Still Life with Tornado

King, A.S. (2016). Still Life with Tornado. New York, NY: Dutton Books.

Sarah is having an existential crisis at the age of sixteen.  She is an artist, but can no longer create or draw art.  Something happened at school that has made her  incapable of creating art.   She decides to quit school and begins seeing other versions of herself at 10 years old, 23 years  old, and 40 years old around the city she lives in, Philadelphia.  Sarah also begins to follow around a homeless man named Earl.  Earl creates art with chalk and other supplies art students leave for him on the street.  While walking around the streets of Philadelphia, she begins to talk to 10 year old Sarah.  Ten year old Sarah brings back memories of a trip to Mexico six years ago that brings to light a family secret.  Throughout the book, little flashbacks of Sarah's past vacation are intertwined with the present. As the past unfolds, Sarah contacts her brother Bruce, who moved out at age 19, and Sarah has not seen since the Mexico vacation.   Interlaced with the past and present, Sarah's mother, Helen tells her story of a loveless, abusive  marriage she wishes she would have escaped years ago.  As the story progresses with flashbacks of the Mexico trip and present, we learn of the physical and emotional abuse Helen and Bruce endured by Sarah's father Chet, before Sarah was born.  Sarah finally remembers the night from Mexico where Chet punches Bruce and knocks his tooth out.  Bruce comes to see Sarah, and Sarah now knows the family secret of abuse.  When Bruce comes to see his mother, the father begins to tear the house apart, screaming and yelling. Helen has finally asked Chet for a divorce after all the years of abuse.  Sarah is also able to tell Bruce about what happened to her at school and how other students, and possibly her art teacher, destroyed her art piece for the art show.  At the end, Sarah knows her life will go on, and a new, clean slate in life gives her hope.  All of the versions of Sarah help her see that she can go on with her life.   All of the lies and family secrets that were finally revealed to her helps her deal with the loneliness and pain in her life.  Her and her mother have a fresh start in life.

This book addresses the contemporary issue of abusive family relationships. Other YA books that address abusive family relationships are Baygirl by Heather Smith, What She Left Behind by Tracy Bilen, and Dirty Liar by Brian James.  Dirty Liar also has a male protagonist.  All of these books deal with abusive adults and the effect it has on the young adult protagonist's life.  

Connections for young adults: The topics in this book are dysfunctional family relationships and abuse.  We as readers see the impact this has on Sarah's character.  Even though she doesn't know the entire story of her family's past, she emotionally feels the impact and this effects her life.  Young adult readers can learn empathy for others in this story, along with discussing the moral lesson of family violence and emotional abuse.  Teens going through this same type of situation could see themselves in this book.  Seeing Sarah's hope for the future and her fresh start, could give others hope for a better future as well.