SATA
ENTRY TYPE: new
WORK TITLE: We Regret to Inform You
WORK NOTES:
PSEUDONYM(S): Kaplan, A. E.
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE: https://aekaplan.com
CITY:
STATE: VA
COUNTRY: United States
NATIONALITY: American
LAST VOLUME:
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born in CA.
EDUCATION:College of William and Mary, B.A.; Florida State University, M.L.S.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Writer and statistical programmer.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Ariel Kaplan is a writer. Born in California and raised in Virginia, she studied religion at the College of William and Mary and library science at Florida State University. Before turning her attention to writing fiction, Kaplan worked for many years as a statistical programmer.
In an interview in Happy Ever After, Kaplan talked with Joyce Lamb about her writing habits. She admitted that she is both a planner and a pantser. “I have an outline, but it gets modified almost daily.” In the same interview, Kaplan also discussed how she deals with getting stuck while writing. Kaplan recalled: “For me, getting stuck is a symptom that I’m afraid of writing the wrong thing. So I just write the wrong thing — just whatever’s the first thing that comes to mind, no matter how ridiculous, and once that’s done I can evaluate why it doesn’t work. Once I know why something’s the wrong next step, it’s usually pretty easy to figure out what the right one really is. Of course, sometimes it turns out that the ridiculous idea actually works, too. It’s fun when that happens.”
In 2017 Kaplan published her debut novel, Grendel’s Guide to Love and War. High school student Tom Grendel’s life changes when the Rothgars move into the house next to his. He has had a rough time coping with his father’s ongoing battle with PTSD and the death of his mother. Tom spends the summer before his senior year mowing lawns to earn some money and also talking with the elderly residents in his neighborhood so that their life stories are preserved, at least, in his memory before they pass on. Television reporter Ellen Rothgar—along with her bully son Rex and beautiful daughter Willow—change the dynamic of the neighborhood since most of the other residents are over seventy years old. When Ellen leaves on assignment, Rex throws regular parties that disturb Tom’s father. He responds by taking a temporary assignment in Florida to get away from the noise and avoid confrontation with the new neighbor. Tom, meanwhile, must deal with this nuisance and also Wolf, Rex’s even more aggressive cousin. In their own unique ways, Willow, Rex, and Wolf help Tom to take control of defining his life so that he is comfortable with himself.
Writing in School Library Journal, Ted McCoy pointed out that Kaplan “cleverly” incorporates elements of Beowulf into the story. McCoy concluded that “the allusions never run too deep.” McCoy appended that “those unfamiliar with the classic work won’t miss much.” Reviewing the book in Voice of Youth Advocates, Cynthia Winfield mentioned that the author’s “‘tale of rivalry, romance, and existential angst’ succeeds brilliantly—rather like James Kirkwood’s P.S. Your Cat is Dead (Stein and Day, 1972) did in its day.”
Kaplan published We Regret to Inform You: An Overachiever’s Guide to College Rejection in 2018. Overachieving high schooler Mischa plans to attend a good college on a scholarship after graduating. However, when she receives rejection letters from every college she applied to, she gets worried that her perfectly planned life will be derailed before it even gets started. Mischa enlists help from Ophelia One, a group of girls who are skilled at computer hacking and espionage, to figure out why she is being rejected by the colleges, thinking that someone must be trying to sabotage her chances. The closer she gets to finding out the truth, the more threats she starts to receive.
Writing in Horn Book, Jessica Tackett Macdonald stated: “An overachiever learns there’s more to life than grades: it’s a familiar theme, but one that is buoyed here by thoughtful observations.” “Written with humor and heart,” a contributor to Publishers Weekly pointed out that Kaplan’s “cautionary tale is a reminder that students are more than” test scores and grades. A Kirkus Reviews contributor labeled the novel “a well-written, intricately plotted, and sympathetic portrayal of the pressures that some elite college-bound kids experience during senior year.” In a review in School Library Journal, Lisa Ehrle remarked that “students in the midst of college applications will empathize with Mischa’s stress.” Ehrle cautioned that “the comedy diffuses fairly quickly.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Horn Book, September 1, 2018, Jessica Tackett Macdonald, review of We Regret to Inform You: An Overachiever’s Guide to College Rejection, p. 85.
