Kaleidoscope

August 16, 2021
In a sophisticated, iterative work of connection through time, space, and embodiment, Selznick (The Marvels) layers prose and graphite art to craft a series of stories whose components fragment and repeat. Throughout, biblical and mythological elements—apples and keys, gardens and ships, angels and giants—circle and resolve through text and image. In the book’s initial chapter, “A Trip to the Moon,” the 13-year-old narrator sails “with my friend James past the pillars of Hercules” and into a storm that washes them up on the moon; following 500 years of battle, James is crowned king, and the narrator returns to Earth alone. Subsequent narratives told across the book’s three sections—“morning,” “afternoon,” and “evening”—touch on the presumed-white characters’ relationship via further adventures and frequent rendings that lend a lonely, elegiac feel to the loss-centered text. Delicate pencil interstitials that resemble a kaleidoscope’s mirrored fractals connect the end of each chapter to a lush image at the beginning of the next, creating deliberate beats. Turn by turn, the book offers affecting moments of discovery and loss—like the solitary experience of peering through a kaleidoscope and watching it fracture and change. Ages 10–up.

Starred review from November 1, 2021

Gr 6 Up-Author and artist Selznick delivers big in his ambitious new short story collection. While the page count may be slight in comparison to some of his best-known titles (including The Invention of Hugo Cabret, Wonder), this is by far his most complex work to date. Divided into thirds-Morning, Afternoon, Evening-this book explores the relationship of an unnamed narrator and their companion, James (both characters adhere to the white default). The stories' connections come into sharper focus as the reader moves from Morning to Evening, though a great deal is left entirely open to interpretation. Key themes include friendship, love, grief, dreams, reality, and god-heavy fare for readers both young and old. The stories cover myriad genres, but even as the characters shift and change, "I" and "James" are constants (of a sort). Each story is prefaced by two illustrations: a representational image and a kaleidoscopic abstraction. Selznick has rendered the powerful illustrations in his signature black and white, with rich tonal work and keen details; the book's cover is stunningly executed in colored pencil. VERDICT This title is unique in its appeal and would be a valuable addition to middle grade, young adult, and adult/general interest collections alike.-Taylor Worley, Springfield P.L., OR

Copyright 2021 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from August 15, 2021
In his most complex work to date, Selznick examines the unique realities surrounding love and death. Seeking knowledge of the world on his 13th birthday, the unnamed narrator sets sail with his friend James (both are assumed White). A storm carries them to the Moon, where James brilliantly defends the night and sleep in a battle with the Sun, because "without dreams, everything dies." He is crowned king, and the protagonist wonders how he will live without him back on Earth. Twenty-three more chapters reveal dreamlike (nonlinear, often phantasmagorical) fragments of the boys' relationship, before and after separation/death. Each is introduced by an exquisite, graphite illustration that is preceded by a symmetrical, kaleidoscopic version of the scene: These provide foreshadowing, focus, and an aura of spiritual mystery. Settings involving shattered glass or mysterious forest lights like "the entire world had turned into jewels" further the titular provocation. While the deftly constructed chapters could stand alone, the author plants images--biblical, mythological, scientific, Sendak-ian, and even David Bowie-esque--that shift and reappear: The last view of the apple, served by a dragon, leads the protagonist to ponder a (post-Edenic) life with answers but without wonder. Labyrinths, angels, clocks, butterflies, and clasped hands resurface, prompting contemplation of fear, solace, the fluidity of time, the thrill of connection. How do you find/feel love after death? How do you live with grief? While Selznick trusts readers to draw their own conclusions about what is true, he offers rich companionship on the voyage. (author's note) (Fiction. 11-adult)

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Starred review from August 1, 2021
Grades 5-9 *Starred Review* It should come as no surprise that Selznick has tossed standard storytelling conventions aside in his first collection of short stories, which drift through genre, time, and even space, as the tableaux shift with occasional references to elements from previous stories. What remains consistent is the unnamed boy who narrates, often involving or reflecting upon his best friend, James, who, it becomes clear, has died. The kaleidoscope becomes a perfect, unifying motif for the ever-changing tales and their fragmented beauty, literally implemented in the beautiful graphite illustrations preceding each story: the first being a patterned, abstract image that resolves into a second scene made whole. Readers willing to trust Selznick will be rewarded with a trip to the moon, a friendly giant, an unusual genie, and a tricky dragon, not to mention the simple joys of boyhood. While each story is only a few pages long, Selznick has built dazzling worlds into which readers can momentarily drop. Yet with all the adventures that unfold, the emotions underlying the tales are what elevate them and lend cohesion to the collection. It is marked by the boys' love for one another, their joy in the world's wonders (or those of other realms), and the quiet melancholy of the narrator's grief--all jumbled wonderfully together, reflective of the complexity of life at the edge of childhood.HIGH-DEMAND BACKSTORY: A new book by the beloved creator of The Invention of Hugo Cabret will be celebrated by adults and kids alike, so double that order.

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January 1, 2022
Through an attention-grabbing text and distinctive graphite illustrations, Selznick (The Invention of Hugo Cabret, rev. 3/07; The Marvels, rev. 9/15) presents an enigmatic yet engrossing work. In three sections (Morning, Afternoon, and Evening), but adhering to no formal plot line, Selznick weaves together recurring concepts, themes, and imagery across space and time, with a character named James -- himself ever-changing -- being the most reliable constant. An apple serves as a gift from a young boy to an invisible giant; later, the fruit begins a seventy-five-thousand-page entry in a widower's reference book. Other motifs -- books, spiders, angels, ancient Egypt, shipwrecks, changelings, mythology, keys -- appear intermittently. Each brief chapter is prefaced by an arresting double-page abstraction that resembles the view through a kaleidoscope, followed by a representational image -- literally drawing the reader into the next story. Selznick's text is deeply sensory, tactile, and intimate, with a notable emphasis placed on the importance of human contact ("I wanted to hold those notebooks again because it would be like holding him again"). The appended author's note explains that the work was largely written during pandemic isolation. A sense of closure is implied through the book's three-part structure; however, meaning and interpretation are (perhaps frustratingly for some) left to the individual reader, and likely to evolve upon re-reading. Patrick Gall

(Copyright 2022 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

July 8, 2022

Gr 5 Up-Multiple short stories, surrounded by lush and imagination-stimulating music, will take listeners to varied places, some seeming real, others built from memory and wistfulness. Who is James? Is he real, imaginary, human, or something else? James and the unnamed narrator are bound to one another across time and space in these sometimes interconnected tales. These entries will strike emotional chords in some listeners, perhaps not in others. The combination of the British-accented narration by Gwendoline Christie and the music by Robert Een will foster plenty of mental images as listeners follow along, on a ship, through a garden, into a museum, and through adventures loss and hope. The author's note at the end will help listeners to better understand how and why this collection came about. VERDICT A definite choice for all collections.-John R. Clark

Copyright 2022 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.