All That Shines

by Ellen Hagan

Overview

A contemplative novel in verse that questions what it means to lose everything you once treasured and rediscover yourself, falling in love along the way.

Chloe Brooks has only ever known what it's like to have everything. Her parents' wealth and place in society meant she had all she wanted, and friends everywhere she turned. Until it all crashes down: Her father is arrested in the middle of the night, under investigation for fraud.

Bankrupt and facing foreclosure, Chloe must forgo her lavish summer plans as she and her mom are forced to move into one of the rundown apartments they still own, just outside Lexington, Kentucky. Without her riches, Chloe loses her friends, her comfort, her confidence, and her sense of self, unsure of who she is and if she has anything to offer.

Then Chloe's new neighbors, Clint, Skye, James, and Natalia, introduce her to the side of Kentucky she's long ignored. These new friends are the only ones who see her for who she truly is, but will they stay by her side once they discover her family's true identity, or will Chloe lose them, too?

In her signature captivating verse, Ellen Hagan encapsulates the hesitant joy of reshaping your identity and rediscovering yourself.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781547610228
Publisher:	Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date:	09/05/2023
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	304
File size:	5 MB
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Ellen Hagan is a writer, performer, and educator. She is the author of Don't Call Me a Hurricane and Reckless, Glorious, Girl and the coauthor with Renée Watson of Watch Us Rise. Her poetry collections include Blooming Fiascoes, Hemisphere, and Crowned. Her work can be found in ESPN Magazine, She Walks in Beauty, and Southern Sin. Ellen is the Director of the Poetry&Theatre Departments at the DreamYard Project and directs their International Poetry Exchange Program with Japan, South Korea and the Philippines. She co-leads the Alice Hoffman Young Writer's Retreat at Adelphi University. Raised in Kentucky, she now lives in New York City with her family.
www.ellenhagan.com
@ellenhagan

Ellen Hagan is a writer, performer, and educator. Her poetry collections include: Hemisphere and Crowned. Her work can be found in ESPN Magazine, She Walks in Beauty and Southern Sin. She is the recipient of a NoMAA Creative Arts Grant and received grants from the Kentucky Foundation for Women and the Kentucky Governor's School for the Arts. National arts residencies include The Hopscotch House and Louisiana Arts Works. Ellen is the Director of the Poetry&Theatre Departments at the DreamYard Project and directs their International Poetry Exchange Program with Japan, South Korea and the Philippines. She co-leads the Alice Hoffman Young Writer's Retreat at Adelphi University.
www.ellenhagan.com; @ellenhagan

Editorial Reviews

07/10/2023

When 17-year-old Chloe Brooks’s father is arrested on fraud charges, she and her mother move from their elegant Lexington, Ky., mansion to Limestone Apartments, owned by Chloe’s mother. Chloe has never seen the complex, and her mother hasn’t been back in a long time (“This place.../ has been abandoned./ Let go of./ Shutters loose on windows,/ the grass left unmowed,/ nothing blooming or/ growing”). Upon arrival, she meets cheerful Clint, a teenage resident who immediately offers to help the mother-daughter duo settle in. But Clint’s friends are wary (“they should know/ that we are not their staff/ or their servers”), and Chloe’s occasional missteps and classist behavior prompt feelings of shame within her and animosity among the other teens. When the group finds out that Chloe sings and writes music, however, they invite her to participate in their jam sessions, growing closer as a result. While characters often feel stereotypical and some poems are repetitive, Hagan (Don’t Call Me a Hurricane) utilizes sensate verse to summarily cover hefty topics including financial precarity and privilege, as well as adeptly cultivate a sense of place that proves lively and immersive. Protagonists read as white; supporting characters are intersectionally diverse. Ages 13–up. Agent: Rosemary Stimola, Stimola Literary. (Sept.)

