Jumpstart the World (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Jumpstart the World Karen Coats Hyde, Catherine Ryan. Jumpstart the World. Knopf, 2010. 186p. Library ed. ISBN 978-0-375-96665-1 $19.99 Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-375-86665-4 $16.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-0-375-89677-4 $16.99 Ad Gr. 9-12. Elle's mother's boyfriend has decides he doesn't want a kid around, so now sixteenyear-old Elle is living alone in the apartment her mother has rented for her. Angry at being pushed out, Elle cuts off all her hair, knowing this will infuriate her beauty-obsessed mother. Her act of rebellion gets her labeled as lesbian in her new school, which leads to her being invited into a group of friends who are remarkably accepting of her even when she makes some homophobic gaffes defending her heterosexuality. Meanwhile, she develops a crush on Frank, a gentle man in her new building, despite the fact that he is decades older than she and obviously in love with the woman he lives with. When her new friends inform her that Frank is female-to-male transgendered, she reacts hostilely, but once again, they forgive her prejudices with a sort of patient, understanding weariness. Elle herself is mopey to the point of emo, but her emotional state is linked more to her forlorn crush and the questions it raises about her sexuality than it is to the fact that her mother has utterly rejected her in all ways but financial. Then a terrible tragedy strikes, forcing the characters to come to terms with what's really important and to dutifully learn their lessons about how to live more loving and open-minded lives. Many readers may be stopped by the implausibility of a sixteen-year-old living alone in New York City, or just put off by the constant state of scold that follows Elle's honest reactions to her misunderstandings as well as to being misunderstood, but Hyde's spare, evocative prose almost compensates for her overt purposiveness. Indeed, readers may find this a moving portrayal of people trying to live authentically in a world that seems bent on rejecting them. Copyright © 2011 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois