A Voice of Her Own

May 1, 2009
Gr 7 Up-Dana writes as if Emily Dickinson were speaking, chronicling her life from age 9 to 24. She fervently considers grave questions of God and death, women's roles, her susceptibility to rampant tuberculosis, and her discovery of the power of words. Meticulously researched, the novel conveys a convincing portrait of this well-brought-up upper-class Amherst girl who became one of America's best poets, and it brings various friends and family membersand petsto life as well. The sense of time and place are spot-on and appealing, evoking vivid images reminiscent of Louisa May Alcott. Unfortunately, there is almost no story line and little sense of structure, making large portions of this tome drag on with repetitive sentiments, none of which are satisfyingly resolved. The result is a title for limited purchase."Rhona Campbell, Washington, DC Public Library"

Copyright 2009 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2009
Grades 8-12 Danas novel Young Joan (1991) envisioned Joan of Arcs youth. This title imagines the life of another famous woman, Emily Dickinson, moving from the poets girlhood into her young-adult life. Dana spent10 years researching this title, and the novels historical and domestic details sometimes threaten to overwhelm the story; indeed, finding drama in such a quiet life is certainly challenging. Dana succeeds by creating a memorable, often vibrant voice in Emilys first-person narration, which incorporates archaic language and lines from Dickinsons poems and journals. Readers may recognize themselves in Emilys initial terror over puberty, her intense friendships, and her curiosity about young men (the Whisker Set), while her ambivalence about marriage (We give our lives to this man, but what of ours?) and her literary aspirations form a strong feminist thread that will also draw YAs. An obvious choice for curriculum support, this heartfelt, exhaustively detailed portrait humanizes the reclusive literary figure and offers an intimate sense of how a poet draws from small moments, gathered on scraps, to create great works.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2009, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2009
Boldly casting Emily as first-person narrator, Dana fashions a voice that presages the poet's works, evoking nineteenth-century prose as challenged by its most free-spirited practitioner. Skillfully, Dana limns the Dickinson family's characters, the quiet events of Emily's childhood and young adulthood, and her inner life. Altogether, a touching, believable overview of the sources of Dickinson's uncompromisingly truthful poetic voice. Reading list.

(Copyright 2009 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

Starred review from May 1, 2009
In 1840, when Emily Dickinson was nine, her family abruptly moved a few blocks from the "Homestead" in Amherst, Massachusetts, where, except for this novel's fifteen-year span, she spent her whole life. Emily found the move traumatic, as she did most changes. Casting Emily as first-person narrator was "bold," as Dana observes, but the choice proves felicitous: the voice she fashions for Emily presages the works we know, judiciously sprinkled with trademark words ("Possibility," "Time," "Self"), laced with the poet's own tart honesty and humor, and evoking nineteenth-century prose as challenged by its most free-spirited practitioner. Skillfully, Dana limns the Dickinsons' characters (Mother "buries herself beneath a cloak of obedience"; autocratic Father's "thoughts are stiff, with many corners") and the quiet events of Emily's childhood and young adulthood (friendships, late-night confidences with brother Austin, bickering with sister Vinnie, wondering about "Whiskers"-i.e., boys). Most significant is Emily's inner life: her growing self-awareness as she spends a homesick yet stimulating year at Mt. Holyoke Seminary; finding a kindred spirit in a man who marries another, then dies (as do many friends, mainly of tuberculosis); an intense intimacy with her sister-in-law-to-be. Altogether, it's a touching, believable overview of the sources of Dickinson's uncompromisingly truthful poetic voice, the pursuit of which would trump all her other relationships and endeavors. For thoughtful readers, a treasure. Notes on the life and the language; further reading.

(Copyright 2009 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)