Kirkus Reviews, June 1, 2018, review of We Regret to Inform You.
Publishers Weekly, June 4, 2018, review of We Regret to Inform You, p. 54.
School Library Journal, March 23, 2017, Ted McCoy, review of Grendel’s Guide to Love and War; May, 2018, Lisa Ehrle, review of We Regret To Inform You, p. 96.
Voice of Youth Advocates, November 20, 2018, Cynthia Winfield, review of Grendel’s Guide to Love and War.
ONLINE
Ariel Kaplan website, https://aekaplan.com (January 1, 2019).
Happy Ever After, https://happyeverafter.usatoday.com/ (August 21, 2018), Joyce Lamb, author interview.
Ariel Kaplan
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Ariel Kaplan
Born
Ariel Erin Kaplan
4 May 1994 (age 24)
Johannesburg, South Africa
Occupation
Actress, singer, dancer
Years active
2002–present
Relatives
Gemma-Ashley Kaplan (sister)
Dena Kaplan (sister)
Website
instagram.com/arielerinkaplan
Ariel Erin Kaplan (born 4 May 1994) is a South African-born Australian actress, singer and dancer. She is known for her roles as Lisa Atwood #2 in the children's series The Saddle Club and Imogen Willis in the Australian soap opera Neighbours.
Contents
1
Early life
2
Career
3
Filmography
4
Awards and nominations
5
References
6
External links
Early life[edit]
Ariel Erin Kaplan was born in South Africa on 4 May 1994.[1][2][3] Kaplan comes from a Jewish family of performers; her father is a musician, her grandfather was an actor and her grandmother was a professional ballerina. Her two older sisters Gemma-Ashley Kaplan and Dena Kaplan are also actresses. Dena Kaplan is best known for her role as Abigail Armstrong on Dance Academy.[4][5] Aside from acting, Kaplan also had extensive training in dancing and singing.[6] She studied various dance styles such as jazz, contemporary, ballet and tap at the Jane Moore Academy of Ballet in Melbourne from 1998 until 2011.[7][8] Kaplan was home schooled through distance education.[5][9]
Career[edit]
As a child, Kaplan appeared in several Australian theatre productions, including Joseph & The Amazing Tech. Dreamcoat, The Sound of Music, Oedipus, Annie and Les Miserables.[7] In 2002–03, she played the role of Florence in IMG's production of Oliver! in both Melbourne and Singapore.[6][7] Between 2003 and 2004, Kaplan had minor roles in sketch comedy shows Skithouse and The Hamish & Andy Show, and appeared in the short film The Mischief Maker.[6][7] In 2005–06, she played the role of Young Nala in Disney Theatrical's production of The Lion King for both the Melbourne and Shanghai seasons.[6][7]
Kaplan's first major television role came in 2007, when she was cast as Lisa Atwood #2 in the third season of The Saddle Club.[10] he third season was filmed from November 2007 to May 2008, and premiered in March 2009.[11][12] Kaplan recorded several songs for the show's accompanying album Best Friends.[6][13] Between 2009 and 2012, she made guest appearances in television shows John Safran's Race Relations and Tangle, and appeared in the theatre production Grey Gardens as Jacqueline Bouvier.[6][7][14]
In February 2013, it was announced that Kaplan had joined the cast of the long-running soap opera Neighbours as Imogen Willis.[15] She won the role after a quick audition process, which included one audition and a screen test with cast members Harley Bonner, Rebekah Elmaloglou and Kip Gamblin.[4] Kaplan made her first screen appearance as Imogen on 20 May 2013.[16] Kaplan left her role as Imogen on 26 April 2016 to pursue other projects.[17]
Filmography[edit]
Film and television
Year
Title
Role
Notes
2003
Skithouse
Barbie Cops girl
2003–04
Bit part
2004
The Hamish & Andy Show
Extra
2004
The Mischief Maker
Sottise
Short film
2009
The Saddle Club
Elizabeth "Lisa" Atwood #2
Season 3
2009
John Safran's Race Relations
Lyla
2011
Shaolin
Shengnan (English dub)[7]
Film
2012
Tangle
School Girl #1
Season 3, episode 2[14]
2012
Odin's Eye
Xiaolong (English dub)[7]
Film
2013–2016
Neighbours
Imogen Willis
Regular role
Awards and nominations[edit]
Year
Award
Category
Work
Result
Ref.
