ITW Thriller Award Finalist
"As in French’s other books, she treats her working-class characters with compassion but not preciousness, with a third-person narration that shows the complications of small-town life without exploiting it for drama.”—The Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
"Paced with the smoothness of flowing maple sugar, this book is to be savored."—SLJ
"As ever, French weaves her storylines deftly…By the time a thriller plot kicks in, readers will be thoroughly embedded."—Kirkus Reviews
"At turns lyrical and stark, Sugaring Off is a foray into the wilderness of New Hampshire’s mountains, a sensitive portrait of coming of age in rural America, and a spine-tingling thriller. Gillian French, like Delia Owens and Kristin Hannah, weaves her characters and the natural world they inhabit together masterfully."—Cameron Kelly Rosenblum, author of The Stepping Off Place, a Kirkus Best Book of 2020
"A work of great beauty. Part mystery, part a story of love and loss, it’s all heart."—Betty Culley, award-winning author of Three Things I Know Are True
12/01/2022
Gr 9 Up—Growing up in an isolated, small town is difficult at best, but for 17-year-old Owl, partially deaf as the result of her father's abuse, it is the haven she needed to find safety and love. Adopted by her uncle Seth and his wife, Holly, Owl has healed with stories from Holly's Passamaquoddy culture and Seth's steady hand as they go about the business of farming maple syrup. Seth hires the grandson of their neighbor; Cody is the product of serial foster homes and is resistant to kindness, but Owl is charmed by his city ways and his pleasure in discovering the wilderness. As they work together, he slowly opens up to Owl and they begin a friendship that turns to more. Owl often feels at odds, not quite at home in either the deaf or hearing world. With the help of her deaf instructor, she begins to accept herself. When Cody's past comes to claim him, Owl intervenes to help, placing herself and her loved ones in danger. Paced with the smoothness of flowing maple sugar, this book is to be savored. Each word has been chosen to describe the seasons both outside, and within each character. Themes of both sexuality and violence are included, but are relevant to the story. Holly begins to face her own disconnect of living between two worlds—her white home and the Passamaquoddy family she left long ago—and sets the stage to help Owl take her own first steps toward healing with her father. VERDICT Recommended. Give to students who ponder, who like their action-adventure to be served with a careful build-up and on-the-edge-of-your-seat wilderness action.—Connie Williams
Caitlin Davies will have listeners savoring the details of a peaceful New Hampshire maple sugar farm, where 17-year-old Owl, who is partially deaf, lives with her adoptive aunt and uncle. Davies interjects tension and fear when Cody, a neighbor's son, appears suddenly and startlingly to help with the sugaring. A letter from Owl's father that announces his release from prison also heightens her alertness. Davies's renditions of dialogue are emotionally strong as she delivers the protective comfort of Owl's loving uncle, the brusqueness of Cody, and, later, his tenderness. Near the end, a murder occurs, and the audiobook spikes with new drama. Tension mounts with Davies's portrayal of a merciless villain. Themes of first love, treacherous personal histories, and broken trust are tightly woven. S.W. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
Caitlin Davies will have listeners savoring the details of a peaceful New Hampshire maple sugar farm, where 17-year-old Owl, who is partially deaf, lives with her adoptive aunt and uncle. Davies interjects tension and fear when Cody, a neighbor's son, appears suddenly and startlingly to help with the sugaring. A letter from Owl's father that announces his release from prison also heightens her alertness. Davies's renditions of dialogue are emotionally strong as she delivers the protective comfort of Owl's loving uncle, the brusqueness of Cody, and, later, his tenderness. Near the end, a murder occurs, and the audiobook spikes with new drama. Tension mounts with Davies's portrayal of a merciless villain. Themes of first love, treacherous personal histories, and broken trust are tightly woven. S.W. © AudioFile 2023, Portland, Maine
2022-08-31
As she did with Grit (2017), French embeds a mystery within a coming-of-age tale set against an unromanticized agricultural New England backdrop.
Owl, a 17-year-old White girl, lives on New Hampshire’s remote Waits Mountain, where she helps her uncle tend the family maple-sugar operation. At her tiny K-12 school she endures twice-a-week sessions with Ms. Z, the district’s teacher for the Deaf. Owl’s been partially deaf since she was 7, when her brute of a father hurled her down the stairs—an act that sent him to prison—but she’s more adept at reading lips than signing. Just as the sap begins to run in February, two intrusions threaten Owl’s hard-won serenity: the arrivals of a letter from her father announcing his release and Cody, a neighbor’s troubled, estranged grandson, who’ll help with the sugaring. As ever, French weaves her storylines deftly. Owl finds herself attracted to Cody, whose difficult childhood in the foster system could have been hers but for her aunt and uncle; she also begins to warm to both Ms. Z and even possibly the idea of finding a Deaf community. Owl’s Passamaquoddy aunt’s conflicted relationship with her family of origin and distance from her tribe offers measured counterpoint. By the time a thriller plot kicks in, readers will be thoroughly embedded. Most characters present White; a neighboring Houlton Maliseet family provides thoughtful representation of an Indigenous experience different from Owl’s aunt’s.
Bracing as a late-winter morning. (Fiction. 14-18)
