Wonderland

December 13, 2010
"Jude. Named after a song in the hope that I'd stand out and shine. But I didn't. Jude the Invisible. Jude the Obscure." British author Nadin's wrenching U.S. debut centers on 16-year-old Jude, a talented actress who feels outcast, alone, and out of place at school and at home, where the presence of her vibrant mother still lingers years after her death. Jude longs for the return of her brash childhood friend, Stella, and soon after, Stella pops back into Jude's life, helping Jude regain her confidence—even taking her place at a crucial acting audition—but also leading her down a path of self-destructive behavior. Observant readers will pick up clues in Nadin's prose that hint at the book's twist ending, but the author skillfully keeps the conclusion from feeling foregone, even with an opening scene that has Jude and Stella in a car about to head over a cliff. Indeed, even those who figure out Stella's secret before Jude does won't be disappointed in their final confrontation, and many will want to reread the book armed with their new knowledge. Ages 14–up.

April 1, 2011

Gr 9 Up-Jude, 16, is ready to get out of her small town near London. Her life is typical of an outcast at the Royal Duchy School and she dreams of being accepted at the Lab in London. She is trying to steer clear of her dad, who is still reeling from the death of her mother. Jude is quiet and hopes to blend into the walls, while her bold and daring grade-school friend, Stella, has just returned to town. She is everything that Jude wishes to be. It's a dangerous friendship for Jude, as they spend the weekends drinking, flirting with guys, having sex, passing out, and cutting school. Jude's dad just doesn't understand the spell that Stella has cast upon his daughter. Just as readers might be getting tired of the duo's antics, they realize that Stella doesn't exist. Jude has a dissociative identity disorder. This is more of a psychological thriller than a book about bad girls. Once they reach this surprising disclosure, teens will think about the book differently and maybe even read it again.-Karen Alexander, Lake Fenton High School, Linden, MI

Copyright 2011 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 15, 2011
Stella first appeared shortly after Jude's mother died. Now that Jude is 16 and eager to escape her small English town and her classmates' torment, her childhood friend is back, "carrying cigarettes and sunglasses and possibility." Jude feels like a faded version of her actress mother, but Stella emboldens her to leave her self-imposed obscurity to audition at a London drama school. Jude wants to be Stella, who speaks in film lines, dresses provocatively and chides Jude for still being a virgin. Jude's internal world is a place of her own invention, where she took refuge after her mother's death. Nadin keeps the first-person narration squarely within this world, deftly weaving together the intricate parts of a psychological puzzle as she slowly reveals the true nature of the girls' relationship. Jude's voice is a blend of biting teen angst and fragile ego. When Stella tells Jude "there is no me without you," Jude is forced to come to grips with her recent gaps in memory and Stella's destructive influence. Teens harboring a secret wish to be anyone other than who they are will identify with Jude's struggle to shrug off her status as a misfit. A promising U.S. debut for teens—here's hoping for more from this British writer. (Fiction. 14 & up)

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

January 1, 2011
Grades 9-12 Tired of being the plain nobody in her small English town, where she is bullied and grieves for her mom, who committed suicide years ago, 16-year-old Jude is thrilled when her childhood best friend, Stella, returns. Stellaglamorous, daring, outrageous, promiscuousis everything Jude wants to be. Stella even has sex with the boyfriend of one of Judes tormentors, and when Jude gets her dream to audition for drama school in London, Stella auditions in Judes name and gets accepted. But with Stella, there is no room for anyone else, and Jude has to give up her kind boyfriend, Ed. Jude wants to be Stellaand that desire is at the core of the identity surprises in the book. Some of the popular culture will date, and in contrast to Stella, Ed is just too perfectly loving and supportive. But the lure of danger will hook readers, and the storys shocking revelations will make them go back to realize what they missed.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2011
Left to her own devices, sixteen-year-old Jude is too insecure to capitalize on her talent as an actress or to accept romantic overtures from her best friend, Ed. When paired with fearless, promiscuous Stella, however, Jude embraces a dangerously reckless persona. A too-convenient ending saps the tension somewhat from this otherwise suspenseful coming-of-age thriller about conflicting impulses and the search for identity.

(Copyright 2011 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)