The Fall of Alice K.

Gr 11 Up—In Alice's Dutch Calvinist community in Iowa, many family farms are collapsing and being displaced by corporate agribusiness conglomerates. A high school senior, Alice is an excellent student who's looking forward to college. Yet her family's farm is failing; she has a troubled relationship with her emotionally disturbed mother, who is obsessed with the oncoming Y2K apocalypse; and her parents are making plans to send her special-needs sister away. Alice defies her family by befriending and becoming romantically involved with Nickson Vang, a Hmong immigrant who has recently moved to the area. A large part of the novel depicts Alice's thoughts and perceptions; rather than being driven by action and dialogue, it is an introspective, contemplative exploration of the impact of socioeconomic and political change; cultures in conflict; and the concepts of faith, sin, and guilt. The narrative is that of an adult looking back at adolescence, viewing it through the hindsight of adult sensibilities. Heynen's novel provides a unique glimpse into a way of life that has rarely been explored in literature. However, although the narrative revolves around a teen protagonist, this title will probably be of very limited interest to teens and would have better circulation in adult collections.—Francesca Burgess, Brooklyn Public Library, NY