Romancing the Dark in the City of Light

Bibliography: Jacobus, A. (2015). Romancing the dark in the city of light. New York, NY: St. Martin's Griffin.

ISBN: 978-1250064431

Genre: realistic fiction/fantasy

Reading Level/Interest Age: 12+/14+

Plot Summary: Summer is an only child. Her father is dead and her mother is preoccupied with her own agenda. But when Summer is kicked out of yet another boarding school, the only option is to join her mother in Paris and attend an international high school. She’s seeing the entire situation not so much as an opportunity to enjoy French culture or develop a bond with her mom, but more to find a boyfriend. Summer is sure that having a boyfriend will help her feel settled and secure. Moony, a guy she meets at school, isn’t exactly her type, but there’s something about him that attracts her. He’s funny and more than that, he seems to like her. Kurt, a guy she keeps running into around town, is dark and alluring and sexy. He’s also dangerous and keeps leaving her in precarious situations. Yet she even when she pushes him away, he keeps returning. Confusion over Moony and Kurt, as well as the pressure to abide by her financial trust’s requirements, drive Summer to drink. She’s no stranger to alcohol and has used it in the past to help take the edge off, but her drinking becomes all encompassing. Moony wants to help her, but she keeps pushing him away too. She’s alone. Except for Kurt. She agrees to go on one final adventure with him, but is it going to give her the security she desperately craves?

Critical Evaluation: Ann Jacobus has a subtle talent for creating beautiful imagery. Through figurative language, she presents the reader with images that are immediately recognizable yet not worn by constant usage. “Shed-sized mausoleums crowd together like bad teeth” (12) provides so much more depth and personality to both the story and the protagonist. Figurative language, regardless of its beauty, isn’t typically how adolescents think, so the third person omniscient perspective works especially well for the book. The reader can hear Summer’s thoughts and feel her emotions as if they were their own, but still have the privilege of enjoying Jacobus’ carefully crafted imagery. Jacobus also did a wonderful job of portraying the black and white attitude of adolescents, giving readers yet another way to bond with the protagonist. Summer, like all adolescents, is still learning to see the many shades of grey in any given situation. “All her feelings seem to have two sides--a hot and a cold. A heads and a tails. A truth and a dare” (220). The story was starting to feel a little bit stale until the plot twist, which grabs the reader’s attention and refuses to let them put down the book until the very end. All in all, a good story, but memorable mostly due to the gorgeous figurative language.

Reader’s Annotation: Summer believes that two things will help her get her life on track: finding a boyfriend and drinking copious amount of vodka. But when neither one helps her find the security she so desperately need, she’s got to decide if has enough strength to find it on her own.

Author Information: Originally from Texas, learned to tap dance at age six and sang off-key in musicals as a teen. She then went on to earn an MFA in Writing for Children and Young Adults from Vermont College of Fine Arts and a BA from Dartmouth College.

She and her family spent many years in the Island Kingdom of Bahrain in the Arabian Gulf and in Paris, France. She now lives in San Francisco where she writes, reads, teaches writing, and volunteers weekly on a suicide crisis line. She volunteers weekly at San Francisco Suicide Prevention, loves Tex-Mex, and believes the world runs on stories.

Curriculum ties: health

Booktalks: darker attractions in major tourist destinations

Challenge issues: suicide, death, drinking

Challenge resources (for usage in a challenge situation):

• Library Selection Policy

• Rationale explaining why the item was chosen for the collection
• Active listening skills
• Awards
• Reconsideration form (as a last resort)
• Illinois Library Association (Banned Books Listings)
• National Council of Teachers of English “Right to Read”
• Positive and negative reviews: expert, parent, student
• ALA Strategies and Tips for Dealing with Challenges to Library Materials
• ALA Bill of Rights on Intellectual Freedom

• Books and other library resources should be provided for the interest, information, and enlightenment of all people of the community the library serves. Materials should not be excluded because of the origin, background, or views of those contributing to their creation.

• Libraries should provide materials and information presenting all points of view on current and historical issues. Materials should not be proscribed or removed because of partisan or doctrinal disapproval.

Reasoning: It’s important to provide books about characters that struggle with a wide variety of issues, including depression and suicidal tendencies. This can provide hope to readers facing similar challenges and give them the much needed support to remember they are not alone. Romancing the Dark in the City of Light aligns with library standards of supporting education and diversity.

References:

¹Romancing the dark in the city of light. (n.d.). Retrieved December 3, 2015, from http://www.amazon.com/Romancing-Dark-City-Light-Novel/dp/1250064430/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1448239013&sr=8-1-fkmr0&keywords=Romancing+the+Night+in+the+City+of+Light

M. (2015, October 15). The Debut Club: An interview with Ann Jacobus, author of ROMANCING THE DARK IN THE CITY OF LIGHT. Retrieved December 3, 2015, from https://thesweetsixteens.wordpress.com/2015/10/20/the-debut-club-an-interview-with-ann-jacobus-author-of-romancing-the-dark-in-the-city-of-light/