How to Be Luminous

March 15, 2019
An English teen reckons with the loss of her artist mother.Reuter Hapgood (The Square Root of Summer, 2016) serves up an intriguing story of love, loss, and sibling relations. When 17-year-old Minnie Sloe's "disco ball of a mother" vanishes on the last day of the school year, Minnie's world is completely upended as she finds a letter that points to suicide--and literally begins to see in black and white. Minnie and her sisters were raised solely by their mother, who attained artistic superstardom when her debut sculpture won the prestigious Turner Prize. Minnie and her sisters--19-year-old Niko, who's Deaf, and 15-year-old Emmy-Kate--each have strong artistic leanings and have relished their eclectic upbringing, accustomed to their mother's erratic behavior, characterized by Minnie as "sinkholes and starlight" and not a psychological condition that might lead their mother to take her own life. But when she begins to suffer from monochromacy, Minnie begins to question her own sanity and deeply probe her mother's demons in ways that greatly impact her relationships with her sisters, steady boyfriend, and an attractive new guy at school. Bracketed by the loss of a parent and teen romance, this well-wrought narrative excels at normalizing both the throes of artistic expression and the varying dimensions of physical and mental challenges. Minnie and her sisters are white; her boyfriend and his uncle are of Indian descent.A moving tale of grief and self-discovery. (Fiction. 14-18)

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April 1, 2019

Gr 9 Up-Seventeen-year-old Minnie Sloe is struggling: ever since her vivacious artist mother disappeared three months earlier, she's been trapped in a downward spiral of isolation and depression. She's supposed to be finalizing her portfolio for admission to art school next year, but Minnie's grief is so profound that she's lost her inspiration and can't even see in color anymore (the novel features an ongoing poetic list of every color she's "lost"). Minnie's formidable older sister Niko, who's deaf and communicates using British Sign Language, and precocious younger sister Emmy-Kate, both seem to have moved on in life without their mother. Minnie believes that no one understands her despair until she meets Felix, a new boy in her art class at school. Felix is intense and harbors tragic secrets of his own, and as Minnie finds herself drawn to him, she makes a series of self-destructive decisions that will culminate in heartache for everyone she loves. Hapgood's prose is lyrical and inventive as she explores the desolation of mental illness, but the novel's emotional impact is muted by one-dimensional characterization and a too-tidy resolution of Minnie's depressive state. VERDICT Potentially rewarding for mature and patient readers; recommended for fans of the author's previous work.-Kelsy Peterson, Forest Hill College, Melbourne, Australia

Copyright 2019 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2019
Grades 9-12 Minnie's mother, a famous artist, was alternately an exhilarating force and a draining absence in the lives of her three daughters. Middle daughter Minnie found the note the day their mother disappeared, and as the months go by, it looks as if this disappearance will be permanent. Minnie's view of the world is literally bleached of color, and her ability to create artwork vanishes. Truly adrift, Minnie cannot explain the loss to anyone, including her beloved sisters or her kindhearted boyfriend. Indeed, all of them seem to be spiraling away from one another into their own versions of grief. Reuter Hapgood convincingly portrays Minnie's flattened emotions through her wistful recollections of the vanished colors and the effort it takes to care about anything vital. The other sisters are also well developed; older sister Niko, who is deaf, grows tightly angry, while younger sister Emmy-Kate spins into promiscuity. A lovely, sensitive book set in South London that will appeal to fans of character-driven novels with attention to descriptive details, such as Nina LaCour's We Are Okay (2017).(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2019, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2019
After her vivacious artist mother disappears (leaving clues that suggest suicide), Minnie's grief manifests itself as monochromacy--she can only see in black and white. This is devastating for budding artist Minnie, who also can't rely on her two sisters, both of whom seem to have moved on. The resolution is perhaps too tidy, but overall this is a sensitive, vivid portrait of grief and mental illness.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)