Because of the Sun by Jenny Torres Sanchez

Abstract

Reviewed by: Because of the Sun by Jenny Torres Sanchez Karen Coats Sanchez, Jenny Torres Because of the Sun. Delacorte, 2017 [272p] Library ed. ISBN 978-0-399-55146-8 $20.99 Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-399-55145-1 $17.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-0-399-55148-2 $10.99 Reviewed from galleys Ad Gr. 9-12 Dani may have had issues with her mother, but she’s still devastated when Mom is killed by a bear while sunbathing in their Florida backyard, and now Dani must move in with a previously unknown aunt in the border town of Columbus, New Mexico. Having read the first few pages of Camus’ The Stranger, Dani seeks the oblivion that Meursault feels under the hot sun and walks until she is dehydrated. A local boy named Paulo rescues her and takes her to his wise and visionary grandmother, the woman who brought him back to life and feeling after the loss of his parents to violence in Mexico. Dani struggles with memories of her mother and visions that the bear is coming after her as well; with the help of her aunt and the stalwart Paulo, who falls in love with Dani’s damage and then with her, Dani eventually heals. Literary allusions and poetic language strain to lift this trauma narrative above its angsty premise; Dani’s feelings may be strong, but the writing doesn’t generate empathy. Often it’s the bear getting in the way; it starts out literal, then Dani imagines it into both a hallucination and a meaningful metaphor of just deserts and generations of abuse, and then it’s literal again when Dani steals the mascot bear head from her high school. The resulting mix of tragedy, symbolism, and absurdity doesn’t quite add up; that said, this does make the hopeful point that surviving a legacy of abuse and unspeakable loss is possible. Copyright © 2017 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois