From School Library Journal Gr 8 Up-An epic tale about grief, loss, and reconciliation. The Dunbar brood has fended for itself ever since their mother died from cancer and their father abandoned them. The five young men lead practically lawless lives in a ramshackle house filled to the brim with dirty dishes and stray animals. Their haphazard existence is interrupted by the return of their estranged father, who hopes to build a stone bridge with the help of his offspring. Clay is the only sibling who agrees to help. This hefty tome jumps across multiple time lines, from their mother's escape from Eastern Europe to her heartbreaking illness and from the father's abandonment to the present day, in which the eldest brother Matthew, now in his 30s, is recording their story on an old typewriter. Heavily influenced by the Homeric poems that the family enjoys, the plot is teeming with metaphors and episodic feats. Clay, the focus of the novel, takes on a mythic sheen in Matthew's recounting that will remind YA fans of Jerry Spinelli's Maniac Magee or Craig Silvey's Jasper Jones. The narrative becomes unwieldy in places because of the evocative prose, and sometimes the family saga is overpowered by various subplots. Even though bits of humor and one-liners leaven the work, the testosterone-infused dialogue may turn off some teens. VERDICT Give this to strong readers who enjoy weighty coming-of-age novels that blur the line between young adult and adult fiction.-Shelley M. Diaz, School Library Journalα(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. Read more Review “This book is a stunner. Devastating, demanding and deeply moving, Bridge of Clay unspools like a kind of magic act in reverse, with feats of narrative legerdemain concealed by misdirection that all make sense only when the elements of the trick are finally laid out.” —Wall Street Journal"Markus Zusak crafts an unforgettable saga." —US Weekly"In a complex narrative that leaps through time and place and across oceans, Zusak paints a vivid portrait of the brothers trying to regain their balance by keeping their family’s story alive." —Time“It blew me away.” —Jodi Picoult, bestselling author of A Spark of Light and Small Great Things “A captivating book with a mighty, fearless heart, BRIDGE OF CLAY is filled with characters to believe in and care about ... achingly moving, delightfully funny, and thoroughly uplifting.” —M. L. Stedman, bestselling author of The Light Between Oceans“If The Book Thief was a novel that allowed Death to steal the show . . . [its] brilliantly illuminated follow-up is affirmatively full of life.” —The Guardian “Warm and heartfelt. . . . This is a tale of love, art and redemption; rowdy and joyous, with flashes of wit and insight, and ultimately moving.” Times of London"With heft and historical scope, Zusak creates a sensitively rendered tale of loss, grief, and guilt’s manifestations." —Publishers Weekly, starred review"[A] gorgeously written novel." —Booklist, starred reviewPraise for The Book Thief by Markus Zusak: #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLERWINNER OF THE NATIONAL JEWISH BOOK AWARDMORE THAN 16 MILLION COPIES SOLD "Brilliant and hugely ambitious." --The New York Times Book Review"Deserves a place on the shelf with the Diary of Anne Frank . . . Poised to become a classic." --USA Today"Absorbing and searing." --Washington Post"Zusak's novel is a major achievement." –People"Zusak doesn't sugarcoat anything, but he makes his ostensibly gloomy subject bearable the same way Kurt Vonnegut did in Slaughterhouse-Five: with grim, darkly consoling humor." –Time Read more See all Editorial Reviews
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