Florida
When Alice is 10, her mother is sent to a psychiatric sanitarium in Florida. With her father's death five years earlier, Alice is essentially an orphan, and she rotates through the homes of relatives in what she calls her "sleep-over life." Sometimes she stays in her grandmother Nonna's home with three floors, eleven baths, and bedrooms galore but little love. Alice's aunt and uncle have two homes, one near Nonna's and one in Tucson, from which Alice is shuffled back and forth with the seasons, her only friends being the family chauffeur and an English teacher who encourages her literary bent. In brief journal-like chapters, Schutt, author ofNightwork(1996), zeroes in on Alice's murky memories as she attempts to establish her identity in the uprooted world she has inherited. The minimalist plot and sometimes nebulous characterizations may put off some readers, but Schutt's perceptive handling of time capsules embedded in Alice's memory, such as her aversion to nursing homes and funerals, marks her as a writer to watch.Deborah DonovanCopyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved--This text refers to theHardcoveredition.