2015
TV Week and Soap Extra #OMGAwards
Best Shock Kiss (Daniel and Imogen)
Neighbours
Nominated
[18]
2015
TV Week and Soap Extra #OMGAwards
Best BFFs (Imogen and Amber)
Neighbours
Nominated
[18]
ARIEL KAPLAN began life as an imperfect baby, matured into an imperfect child, and remains an imperfect adult, though she does occasionally make a perfect chocolate cupcake (the trick, you see, is to leave out the eggs, which interfere with the chocolate flavor). Her first two books, Grendel’s Guide to Love and War and We Regret to Inform You received five starred reviews between them, and were included in best-of-the-year lists from Kirkus and Bank Street, among other honors. She lives in Virginia with her family, where she is always working on her next novel.
Visit her at aekaplan.com
Follow her on Twitter @ae_kaplan
A. E. Kaplan was born in California and raised in Virginia, where she lives to this day. She managed to survive the college admissions process twice in order to receive her BA from the College of William and Mary and her MLS from Florida State University. Nevertheless, she continues to have dreams where she did not graduate and must repeat school from the third grade on as an adult.
Her first book, Grendel's Guide to Love and War, received three starred reviews and was selected as an Indies Introduce book, among other honors. We Regret to Inform You is her second novel.
Visit her at aekaplan.com
Follow her on Twitter @ae_kaplan
Interview: Ariel Kaplan, author of ‘We Regret to Inform You’
By: Joyce Lamb | August 21, 2018 12:01 am
Joyce: Welcome to HEA, Ariel! Please tell us a bit about your new release, We Regret to Inform You.
Ariel: We Regret to Inform You is the story of academic powerhouse Mischa Abramavicius, who is blithely waiting for her college acceptance letters to roll in, only to be blindsided by a slew of rejections … from every school she’s applied to, right down to her safety school. Desperate to find out what’s gone wrong, she enlists the help of her best friend and crush Nate and a group of hacker girls who call themselves the Ophelia Syndicate. Together, they work to figure out if Micha’s transcript was hacked, while alone Mischa struggles to figure out who she is without college on the horizon.
Joyce: Is there anything funny that’s happened to you while doing research for a book?
Ariel: My husband once walked in on me researching sperm banks. I had to talk very, very fast.
Joyce: LOL!!! What do you do when you get stuck?
Ariel: For me, getting stuck is a symptom that I’m afraid of writing the wrong thing. So I just write the wrong thing — just whatever’s the first thing that comes to mind, no matter how ridiculous, and once that’s done I can evaluate why it doesn’t work. Once I know why something’s the wrong next step, it’s usually pretty easy to figure out what the right one really is. Of course, sometimes it turns out that the ridiculous idea actually works, too. It’s fun when that happens.
Joyce: What distracts you the most when you’re trying to write?
Ariel: Illnesses. Car troubles. Politics. Wikipedia. The usual stuff that eats one’s free time.
Joyce: Do you write by the seat of your pants, or do you carefully plot your stories?
