Jump

Jump, by Elisa Carbone

ISBN 10:  0670011851
New York:  Viking, 2010

Plot - P.K. doesn't like school and sure isn't going to go willingly, or at all she's determined, to the boarding school her parents are trying to ship her off to.  Critter tried to kill himself not long ago, and everyone who has control over him thinks he's crazy--except for his kid sister, Jenna.  P.K. has tried all the ways there are to resist her parents' misplaced, be-a-good-student plans over the years and has come to the point, at 16, when it's just time she took matters into her own hands and run away.  Critter has already run away from the mental institution, knowing for the first time in his life, because he smelled death so close by, that he has nothing to fear, and that what's real is the colors he sees surrounding people, and the space he can see in the fabric of reality.  He is not afriad, and he is free.  P.K. asks her friends at the climbing gym to join her--surely they're ready to go out into the real world of rocks and leave others' expectations behind.  After her friends all offer excuses and refuse, that gorgeous blue-eyed guy who's been bouldering nearby, Critter, as it turns out, is standing before her and says he'll go.  P.K. and Critter head out to Eldorado Canyon in Nevada together, not knowing anything about one another.  They fall in love climbing real boulders and peaks, learn each other's language for living, and stay just a few steps ahead of the cops who are pursuing Critter and P.K.'s parents.  How long will they be free, completely free to discover themselves in the world all depends on how long it takes them to get caught.  Only they can decide what of their adventure will stick and what will fall away.
Critical Evaluation - P.K. and Critter trade off narrating this story, and it's a delightful experience as a reader.  Carbone manages to tell reveal them as individuals in very short bursts that are almost verse-like at times in their limited choice of just the right words.  And at other times, the teen are given the opportunity to fill the reader in on more of what's happening to them, inside and out.  The love story is sweet and the ploy interesting enough to keep the reader's attention even if he or she isn't familiar with the copious amount of climbing lingo.  This is these characters' story, and minor characters are just that.  Scenery and setting is beautiful, but again serves to provide a place for these young people's journey of self discovery.

Reader's annotation - P.K. just ran away with a guy named Critter she met at her favorite climbing gym and they're going to keep going until they just can't anymore.  It will be up to each of them to save or let go of what they find, out alone, together.
Information about the author - On her website, Elisa Carbone tells about the first story she ever wrote, when she was four years old.  She couldn't yet write so she dictated it to her father over the course of a few weeks whenever she could corner him.  After she finished dictating, her mother typed it out and illustrated it for her.  Unfortunately, Carbone didn't return to writing after this auspicious beginning until she was in her 30s.  In those ensuing years, she travelled, played music, danced, taught dance, and learned Italian so she could converse with her cousins in Italy while they stomped grapes, which she reports is a lot harder than it appears to be in movies.  Carbone is an avid wind surfer, climber, and white water kayaker when she's not writing.
Curriculum Ties - Perhaps as an example of dual narrative voices in a creative writing class
Booktalk ideas - 

1. Describe Critter's attitude toward letting go of fear, his philosophy that all we have is now and fear is all about the past and the future.
2. Read the scene where Critter shows up on the scene in the climbing gym beginning with "Pleasure in movement" and finish with "Must think of a better pickup line than 'Um.'"

Reading level -14+  Based on the running away theme and the teens' steamy romance, I would aim this one at the older teen audience.

Challenge issues - running away from home to solve problems; escaping from a mental hospital

Challenge defense ideas:

• Librarian must read the book carefully and include it as a resource intended for older teens.
• Librarian greets students and regularly discusses their reading choices; she provides individualized, age-appropriate guidance in book choice.
• Explain the ways in which the librarian accompanies and guides younger students looking for books, and knows students well as individuals. 

Why I included this book - I included this book most particularly because of Critter's take on fear.  It's a lovely story about love, and it's written very well from both kids' perspectives, but most of all it has a lot to say to readers of all ages about self awareness and the value of being fully alive.