Praise for A Map of the Known World |
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Publishers Weekly (starred review) Family life comes to an abrupt halt for 14-year-old Cora after the death of her older brother, Nate, in a car accident. Dreading her entrance to high school seven months after the event (“If he had still been alive, I might have had a fighting chance at being able to distance myself from him.... Now I'll be the girl whose brother died”) and with her parents lost to their numbing grief, Cora finds sustenance in her passion for maps and mapmaking. A new friend, the encouragement of an art teacher and growing interest in her brother's best friend, Damian, who was in the car when he was killed, all slowly revive her emotional life and self-confidence. Sandell creates a satisfying tension by juxtaposing Cora's grief and anger at her parents with her developing attraction to Damian and her growing sense of possibility about her own future. Sandell's two previous novels were written in verse and, despite occasional emotional editorializing, her fluid phrasing and choice of metaphors give her prose a quiet poetic ambience. Ages 12–up. (Apr.) |
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Romantic Times Rating: 4 1/2 Stars Sandell pens another winner with this beautifully written, poignant story that touches on life and death. It's not a new story, but it's so magically told that it feels--and reads—like a one-of-a-kind original. |
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Katie’s Bookshelf (5 out of 5 stars) katiesbookshelf11.blogspot.com A Map of the Known World told a great story of love and loss. Emotions that this story will evoke in readers range from sadness to frustration to triumph…. Overall, I was very happy with how this story played out. I could relate to Cora's need to get out and see the world and just live because I live in a reeeally small town like she did and sometimes it can be a bit smothering. I fell in love with the characters, especially Helena. We all need someone like her. I recommend this book to anyone who likes traditional YA literature. |
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Kids Lit kidslit.menashalibrary.org Sandell’s writing is quite simply amazing. From the first page, I was thoroughly hooked as she drew me into Cora’s life with poetic grace and unobtrusive style. She writes with a confidence and ease that carries the reader along, sure that there is something worthwhile to discover here. The dialogue is pitch perfect, including the hurtful, hateful fights with her parents that are so raw that the reader almost bleeds. The use of art as a connecting and bridging force is also well done. Not overly played upon, but important and soulful. Cora is a girl worth spending time with, her character deep and fascinating. Highly recommended, this book is beautiful, tense, haunting and glorious all in the same breath. Simply amazing. |
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The Story Siren www.thestorysiren.com A Map of the Known World deals with grief, first love, family, and coming of age…. I suppose you could say this is a story of healing, because ultimately it is. I really enjoyed reading Sandell’s writing. It was simply beautiful, utterly captivating. It was just as expressive as an artist.... her novel was her canvas and her paintbrush her words. Corny, I know, but how can I not reference art when it is so prominently displayed in this novel. Cora’s character unquestionably embodied the awkward transition from middle school to high school. I recall feeling the same awkwardness. And Sandell perfectly captures the emotions of Cora’s despair with her parents and the pain of an ostracized teen, there isn’t anything quite like being ditched by your best friend. The ending was inspiring. While everything wasn’t resolved you can see the start of the process taking shape. Excellent novel, I will most likely continue to pick up Sandell’s novels. |
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5 Minutes for Books www.5minutesforbooks.com A Map of the Known World by Lisa Ann Sandell is a lovely book. It's clean (without so much as one four-letter word), and yet so relevant. I completely related to Cora's uncertainty about where she was going to fit in in high school, the changing face of her family, and the feelings of joy and uncertainty surrounding her first boyfriend. A Map Of The Known World lives up to its title (isn't it just a lovely lyrical title?). It's a good read for young people, 12 and up, as well as adults who enjoy the genre. The story is real and believable, the characters are well-drawn and avoid overly obvious stereotypes, and the writing is beautiful. |
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Katie’s Book Blog (5 stars) katiesbookblog-katie.blogspot.com I fell in love with the book from the very first page. I had never read anything by Lisa Ann Sandell before this and I was just amazed. Sandell brilliantly portrays the grief, love, and hope in Cora's heart. The details used in the book were amazing. Everything was so intricately linked and just seemed to flow off the page. I kept turning the page wanting to know more but never wanting it to end. I would recommend this book to anybody, really. I can't say that it wasn't sad at parts but it was also such a hopeful read it leaves you feeling kind of happy and grateful for the beauty of life. |
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readergirlz readergirlz.blogspot.com A Map of the Known World is a beautiful contribution to YA lit. The inclusion of art as a means to heal and understand is so well done and uplifting. |
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Pop Culture Junkie aleapopculture.blogspot.com A Map of the Known World was a beautiful balance of serious sadness, romance, and art. I often fear "sad" books but I loved the way this one balanced itself out. For every heartbreaking passage there was another about finding a romantic connection, a new friend, or creating a beautiful piece of artwork. It worked really well for me. It was beautiful and I wish I got the opportunity to read about artistic people like the ones in this story more often! A great perspective on a hard topic. |
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Teens Read, Too (Gold Award – 5 out of 5 stars!! Reviewed by YA Booknerd Jennifer Rummel) www.teensreadtoo.com Lisa Ann Sandell writes a breathtakingly beautiful and heart-wrenching novel that will haunt you long after you’re finished. |
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Book Muncher thebookmuncher.blogspot.com Sandell’s writing is so beautiful that I could go on praising it for quite a long time. Her words paint vivid pictures in the reader’s mind, her lyrical prose is like flowing music, her writing is art. |