Ariel: Both. I have an outline, but it gets modified almost daily. Frequently there are significant plotlines that don’t even occur to me until I’m halfway through a first draft. In the original outline of my first novel, I had a character who dumped the protagonist about 30 pages in and was never heard from again. In the finished book, she’s his love interest all the way through. So I try not to get too attached to an outline; it’s more of a set of loose suggestions than a road map.
Joyce: What’s your favorite snack and/or beverage while you’re writing?
Ariel: A hot drink — preferably caffeinated — and something breakfast-related, since I typically write in the mornings. I eat a lot of oatmeal while I’m writing.
Joyce: Do you have a pet that hangs out with you while you’re working?
Peanut the Emergency Mental Health Cat and pencil thief.
Ariel: I have two — Jiji the Wondercat has been with me for years and likes to sit on the windowsill next to me when I work in my kitchen. Peanut the Emergency Mental Health Cat joined me this winter; I’d just finished the rough draft of We Are the Perfect Girl, and I was rather mentally fried. The pet store near where one of my kids does martial arts hosts rescue cats, and I happened to be there the evening they brought in this little orange girl. I reached out to pet her through the bars right after they’d put her in her cage, and she licked my hand, and now she sleeps next to my head. It’s not so much that she hangs out with me while I’m writing as that she steals the pencils off my desk. Sometimes while I’m using them.
Joyce: What’s your ideal scenery while you’re writing?
Ariel: I like to do my first drafts in cafes — I’m not distracted by family members or things that need to be done in the house, and there’s unlimited coffee made by someone else. My favorite place also plays a lot of Vivaldi, which is pleasant, and I see a lot of the same folks every week who come in to read the paper, and there’s a comfortable familiarity in that.
Joyce: What are three romance novels on your to-be-read list?
Ariel: For adult romance, I’m a sucker for Regencies and their delightfully witty banter, so I’m really looking forward to Tessa Dare’s The Governess Game. For YA, I can’t wait to get to Sandhya Menon’s From Twinkle with Love (I adored When Dimple Met Rishi), and the anthology Meet Cute.
Joyce: What’s coming next?
Ariel: My next book, We Are the Perfect Girl, is coming out in spring 2019 and is a contemporary retelling of Cyrano de Bergerac. It’s about two best friends — one bold and plain, the other introverted and beautiful, who fall in love with the same boy.
Joyce: Do you have anything to add?
Ariel: Thanks for having me on HEA, Joyce!
Joyce: Thanks, Ariel!
About We Regret to Inform You:
When a high achiever is rejected by every Ivy League college—AND her safety school—her life is turned upside down. Fans of Becky Albertalli will appreciate this witty, heartfelt novel that puts college admissions in perspective.
Mischa Abramavicius is a walking, talking, top-scoring, perfectly well-rounded college application in human form. So when she’s rejected not only by the Ivies, but her loathsome safety school, she is shocked and devastated. All the sacrifices her mother made to send her to prep school, the late nights cramming for tests, the blatantly résumé-padding extracurriculars (read: Students for Sober Driving) … all that for nothing.
As Mischa grapples with the prospect of an increasingly uncertain future, she questions how this could have happened in the first place. Is it possible that her transcript was hacked? With the help of her best friend and sometimes crush, Nate, and a group of eccentric techies known as “The Ophelia Syndicate,” Mischa launches an investigation that will shake the quiet community of Blanchard Prep to its stately brick foundations.
In her sophomore novel, Ariel Kaplan cranks the humor to full blast, and takes a serious look at the extreme pressure of college admissions.
Ariel Kaplan (Photo: Kathy Walden Kaplan)
About Ariel
Ariel Kaplan was born in California and raised in Virginia, where she lives to this day. She managed to survive the college admissions process twice in order to receive her BA from the College of William and Mary and her MLS from Florida State University. Nevertheless, she continues to have dreams where she did not graduate and must repeat school from the third grade on as an adult.
