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Library | Call Number | Status |
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Searching... Monmouth Public Library | YA Fic Cassidy, A. 2007 | Searching... Unknown |
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Summary
Summary
Three children walked away from the cottages on the edge of town toward Berwick Waters. Later that day, only two of them came back. . . .
Alice Tully knows exactly what happened that spring day six years ago, though it's still hard for her to believe it. She'll never be able to forget, even though she's trying to lead a normal life--she has a job, friends, and a boyfriend whom she adores. But Alice's past is dangerous, and violent, and sad . . . and it's about to rip her new life apart.
A gripping and emotionally searing novel by accomplished British author Anne Cassidy, Looking for JJ infuses a terrifying subject with humanity and hope.
Author Notes
Anne Cassidy started writing 15 years ago and is a well known author of several novels for teens, including Looking for JJ, Missing Judy, Talking to Strangers, Tough Love, and Birthday Blues. Looking for JJ was shortlisted for bot the Whitbread award and the Carnegie Medal and won the Booktrust Teenage Book Award in 2004.
Reviews (4)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 9 Up-Seventeen-year-old Alice Tully is finally starting to feel comfortable. She has a boyfriend, a job, a place to live with a kindly woman, and plans to attend college. But things haven't always been so peaceful for her-in fact, Alice hasn't always been Alice. Six years before, her name was Jennifer Jones, and she lived an itinerant lifestyle with her beautiful, flighty mother, a sometimes model. Dumped for months at a time with her dour Gran, Jennifer idolized the woman who left her emotionally deserted. With men constantly coming and going from their home, the girl also suspected that the unpleasant rumors about Mum might be true. She struggled with a rage that she could neither control nor understand, until the day that rage exploded, leaving a young playmate dead. Now released from prison with a new identity, Alice is ready to start over, but painful reminders of the past, and constant media attention rehashing JJ's crime and raising concerns about her whereabouts, refuse to disappear. Cassidy's novel is a page-turning thriller with a fine ear for the emotional lives of its characters. Alice, in particular, is a complex and well-drawn figure, whose childhood pain and desire to remake herself in a new life invite sympathy even as she struggles to understand the motives behind her horrific crime. Crisply plotted and smoothly written, this gripping book is sure to hold teens' attention.-Meredith Robbins, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis High School, New York City (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
British novelist Cassidy's well-crafted tale of crime and punishment delves into the mind of a child killer and explores the path she takes once she repays her debt to society. Jennifer Jones, nicknamed JJ, never knew her father and was repeatedly emotionally abused and abandoned by her mother. One hot morning, when she is 10, she takes a walk to a nearby reservoir with two friends and returns hours later, leaving one friend behind forever. After spending six years in custody, Jennifer is released, given an alias and helped to forge a new life, but her past stands resolutely in her way. The story unfolds in present time with flashbacks blended seamlessly into the narrative, neatly fueling the growing suspense. When the full details of the murder are revealed, the moment is shocking in its simplicity. Cassidy consistently demonstrates that the abuse inflicted upon Jennifer during her childhood has left her detached, incapable of experiencing a range of emotions and doubting herself deserving of happiness and love. While psychologically astute, this portrayal keeps readers at a distance. It falls instead to the novel's structure, with its well-timed revelations, and to a finely tuned story line about the cat-and-mouse-games that the media plays with Jennifer, to hold the audience's interest. Ages 14-up. (Oct.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Kirkus Review
Why would one child kill another? Are such children monsters? What happens to them when they get older? This disturbing British import explores these questions as it alternates between the past and present of a 17-year-old known as Alice Tully. Alice lives a quiet life near London, working at a coffee shop, staying with a social worker and dating a local student. She is actually Jennifer Jones, convicted six years earlier of killing a friend. The story slowly unfolds of her bleak childhood with a neglectful, ultimately abusive, single mother. In the present, Alice struggles to make a fresh start and to avoid newspaper reporters obsessed with Jennifer's parole and secret identity. She longs hopelessly for a sense that her estranged mother loves her, despite a history of betrayals. Cassidy masterfully builds tension and jolts readers with plot twists. She evokes sympathy for a troubled child who becomes a teenager with a grim future and raises questions about who is responsible when a ten-year-old commits a violent crime. Compelling, thought-provoking crime fiction. (Fiction. YA) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
The British tabloids are looking for 17-year-old Jennifer Jones, finally released from prison after serving a sentence for killing a childhood friend. JJ, now called Alice Tully, follows the stories, which cause her to recall the circumstances leading to the crime, even as she tries to evade discovery. Cassidy turns a story that might merely have rehashed headlines into a skillful tale that uses both characters and plot to intrigue readers. She avoids details of prison life, focusing instead on JJ's childhood with her irresponsible mother and her attempt to start life anew. Flashbacks depict Jennifer's slow realization, at age 11, that her mother's modeling career has declined into more sordid work, a discovery that ultimately becomes the catalyst that leads to the murder. Such flashbacks dovetail with Alice's loss of virginity, leaving readers to reflect on multiple losses of innocence, as well as the possibility of redemption. As her world continues to rock, Alice wonders if she deserves to be safe and happy. The ethical issues and solid, suspenseful storytelling provide many discussion possibilities.--Dobrez, Cindy Copyright 2007 Booklist