the doctors and Aunt Leslie think Giselle is the twin who died and call her Isabelle, and Giselle, trapped in a coma, cannot tell them who she is. Unable to wake up or move, Giselle travels through her memory of friends, family, and mostly of Isabelle as she decides whether to let go of her twin and return to life or to stay in her vegetative state. Waking up, though, only leads to physical pain and grief as she struggles to recover from the accident and her sister's death. Haitian-born Danticat, better known for her adult books, shines in this young adult novel that at times seems to move into the supernatural and mystical before yanking readers back into realism. A bit mystery, a bit romance, even a touch of humor, the strong writing leads readers on a journey through Giselle's past, a journey she must take before she can face the present—and the future without Isabelle. VERDICT Well-crafted characters and strong writing make this a book to recommend, especially for fans of Gayle Forman's If I Stay (Dutton, 2009).—Janet Hilbun, University of North Texas
SEPTEMBER 2015 - AudioFile
Bahni Turpin’s narration of the author's first YA title begins dreamily, wistfully as Giselle lies alone in a hospital bed, trying to piece together what has occurred. She and her twin sister, Isabelle, were born holding hands, as they were doing in the car just before it crashed. Moments before, the family’s primary concern had been being late to Isabelle’s concert and the parents’ impending separation. Turpin’s voice grows harsh as a demanding sheriff enters the hospital room and posits that the accident may have been deliberate. Turpin provides emotional anchoring as Giselle floats from guilt to comforting memories of her Haitian grandparents’ home, a disjointed history of the twins’ unbreakable bond, and Giselle’s worries about her now twin-less identity. S.W. © AudioFile 2015, Portland, Maine
Kirkus Reviews
2015-05-18
Tragedy strikes twin sisters Giselle and Isabelle, and their world is changed forever. Sixteen-year-old Giselle Boyer wakes up in a hospital room unable to speak or move. She recalls an accident while en route to Isabelle's school orchestra concert. Was the accident her fault? And where are her parents, and where is Isabelle? Alternating between periods of awareness and unconsciousness, Giselle begins to piece together what happened to her family. She also conjures memories: of Isabelle, high-spirited, artistic, and brilliant; of their childhood and unbreakable bond; of their parents' troubled marriage; and of blissful summers past spent in their family's native Haiti. As she ponders, Giselle wonders who she is and who she will be without her twin. National Book Award nominee and American Book Award winner Danticat delivers a lyrical, heart-wrenching novel for teens about love (familial and romantic), friendship, and loss that traverses multiple worlds—between life and death, between twins, and between the past and the present. In a lyrical, often wistful first-person narration, Giselle seeks to uncover the forces behind the event that altered her life and the lives of everyone she loves. Her emotional pain is raw, and Danticat presents both it and the lingering physical injuries she and her parents struggle with unflinchingly. An honest, endearing exploration of family, grief, and perseverance. (Fiction. 13-18)
