Infinite Sky

Gr 7 Up—It's the start of summer and 14-year-old Patrick (aka Trick) arrives with his family in their caravan and illegally camps on the edge of the paddock near Iris's house. The boy and his family are Irish Travelers, and while 13-year-old Iris is intrigued by the visitors, her dad wants them off his land. Her free-spirited, but unhappy mother, left three months earlier to travel around Tunisia in order to find herself, leaving behind a family reeling in her absence. Iris's dad is drinking more and becoming increasingly introverted while Sam, her older brother, has shaved his head and is running with a rough crowd—no longer is he the charming, artistic sibling she has always admired. The narrator has distanced herself from her best friend, Matty, and has taken to wearing clothing her mother left behind, in part because she misses her mother and also because there is no one to do the laundry. While tensions escalate between the two families, Trick and Iris develop a secret friendship which soon blossoms into first love. Tragedy strikes—readers have been forewarned as the opening prologue features the narrator contemplating a coffin—and Iris is forced to confront the confusing intersection of love, loyalty, and culpability. Told in the first person, this is a moving story of a young English girl's coming-of-age. The author hints at larger issues, such as alcoholism and prejudice directed toward the Travelers, but as the story is told through the protagonist's eyes, they are not at the forefront.—Ragan O'Malley, Saint Ann's School, Brooklyn, NY