Publishers Weekly

If you want to read something that will break your heart with poetry and then make it feel like you're falling in love on the cool bluegrass under a warm Kentucky summer night sky, All That Shines is the book for you.” —Jeff Zentner, award-winning author of THE SERPENT KING and IN THE WILD LIGHT

“In evocative and poignant language, Ellen Hagan captures the beauty of community and the budding aspects of young love with delicate poetry, but it's her gorgeous backdrop of a sprawling Kentucky that truly makes this novel-in-verse stand out. All That Shines delves into the ugliness of privilege and the power of renewal with Kentucky's rich landscape and music as a soundtrack, cementing this novel's place among the classics.” —Lilliam Rivera, author of Pura Belpré Honor book NEVER LOOK BACK

“Hagan (Don't Call Me a Hurricane) utilizes sensate verse to summarily cover hefty topics including financial precarity and privilege, as well as adeptly cultivate a sense of place that proves lively and immersive.” —Publishers Weekly

“Highlighting Chloe's insecurity, shame, and increasing self-awareness, the book elicits readers' empathy as she struggles, learns, and develops a newfound sense of self. A bitter start leads to a sweet conclusion.” —Kirkus Reviews

“When I read Don't Call Me a Hurricane with my niece she said: 'a climate change activist love story in verse?! Yes, please.' We both loved taking this journey with Eliza Marino. It is a salve and good company for all of us grappling with uncertainty as we traverse these challenging times.” —Angie Cruz, award-winning author of DOMINICA, on DON'T CALL ME A HURRICANE

“Urgent and romantic, Don't Call Me a Hurricane beautifully demonstrates the strength of community and the power of love.” —Brandy Colbert, award-winning author of THE VOTING BOOTH, on DON'T CALL ME A HURRICANE

“The way Hagan writes about the land is the way she writes about love—with passion, humanity, and clarity. This book carried me away.” —Olivia A. Cole, author of THE TRUTH ABOUT WHITE LIES, on DON'T CALL ME A HURRICANE

From the Publisher

11/01/2023

Gr 9 Up—The Brooks family has it all; everything money can buy, giving them the perfect lives, especially Chloe, who has always been handed whatever is required to make her dreams a reality. But when it is discovered that her father has been committing fraud, the family loses everything—everything except for the Limestone Apartments, a rundown complex on the wrong side of Lexington, KY. Chloe is sure her life is ending when she and her mom have to move into one of the apartments, but when she meets a group of teens also living there, she begins to learn that money isn't everything and that her new life could be even better than before. This novel-in-verse explores socioeconomic inequality and the way in that money gets tied up in identity. The portrayal of Chloe and her mother struggling to find who they are without the trappings of money and status is honestly depicted, with a lot of tears, backward steps, and effort on their part. Chloe's relationships with the other teens, Clint in particular, is a refreshing change of pace as they are never cold or unwelcoming, even in her snobbiest of moments, while gently shutting down her rudeness and challenging her to be better. An undercurrent of a love for music makes the verse writing a nice fit for this work, though a more lyrical tone throughout would have made the novel stronger. With the exception of one teen living at Limestone who is Mexican, race of all the characters is ambiguous. VERDICT A riches-to-rags story that celebrates the way people shine beneath the artifice of money.—Mariah Smitala

School Library Journal

2023-06-21
“What Money Can Do / Make you feel invincible. // What No Money Can Do / Make you feel invisible.”

As the daughter of one of Lexington, Kentucky’s wealthy families, Chloe Brooks leads a privileged life. As she readies for a summer including a trip to Europe and music camp in Los Angeles, she parties the night away alongside her boyfriend and best friend at an event celebrating her father’s success. The next morning, Chloe’s life is upended as she watches her father’s arrest on fraud charges. She and her mother retreat to Limestone Apartments, a complex on the racially integrated working-class side of town where Chloe’s mother grew up. Long neglected and in disrepair, the complex is their only asset that the state can’t seize since it’s in her mom’s name alone. Chloe’s culture shock is soothed by the camaraderie of the complex’s teen residents, especially the charming optimist Clint Jackson, who shows Chloe that kindness and love don’t cost a thing. Highlighting Chloe’s insecurity, shame, and increasing self-awareness, the book elicits readers’ empathy as she struggles, learns, and develops a newfound sense of self. However, the story sometimes glosses over the harsh realities of poverty and racism, risking making the Limestone community feel like props for Chloe’s growth. The mother-daughter relationship shines brightest, while Clint’s buoyant attitude keeps the tone afloat. Primary characters are cued white; secondary characters are identified as Black, Latine, and queer.

A bitter start leads to a sweet conclusion. (Verse fiction. 12-18)

Kirkus Reviews