Her first book, Grendel’s Guide to Love and War, received three starred reviews and was selected as an Indies Introduce book, among other honors. We Regret to Inform You is her second novel.
Find out more at aekaplan.com.
About
Here are ten things about me:
1) Grendel’s Guide to Love and War was my debut novel, followed by We Regret to Inform You.
2) We Regret to Inform You isn’t a sequel to Grendel, but if you liked Grendel, you will probably like We Regret, too.
3) My third book, We are the Perfect Girl, comes out in May of 2019. I have always been rather fond of May, being a warm-weather person. Like the other two books, it’s a stand-alone novel.
4) My two favorite childhood movies were The Empire Strikes Back and Harvey (the one in which Jimmy Stewart is BFFs with a six-foot-tall invisible rabbit). Probably this is all you really need to know about me.
5) I live in Virginia. I have lived in Virginia for thirty-four years (if you are reading this in 2018). Before that, I lived in California, but not for very long.
6) I studied History and Religious Studies at William & Mary (that is also in Virginia, and this is true whether you are reading this in 2018 or not).
7)I also have a MLS from Florida State, where I had a double-concentration in Youth Services and Reference Services. I have, however, (as of 2018) never worked in an actual library.
8) In between numbers 6 and 7, I worked for several years as a statistical programmer, mostly helping scientists work on a very large cancer screening trial. I’m not a hundred percent sure how I got this job, given #6, but I was actually pretty good at it.
9) I like: cats, books, coffee, tea, young people, old people, and in-between people. Also: folktales, re-imagined folktales, sci-fi tales, fantasy tales, and any other tales that know how to whistle a tune.
10) There should be a tenth thing here, but there isn’t. I’m really sorry about that.
We Regret to Inform You
Jessica Tackett Macdonald
The Horn Book Magazine. 94.5 (September-October 2018): p85.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 The Horn Book, Inc.. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Sources, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.hbook.com/magazine/default.asp
Full Text:
We Regret to Inform You
by Ariel Kaplan
High School Knopf 344 pp. g 8/18 978-1-5247-7370-0 $17.99 Library ed. 978-1-5247-7371-7 $20.99 e-book ed. 978-1-5247-7372-4 $10.99
High school junior Mischa Abramavicius's single, second-generation immigrant mother works hard to pay her prep-school tuition, so Mischa works hard building her resume to get to the Ivy League. Her dreams, however, are thwarted when she's rejected everywhere. Mischa investigates this seeming academic injustice while grappling mightily with the shame of failure. She narrates with a sharp, sarcastic voice that portrays her desperate panic in a humorous and sympathetic light: "My prospects have moved into the sewer ... the sewer's too nice. I need an uglier metaphor ... A septic tank. My future resides in a septic tank. How am I supposed to tell my mother my future is in a septic tank?" Aside from her work ethic, Mischa is a bit of a blank slate, and as she gets to know herself without the pressure of academic achievement, readers get to know her as well. With the help of three hackers who operate under the guise of an all-girls STEM club, Mischa eventually uncovers scandalous administrative application-tampering.
But while she's putting clues together, Mischa tries living a life that really interests her--and honest conversations, kissing her best male friend, and skydiving prove so much more satisfying than passionless striving. An overachiever learns there's more to life than grades: it's a familiar theme, but one that is buoyed here by thoughtful observations on class, ambition, and the value and hazards of education--as well as by an engaging mystery.
