November 1, 2019
Two white preteens--one nearly homeless, one affluent--connect in San Francisco. Abruptly quitting her Chicago restaurant job, Jeanne Ann's single mom, Joyce, drove the van they now live in to California and parked among the line of vans blocking ocean views for affluent residents, including Cal and his single mom, Lizzie, owner of a trendy vegetarian restaurant. With her prison record and refusal to compromise career goals, Joyce can't find work. When money runs out, Jeanne Ann sells her beloved books. Hunger sets in; the public restroom's cold-water tap serves for bathing. Meanwhile, socially awkward Cal pays a price for painting an unauthorized mural at his private school: working at his mom's restaurant and attending public school. A neighbor, aware that Cal sketches the van dwellers and feeds their meters--helps him slip Jeanne Ann snacks and money. A wary friendship grows. Joyce takes a dishwashing job, Lizzie's chef takes an interest in Jeanne Ann, and some mansion dwellers plot to evict the van-dwellers. Though Jeanne Ann's description of food insecurity is haunting, the rambling, far-fetched plot often resembles a clever, extended elevator pitch. Despite manifestly good intentions, little light is shed on income inequality; events are too unlikely, characters too exceptional for readers to recognize or identify with. While "good" adults are interchangeable paragons of quirky wisdom, grumpy-but-interesting Joyce remains frustratingly underdeveloped. Intermittently intriguing, this overlong, high-concept debut mostly plods. (Fiction. 10-14)
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November 25, 2019
Svetcov’s pertinent debut is alternately narrated by two introspective 12-year-olds living radically different lives near San Francisco. Cal and his mother, a successful restaurateur, live in a giant glass “Rubik’s Cube” house overlooking both the Golden Gate Bridge and a row of illegally parked vans. One of those vans belongs to book-obsessed Jeanne Ann and her mother, who journeyed west from Chicago after Jeanne Ann’s mom quit her job as a cook. As the summer progresses, the girl is increasingly concerned that their stuffy orange van has become their new home indefinitely. When Cal knocks on the van to warn of an impending parking ticket, a strained friendship is launched. But despite Jeanne Ann’s myriad difficulties living without an address, she rebukes Cal’s persistent attempts to “rescue” her. She offers honest insight into today’s affordable housing crisis—her independence and keen observations (“Hunger is like a rug burn on the inside”) are communicated frankly. Though the alternating narratives can bog down a lengthy story that feels primarily like Jeanne Ann’s, uplifting final pages and the awkwardly cautious cementing of an unlikely friendship offer a fresh look to an ongoing social issue. Ages 10–14. Agent: Kerry Sparks, Levine Greenberg Rostan.
January 17, 2020
Gr 4-7-It is the summer between sixth and seventh grade when Jeanne Ann's mom spends their savings on an orange van and drives them from Chicago to San Francisco, chasing a job as a cook. But when they get there, they learn the job doesn't exist, so they park on the marina and the van becomes their home. In the beautiful house across the street from their parking spot, 12-year-old Cal's privileged life seems a world away. But well-intentioned Cal, haunted by his failure to help another neighbor experiencing homelessness, is determined to bridge the distance between him and Jeanne Ann. His efforts to befriend prickly, defensive Jeanne Ann proceed in fits and starts as Cal helps her in ways that feel right to him, without fully understanding her circumstances. When the city's aggressive parking enforcement and the Marina Beautification Committee come after the row of parked vans and the community their residents have formed, Cal knows he must help Jeanne Ann-but if Jeanne Ann doesn't want his help? Told in alternating perspectives, this tale offers a timely look at homelessness in California and depicts an unusually complex friendship, but also stumbles significantly along the way. Jeanne Ann's anxiety, confusion, and anger are visceral, but the motivations of other characters are less well developed, particularly the adults experiencing homelessness. Limited information about Jeanne Ann's mother makes her seem irresponsible and erratic for much of the book, and another major character's voluntary homelessness is inadequately explained. Cal's well-intentioned overtures often feel patronizing, and the ending is implausibly optimistic. VERDICT Not recommended for most collections.-Elizabeth Giles, Lubuto Library Partners, Zambia
Copyright 2020 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.
December 1, 2019
Grades 5-8 Initially, 12-year-old Jeanne Ann is excited about road-tripping with her mom from Chicago to San Francisco; however, this is no vacation. Her mother has poured everything they have into this trip, including purchasing an orange van, Carrot, all in the hopes of becoming a chef in California. But not having a job lined up means the pair has no money for food or a place to stay, so Carrot becomes their new home (illegally parked with other homeless individuals near the Golden Gate Bridge), and boredom Jeanne Ann's new companion. Across the street, Cal faces his own issues: he has no friends and is forced to work in his mother's restaurant for the summer, punishment for painting an unauthorized mural at school. Cal watches Jeanne Ann, eventually striking up a friendship with her. In this first novel, Svetcov explores homelessness without it feeling purposeful. Her characters develop gradually, gaining strength in the process. She presents San Francisco as the dichotomy it is?beautiful and expensive, but with its share of societal issues. Quiet, yet absorbing.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)