The Corps of the Bare-Boned Plane by Polly Horvath
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
I'm kind of glad I didn't read this Horvath first, because it's not as well done as a lot of her other novels. I am an uber fan, so I gave it four stars--at this point because I am enjoying figuring out her writerly 'moves'. The problem was that she seemed to be writing this (and the cover illustration didn't help) to be a plot-driven story. But then it seemed like bait and switch into a character-driven story. The loose ends of the plot threads were all tied up in exposition in the last 35-page chapter. Boo.
It was her inimitable style that still kept me charmed all the way through--and her fearless handling of dark human themes. I love her voice, and that she doesn't shy away from it when she thinks the best direction for the story is not pretty. She has a knack for making me want to follow unlikable characters! This is deeply difficult to pull off, and I know she can do it. Yet [b:The Vacation|978795|The Vacation|Polly Horvath|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1316727369s/978795.jpg|963683] was a much better example of her drawing me into identifying with difficult people.
Over time, I've grown to think [a:Polly Horvath|11187|Polly Horvath|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1241013597p2/11187.jpg]does character development in ways that remind me of [a:Donna Tartt|8719|Donna Tartt|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1409871301p2/8719.jpg] or [a:Michael Chabon|2715|Michael Chabon|https://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1345835784p2/2715.jpg]. But she is unique in the children's & YA market!
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