Plot Summary: Elizabeth Clarry is just a regular girl. She's got a dad who lives in Canada who will be living in town for a few months. A mom who's really concerned about her dad who will be living in town for a few months and is very immersed in her VERY IMPORTANT job at an ad agency. She's also got a best friend that is always running off to do something or other, and who's mom thinks it's just an important part of self expression. Also, she's just taken up running and has a new penpal friend who she tells everything to. That last bit comes in especially handy when Celia literally joins the circus and no one will take it seriously, except her new pen pal. Just when it seems that Elizabeth is going to have to rescue Celia all by herself, she gets an unexpected ally. Things just might work out, if she can keep her head above water.
Critical Evaluation: Told completely through letters to and from Elizabeth, this is a fast paced novel that will have you cheering for Elizabeth and wanting to have serious words with a lot of the other characters. As a child of divorced parents Elizabeth has her work cut out for her keeping them both happy, and as a child of divorced parents myself, I appreciated that while there are complications arrising from the marital state of her parents, nothing about the divorce itself in this case makes anyone permanently broken. Moriarty proves in this debut novel that while the law no doubt lost an able mind, the YA world has gained a gem.
Reader's Annotation: So dear reader, Celia's gone again and no one seems that concerned. What do you think, should I give it some time or is it time to panic?
About the Author: Jacyln Moriarty grew up in Sydney, Australia and earned a $1.50 from her dad for each notebook she filled up with words. After thinking about being a flight attendent and an astronaut, she eventually decided she wanted to get into journalism and studied Literature and Law at the University of Sydney. She liked law so much she got her master's in law at Yale and her Ph.D. in law at Cambridge.
After returning to Australia to practice law, she shopped her novel Feeling Sorry for Celia around to many publishers facing rejection after rejection. Finally, she sent the manuscript to an agency where Garth Nix happened to be working and he read her manuscript and found her a publisher. She now lives in Sydney with her son Charlie, and is a full time writer.
Information retreived from http://www.jaclynmoriarty.com/
Genre: Chick Lit
Curriculum Ties: N/A
Booktalking Ideas: Do you have a friend like Celia? Why do you think she keeps running away?
Reading Level: 12+
Interest Age: 14+
Challenge Issues: N/A
Why is This Included: An award winning title from Australian author.
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