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Macdonald, Jessica Tackett. "We Regret to Inform You." The Horn Book Magazine, Sept.-Oct. 2018, p. 85. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A552263151/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=39485573. Accessed 20 Nov. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A552263151
We Regret to Inform You: An Overachiever's Guide to College Rejection
Publishers Weekly. 265.23 (June 4, 2018): p54.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
Full Text:
We Regret to Inform You: An Overachiever's Guide to College Rejection
Ariel Kaplan. Knopf, $17.99 (352p) ISBN 978-1-5247-7370-0
Mischa Abramavicius, 18, is certain that being the best student at exclusive Blanchard High will open doors to a top college and set her on a path toward a better future. Despite her high test scores and a stellar GPA, however, Mischa is rejected from every school that she applies to, including her safety school. Detecting that someone has purposefully derailed her life, Mischa attempts to get help from her school's dean and college counselor. When no help is forthcoming, she teams up with a group of girl hackers, who call themselves the Ophelias, to find out who might be cruel enough to act against her. In her sophomore effort, Kaplan (Grendel's Guide to Love and War) takes on the highly stressful world of college admissions. Written with humor and heart, her cautionary tale is a reminder that students are more than their GPA and test scores--or, as one Ophelia puts it, "That avatar is not you." Ages 12-up. Agent: Hannah Bowman, Liza Dawson Assoc. (Aug.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"We Regret to Inform You: An Overachiever's Guide to College Rejection." Publishers Weekly, 4 June 2018, p. 54. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A542242926/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=a7bda8c9. Accessed 20 Nov. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A542242926
Kaplan, Ariel: WE REGRET TO INFORM YOU
Kirkus Reviews. (June 1, 2018):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Kirkus Media LLC
http://www.kirkusreviews.com/
Full Text:
Kaplan, Ariel WE REGRET TO INFORM YOU Knopf (Young Adult Fiction) $20.99 8, 21 ISBN: 978-1-5247-7371-7
An entertaining twist on a familiar theme: A high-achieving teen figures out who she really is at heart despite the pressures of the high school rat race.
Mischa Abramavicius, an overachieving private school student and self-described "college-admissions machine," has the shock of her life when she is rejected from every single institution she applies to despite her very strong record. She struggles to hides the truth from everyone--especially her mother, whose single, working-mom status differentiates Mischa, who is on scholarship, from her wealthier classmates. But when she discovers that her application was tampered with, she joins forces with her best friend, Nate Miller, and a group of hacker misfits--Emily Sreenivasan, Bebe Tandoh, and Shira Gastman--to investigate further. Their explosive discovery necessitates some hard decisions, but Mischa comes through in the end. Along the way she learns things about herself and who she really is beyond "College Applicant Mischa." While Mischa's insights seem pat at times, the fast-paced plot with its well-crafted climax is full of enough surprise twists to keep the suspense and interest high. Mischa is white and Jewish, and with the exception of Bebe, who goes to visit relatives in Ghana every summer, surnames are the primary indicator of diversity.
A well-written, intricately plotted, and sympathetic portrayal of the pressures that some elite college-bound kids experience during senior year. (Fiction. 14-adult)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Kaplan, Ariel: WE REGRET TO INFORM YOU." Kirkus Reviews, 1 June 2018. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A540723230/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=4a6f9c39. Accessed 20 Nov. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A540723230
KAPLAN, Ariel. We Regret To Inform You
Lisa Ehrle
School Library Journal. 64.5 (May 2018): p96.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2018 Library Journals, LLC. A wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
http://www.schoollibraryjournal.com/
Full Text:
KAPLAN, Ariel. We Regret To Inform You. 352p. Knopf. Aug. 2018. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9781524773700.
Gr 9 Up--A humorous beginning turns spy thriller as Mischa and her high school friends delve into the mystery of her unanimous college rejection. Mischa seems to have it all planned: attend a private school on scholarship, join every club, have stellar test scores, get into a great college. When rejection letters arrive not only from her reach schools, but also from her safety school, panic sets in. Something is definitely wrong. With the help of Ophelia One--a group of girls dedicated to spying and hacking--Mischa discovers that someone is truly out to get her. Shady Instagram posts appear on her account and threats are made demanding that she back off. When it seems as if it's all too much and she's ready to give up, Mischa discovers a disturbing fact. Not only were her scores and recommendation letters doctored to look bad, her boyfriend's scores and 16 others' scores were doctored to look good. Sell this book as a mystery thriller not as humor, as the comedy diffuses fairly quickly. Students in the midst of college applications will empathize with Mischa's stress. VERDICT Purchase for medium to large collections.--Lisa Ehrle, Falcon Creek Middle School, CO
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
Ehrle, Lisa. "KAPLAN, Ariel. We Regret To Inform You." School Library Journal, May 2018, p. 96. General OneFile, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A536988040/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=ITOF&xid=a7722661. Accessed 20 Nov. 2018.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A536988040
Grendel’s Guide to Love and War by A. E. Kaplan Is a Perfect Ten!
