Tinfoil Crowns

Gr 9 Up—Seventeen-year-old Fit lives for her fans. She hopes her song parodies, her goofy antics, and the trademark tinfoil accessories she wears in her online videos will gain her celebrity status and enough money to escape her small town. Fit and her brother Frankie live with their grandfather; their mother, River, is in jail for attempting to kill them when she was overcome by postpartum psychosis 14 years ago. When River is released from jail and returns to live with them, Fit decides to pursue fame at any cost. This novel explores numerous complex themes, including mental health, sexual identity, and social media as a part of and substitution for meaningful relationships. That these themes are tackled simultaneously is ambitious, but the fact that they are explored subtly, in a well-paced story full of strongly developed, sympathetic characters, is downright impressive. Jones uses third-person narration, limited through either Fit or River. Fit's chapters have an immediacy and frenetic energy reflective of her emotional state. Her feelings of rage ("a drop of lava at the back of her neck") and betrayal overwhelm her and result in violent tantrums and sarcastic posturing. River, full of self-loathing, welcomes Fit's vitriol. She imagines evil living inside her mind as "a small burnt and blistered popcorn kernel" that she can never remove. Both characters feel authentic, the description of their emotional processing giving greater depth and purpose to their actions. As Fit begins to use River to increase her renown, readers may find themselves considering the cost of celebrity and the dark side of social media.