Finn

Finn

Imagine a modern-day retelling of Mark Twain?s classic The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn, with a teenage girl and a very pregnant young Mexican as the main characters. That?s the gist of Matthew Olshan?s brilliant literary debut, Finn: A Novel. The book?s narrator is Chloe Wilder, a quiet girl, part tomboy, part survivor. Rescued from a murderous life with her mother, Chloe lives with her grandparents in the cocoon of a quiet, middle-class neighborhood. For the first time in her life, things are steady, safe?and stifling. Enter Silvia Morales, the grandparents' maid. Silvia is an illegal immigrant, but that?s not her only secret: She?s also pregnant, a transgression that gets her kicked out of the house. Not long after, Chloe is torn from her quiet life too, and forced to live on the run. While Finn is about Chloe and Silvia?s comic mishaps?and their brushes with real danger?on the road, it?s also a dark portrait of modern America, where smug suburbanites live minutes away from the wilderness of inner cities, and once-mighty rivers meander under superhighways. From School Library JournalGr 9 Up-Chloe Wilder lives with her grandparents in a quiet middle-class neighborhood. Some say she is angry, others think of her as quiet, but in reality, she is finally learning to replace some of the demons in her nightmares with a sense of normalcy. She has loving guardians; an eccentric but true friend, Marian; safety; and the friendship of her grandparents' maid, Silvia, an illegal immigrant from Mexico. She almost believes everything is going to be OK when her mother's husband kidnaps her and turns her world into a living nightmare. When her abusive mother forces her to help rob her grandparents, Chloe stages her own death with an explosive fire. Then she and a very pregnant Silvia embark on an adventure similar to that of Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn. As they attempt to get to California, they drive in circles, run across tricksters, and end up in the dangerous projects. Stereotypes of ethnic, religious, and racial groups abound; some fit in the context of Chloe's observations of her surroundings, while others are left for readers to ponder their purpose. The book is written in short chapters that will appeal to reluctant readers. Chloe is a spirited, resourceful, observant, and humorous heroine who will keep readers interested until the end, when things are wrapped up neatly, but believably.-Lynn Bryant, formerly at Navarre High School, FLCopyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.ReviewA novel to ponder and discuss. --Kliatt, March 2001Chloe is a spirited, resourceful, observant, and humorous heroine who will keep readers interested until the end... --School Library Journal, April 2001Like Huck?s journey, Chloe?s is both a multilayered story of personal growth and an entertaining, provocative satire... --Booklist, Starred review, April 1, 2001Young readers will admire Chloe, who overcomes adversity and is clever, perceptive, and vulnerable... funny, pathetic, and engrossing. --VOYA, April 2001About the AuthorAuthor Matthew Olshan was educated at Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and Oxford Universities. He is a freelance writer and producer. A native of Washington, DC, he lives in Baltimore, Maryland with his wife and daughter."Finn: a novel" is his first published work of fiction.