Tagged with: book reviews perfect tens
5Q 5P J S
Kaplan, A.E. Grendel’s Guide to Love and War. Knopf/Penguin Random House, 2017. 320p. $17.99. 978-0-399-55554-1.
In this modern-day Beowulf, set in a Virginia retirement mecca where death among the neighbors is usual, the hilariously wry, first-person narrator, Tom Grendel, begins the summer before his senior year. He spends his days mowing lawns for, assisting, and interviewing his elderly neighbors lest their stories become lost. The quiet neighborhood—where Tom, his father, and occasionally his collegiate sister, Zipora or “Zip” were long the only residents under seventy—vanishes after the beloved female couple next door moves to assisted living, and their niece, Ellen Rothgar (television reporter), arrives with two teens: bully Rex and beautiful Willow. Ellen soon leaves on assignment, whereupon Rex institutes nightly loud parties. Major Aaron Grendel, a single parent since his wife died unexpectedly when Tom was nine, who returned from service in Iraq with severe PTSD, cannot handle noise, unruly behavior, or confrontation— and lands himself a temporary assignment in Florida. Tom must outsmart the determined Rex, and later, his even wilder cousin Wolf and restore the neighborhood equilibrium—within two weeks. Aided by his friend Ed Park, and surreptitiously by Willow, Tom’s summer turns increasingly nightmarish.
Grendel’s side-splittingly funny narration asserts itself in the opening pages, challenging readers to maintain classroom or library quiet throughout the novel. Add emotional depth; some profound explorations of death and love; and increasingly bizarre and inventive battles, and Kaplan’s “tale of rivalry, romance, and existential angst” succeeds brilliantly—rather like James Kirkwood’s P.S. Your Cat is Dead (Stein and Day, 1972) did in its day. Librarians and teachers need to buy several copies, read one, and watch this title fly off the shelf.—Cynthia Winfield.
Grendel’s Guide to Love and War by A.E. Kaplan | SLJ Review
by SLJ
Mar 23, 2017 | Filed in Reviews+
KAPLAN, A.E. Grendel’s Guide to Love and War. 320p. ebook available. Knopf. Apr. 2017. Tr $17.99. ISBN 9780399555541.
Gr 8 Up –When the Rothgars move in next door, high schooler Tom Grendel’s summer takes a turn into uncharted territory that proves often terrible, definitely weird, and occasionally wonderful beyond words. He has struggled with the death of his mother and his father’s post-traumatic stress disorder for years; the appearance of the Rothgars, anti–manic pixie dream girl Willow, and inveterate bullies Rex and Wolf in particular push him to more deeply confront love, loss, and what it means to claim one’s self. A well-crafted cast of characters and (mostly) winning humor help carry a narrative that never shies away from a nuanced portrayal of the pains and joys of adolescence and of the ability to find strength in embracing life’s absurdity. Kaplan cleverly sprinkles elements from the Anglo-Saxon epic poem Beowulf throughout, adding a layer that attentive readers might appreciate. The allusions never run too deep, however, and those unfamiliar with the classic work won’t miss much. VERDICT An outstanding YA novel balancing comedy with substantial themes of love, death, and healing.–Ted McCoy, Leeds Elementary and Ryan Road Elementary, MA
This review was published in the School Library Journal March 2017 issue.