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Surrender | Sonya Hartnett

Rating:

Gabriel is dying. Only 20, he feels too young to go, and is torn at time between wanting it simpley to be over, and wanting to stay. He spends his days in bed, remembering his past, the childhood that led him to where he is.

Gabriel had a lonely life. His parents were known as “kooksville,” and seemed to want little to do with their children. Vernon, Gabriel’s older brother, was an invalid, who tired his mother constantly. Gabriel was left worried about him at all times, until the fateful day that took him from them.

Gabriel’s only friend, a wild boy called Finnigan, is a secret. They’ve sworn a pact–Gabriel will be all things good, Finnigan all things bad. Not long after, the town starts falling victim to fires. Not until it’s been years, with the crimes unsolved, does Finnigan relent, claiming it doesn’t matter anymore.

Gabriel’s other companion comes as a surprise. His father is talked into adopting a dog. Surrender. But Surrender spends too much time with Finnigan, and begins to run wild. Eventually, a local farmer shows up claiming he shot him while he was attacking his goats. Gabriel’s father assures him that if they find the dog wounded, it will be finished. Gabriel runs away, unable to bear the thought of having to kill his pet.

His last ray of hope comes in the form of Evangeline. Not a friend in public or school, but kind enough to him on their walks and in their random meetings. Fleeting as they are, to him they seem eternal. When Finnigan demands he give her up, he becomes distraught. He races to her house, where a party is in full-swing, to warn her.

When the party sounds begin to falter he becomes agitated and frightened, sure it’s Finnigan come for her. Imagine his shock when he finds his mother standing framed in Evangeline’s doorway, come to take him home.

There is little in the past to comfort him, as he remembers. He spends his time hoping futilely that she will come. She never does.

His final visit with Finnigan is where the whole truth comes out, and is largely what left me, when all was said and done, wondering what had just happened.

Confusion aside, this was a really good read. Probably not best suited to younger readers, but highly recommended.

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The Surrender | Sonya Hartnett by Jaemi, unless otherwise expressly stated, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 20th, 2007 at 9:40 am by Jaemi and is filed under Book Review. Find similar posts by selecting and of the following tags: death/loss, family, realistic, ya fiction. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.