The Tightrope Walkers
Dominic Hall is the only child in his working-class, East Anglian family in the 1950s. His best friend is middle class Holly Stroud. The two greatly loved children are both gifted artists. Vincent McAlinden is all tough and rumble, a boy with a harsh life and often feared by other kids. Rich, complex, satisfying storytelling centers on Dom, but follows the fate of all three from childhood through adolescence to young adulthood in the 1960s. Dom’s gift as a writer sets him apart from his parents and others, including the men he eventually works with inside the great tankers being built—men who may not think as deeply as Dom but whose goodness and tenderness shine. The divide is poignant at times, yet Dom knows he is no better than others, just different, and he sometimes wonders, “Why me?” Vincent’s roughness, with vulnerability at its core, turns brutal as he grows, his self-loathing complicated by being gay in a time and place where there are no models or support. And Holly, increasingly haunted by the fate of her mentally ill mother, is determined to pursue rather than stifle her own artistic dreams. Everything feels like a balancing act as Dom and Holly work to meet the future on their own terms, with Vincent a shadow that they can’t shake. A deeply thoughtful, unflinching novel features multidimensional characters who grow and change and challenge at every turn (Vincent is both sympathetic and terrifying, for example), and dizzying, beautiful language ©2015 Cooperative Children's Book Center
CCBC Age Recommendation: Age 15 and older
Age Range:
Grades 9-12 (Age 14 and older)
Format:
Novel
Subjects:
20th Century
Art and Artists
Class Issues
Education
Friendship
Gays
Historical Fiction
LGBTQ+ Persons
Mental Health and Illness
Violence
Work and Labor
Writers and Writing
Diversity subject:
LGBTQ Character/Topic
Physical Disability/Condition
Publisher:
Candlewick
Publish Year: 2015
Pages: 326
ISBN: 9780763673109
CCBC Location: Fiction, Almond