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Reading Rocks readingrocks4me.blogspot.com The writing is superb, the characters are so real I feel like I know them, the story is beautiful, touching, heartbreaking, and heartwarming. |
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Sharon Loves Books and Cats sharonlovesbooksandcats.blogspot.com This was my first experience with Lisa Ann Sandell’s write and I was extremely impressed. Her style of writing in Map of the Known World is both artistic and poetic. Like the pieces Cora creates , A Map of the Known World truly is a work of art. I loved how played such an important role in Cora’s life. My favorite parts of the book were when Cora was working on her brother’s unfinished sculptures. I also enjoyed reading about her mapmaking. I’ve never really heard of anyone making artist makes like that before and it really fascinated me. The relationship between Cora and Damian was another high point of the book for me. The fact that her family blames Damian for her brother’s death adds a whole lot of drams to their relationship. I was really anxious to see how things were going to work out for them in the end and I wasn’t disappointed. |
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Kidliterate It is hard to do this book justice. It is hard to explain to you with my insufficient words just how magnificently Sandell has crafted this story. When you are in Cora’s house with her family, you are aching for them. With them. Even her simplest words are evocative - when Cora’s father arrives home every night, one of the first aural clues Cora gets to his presence is the clink, clink, clink of three ice cubes as he mixes his first gin and tonic of the night. If this were a fantasy novel you would call what Sandell does “world-building,” but the world she builds could be real. It feels real. She has crafted exquisite internal and external lives for Cora. It is not something many authors are good at. Good is, again, an insufficient word for what Sandell has done here. This is, for me, one of the best novels of the year so far. It is one of the best things I have read in the last several years. I will pass this book on to friends and warn them that they will hurt mightily right along with Cora and her family, but that in the end, her map will guide us to a resolution that is more than satisfying. |
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The Book Muncher I consider A Map of the Known World pretty close to being a masterpiece…. |
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Kirkus Reviews Wise and mature…a satisfying read… |
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ALAN’s Picks, ALAN (The Assembly on Literature for Adolescents) Online Though tragedy and its aftermath are frequent themes in young adult fiction, Map of the Known World is refreshing in its tender, hopeful depiction. Here grief is not the final answer to Nate’s death. It is the question. It asks each character, “Who are you now?” Cora and those around her respond as best they can, though the unflattering answers are often difficult to face. Lyrical and well-paced, A Map of the Known World flows from beginning to end with grace and a little humor, ultimately demonstrating that the redemptive power of love and the connective possibilities of art can transcend death. |
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Miss Print www.missprint.wordpress.com Sandell expertly deals with Cora’s struggles to redefine herself in relation to this tragedy and her broken family…. Cora is also shockingly authentic in both her grief and, I think, in her changing relationships with other characters. I often complain that teen characters are nothing like me or any of the teens I know, but Cora is. Thrown into high school without a map, Cora’s confusion over suddenly being a “real” teenager and having to find new friends will ring true with many readers. |
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Bending Bookshelf www.bendingbookshelf.blogspot.com Beautiful, tender, and oh-so-sad, A Map of the Known World by Lisa Ann Sandell is a story about the healing power of art, the fragility of human beings, the strength of human relationships, and the importance of understanding your known world. I thought it was so lovely and poetic, and while it was dramatic in parts, I felt that the drama here worked. I would highly recommend this book, especially to teen women, and have your tissues handy! |
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Reading Rocks readingrocks4me.blogspot.com The writing is superb, the characters are so real I feel like I know them, the story is beautiful, touching, heartbreaking, and heartwarming. |
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Angieville angieville.blogspot.com Sandell's storytelling is meticulous and genuine. And it was so refreshing to read about an adolescent girl who seems utterly normal, yet so intent on seeing her world clearly. |
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Look at that Book lookatthatbook.blogspot.com The language used throughout this book is a delight to read and has made me seek out other books by Lisa Ann Sandell...I was immediately drawn in to Cora's story and pretty much read the entire book in one sitting I was so captivated. |
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My Favorite Author myfavoriteauthor.blogspot.com The best way to describe this story is poignant and poetic. Lisa Ann Sandell painted a story with her words that was like the art that Cora and Damian create. I was almost crying at the end ... and I don't cry very easily. (This is a good thing, if you are wondering.) This is a beautiful story about grief. But it's also about living and art and family and friends and being connected to other people. The characters were all fantastic. I could really relate to them and understand their actions and emotions. I wanted at times to reach out hug Cora and tell her to hang on and that everything would be okay. I wanted to sit her parents down and tell them that as much as they mourned their son, they still had a daughter who needed them. And I wanted tell Damian that it wasn't his fault that his best friend died. This isn't a book that you open and from the first page you can't get read fast enough to find out what happens next. What this book does, however, is reach out and wrap itself around you so that you are a part of the story and a part of Cora's, Damian's and the Bradley's journey through their grief to the happiness that is waiting for them on the other side. |
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