The Walls Around Us

March 16, 2015
At first glance, Amber and Violet have nothing in common. Amber, imprisoned at Aurora Hills juvenile detention center for her role in the death of her stepfather, spends her days dreaming of the momentary freedom she and the other inmates experienced when a summer storm knocked out power to their cells. Violet, a ballet dancer on her way to Juilliard, has a long, free life ahead of herâwere it not for the guilt drawing her toward Aurora Hills. Their connection comes through a third girl, Ori, who became Amber's new cellmate after the storm, and who was sent to Aurora Hills because of what she did to protect Violet. Suma (17 & Gone) interweaves past and present with a haunting sense of unease, drawing readers onward with well-executed suspense and the compelling voices of her two narrators. The occasional vagaries of the plot are more than redeemed by the strength of the prose, and a startling final twist brings the three girls to a satisfying, if unorthodox, kind of justice. Ages 14âup. Agent: Michael Bourret, Dystel & Goderich Literary Management.

Starred review from September 1, 2015
Gr 9 Up-In alternating narratives that ultimately converge in supernatural ways, two girls share a connection, though, ostensibly, their stories are separated by three years. Violet is an 18-year-old ballet dancer, recently graduated and soon to start at Juilliard. Amber is incarcerated at a juvenile detention center for allegedly killing her abusive stepfather. Tying them together is Orianna, Violet's best friend, who was found guilty of a double murder three years earlier and becomes Amber's cellmate at Aurora Hills. As their stories unfold, listeners learn the truth of what happened the night Orianna was arrested and the grisly tragedy that unfolded at Aurora Hills shortly after she arrived. Dual narrators bring this haunting tale of guilt and innocence to life. Georgia King gives Violet's voice an edge that perfectly conveys the sense of superiority she displays. Sandy Rustin utilizes a more matter-of-fact voice that reflects Amber's observational nature and her tendency to use first-person plural, speaking for the inmates of Aurora Hills as a whole, which, paradoxically, both obscures and foreshadows future events. VERDICT This psychological thriller also explores the rigorous and competitive world of ballet, inequities in the criminal justice system, and life in a juvenile detention center; it is utterly engrossing right up until the shocking conclusion.-"Amanda Raklovits, Champaign Public Library, IL"

Copyright 2015 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from March 1, 2015
Orianna Speerling -- the so-called "Bloody Ballerina" -- is just fifteen when she is convicted of murdering two rival dancers. A month after her sentence begins, all forty-two girls interned at the Aurora Hills Secure Juvenile Detention Center are dead -- victims of an unexplained mass killing. Ori's story is gradually revealed through the eyes of two unreliable narrators. Violet is Ori's affluent best friend, a fellow dancer who knows more about Ori's crime than she'll ever admit -- especially if the truth might jeopardize her future at Juilliard. Amber is an inmate at Aurora Hills who pushes the library cart from cell to cell -- quietly waiting out a long sentence and keeping secrets of her own, such as having visions of girls she's never met. In lyrical, authoritative prose, Suma weaves the disparate lives of these three girls into a single, spellbinding narrative that explores guilt, privilege, and complicity with fearless acuity. Amber's voice is particularly affecting -- she narrates from an eerily omniscient first-person plural perspective that speaks powerfully to the dehumanizing realities of teen imprisonment. The twisting, ghostly tale of Ori's life, death, and redemption is unsettling and entirely engrossing. jessica tackett macdonald

(Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)