Mosquitoland

*Starred Review* As she so often claims, I am Mary Iris Malone and I am not okay. For most of her 16 years, Mim has believed this to be the truth. But after her father and new stepmom conspire to keep her away from her mother, who is struggling to get well in Cleveland, Mim sets out on an odyssey from Mississippi. Arnold populates his debut novel with memorable, inventive characters who keep Mim company and keep the reader invested as the miles count down, such as her unlikely kinship with street kid Walt and the devastatingly handsome Beckett Van Buren. Meanwhile, the twists of Mim's story involving her immediate family are fleshed out through letters she writes in her journal. Arnold boldly tackles mental illness and despair, and sexual assault and sexual identity, without ever once losing the bigheartedness of the story. Arnold gives Mim a worldview that is open and quirky-morphing-into-kitschy, and though some events come off as overly convenient, the honesty always resonates. As Mim reaches Cleveland, and Walt and Beck follow the road to their own destinations, Arnold never lets up on the accelerator of life's hard lessons. In the words of one of Mim's Greyhound seatmates, this has pizzazz lots and lots of it.--Bush, Gail Copyright 2015 Booklist

Newcomer Arnold's protagonist, 16-year-old Mim Malone, is as hold-nothing-back honest as they come, which makes the narrative she provides about her outlandish trek from Mississippi to Cleveland wholly enjoyable. Mim, blind in one eye from a solar eclipse and suffering from a "misplaced epiglottis" that results in unpredictable spells of vomiting, is reeling from her parents' divorce and an unclear psychiatric diagnosis when she is dragged to Mississippi by her father and new stepmother. Determined to get back to her mother, Mim hops a bus to Cleveland, beginning an Odysseus-like adventure that introduces a delightfully eclectic cast of characters, who are made all the more memorable by Mim's descriptions ("I've only known two other Carls in my lifetime-an insurgent moonshiner and a record store owner-both of whom taught me important... life lessons. In my book, Carls are a top-notch species"). There is no shortage of humor in Mim's musings, interspersed with tender scenes and a few heart-pounding surprises. Mim's triumphant evolution is well worth the journey. Ages 12-up. Agent: Daniel Lazar, Writers House. (Mar.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Gr 9 Up-Mary "Mim" Malone, using money from her stepmother's coffee-can savings, defiantly boards a bus from "Mosquitoland" (as she calls Mississippi) to visit her mom in Ohio. A bus wreck, a threatening encounter, a chance meet up under a bridge, a cute boy who makes her heart thump: Mim describes it all. The story skips back and forth in time, and Mim, while unflinchingly honest, sees it from her single point of view. And, she reminds readers, she is currently blind in one eye. Debut author Arnold introduces quirky and mostly believable characters, though a few seem over the top, such as the veterinarian who treats Mim's human companion. Narrator Phoebe Strole manages an array of voices, including Mim's English-accented mother, and Walt, a socially naïve Rubik's cube genius. VERDICT Listeners will appreciate Mim's wisdom, wit, and ability to produce snappy comebacks in awkward situations. Mim's sly, keenly observant narrative will appeal to fans of A.S. King's Glory O'Brien's History of the Future (Little, Brown, 2014) and John Corey Whaley's Noggin (S. & S., 2014).-Maggie Knapp, Trinity Valley School, Fort Worth, TX © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Things are bad enough for sixteen-year-old Mary Iris Malone ("Mim"): her parents have abruptly divorced, and her father and brand-new stepmother, Kathy, have relocated Mim from Ohio to Mississippi. Then Mim's deduction (from stolen letters and overheard conversations) that her mother is ill, added to Dad and Kathy's (unspecified) "BREAKING NEWS," pushes her over the edge, and Mim hops a Greyhound to reunite with her mom in Cleveland. Along her 947-mile journey (counted down in chapter headings), Mim survives a bus crash; has several run-ins with pervy Poncho Man; joins forces with mentally disabled teen Walt and charming college dropout Beck; attends a Cubs game; and much, much more. First-person, episodic chapters relate Mim's wacky road trip. Interspersed flashbacks and letters (addressed to "Isabel") provide context to her current situation, gradually revealing the truth about her mother's illness, the "BREAKING NEWS," the identity of Isabel, and Mim's doubts about her own mental health. Mim's meditations on family -- as she considers the complex, sometimes harsh realities of biological family as well as the possibilities of choosing a family for herself -- sanity, and human nature are a bit over-the-top quirky at times. But her voice is so singular and full of heart that readers will gladly forgive the occasional excesses. katie bircher (c) Copyright 2015. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Encounters both dangerous and wonder-filled with fellow travelers prompt 16-year-old runaway Mim to scrutinize her perceptions about herself, her family and the world she inhabits.Convinced that her father and stepmother are hiding secrets about her mother's health and also frustrated by her father's insistence that she take antipsychotic medication, Mim steals an emergency cash fund to travel 1,000 miles to her mother. Aboard the Greyhound bus, Mim's inner monologues about other passengers reveal her snarky sense of superiority, which is alternately hilarious, cutting and full of bravado. But her self-imposed, disdainful isolation quickly dissolves in the aftermath of a harrowing accident. Completing her journey suddenly necessitates interacting with a motley set of fellow travelers. Mim's father's doubts about the stability of her perceptions feed a continual sense of tension as readers (and Mim herself) attempt to evaluate which of Mim's conclusions about her fellow charactersboth the seemingly charming and seemingly menacingcan be trusted. Arnold pens a stunning debut, showcasing a cast of dynamic characters whose individual struggles are real but not always fully explained, a perfect decision for a book whose timeline is brief. Ultimately, Mim revises moments from her own narrative, offering readers tantalizing glimpses of the adult Mim will eventually become and reminding readers that the end of the novel is not the end of Mim's journeyor her story. Mesmerizing. (Fiction. 14 up) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

*Starred Review* As she so often claims, "I am Mary Iris Malone and I am not okay." For most of her 16 years, Mim has believed this to be the truth. But after her father and new stepmom conspire to keep her away from her mother, who is struggling to get well in Cleveland, Mim sets out on an odyssey from Mississippi. Arnold populates his debut novel with memorable, inventive characters who keep Mim company and keep the reader invested as the miles count down, such as her unlikely kinship with street kid Walt and the devastatingly handsome Beckett Van Buren. Meanwhile, the twists of Mim's story involving her immediate family are fleshed out through letters she writes in her journal. Arnold boldly tackles mental illness and despair, and sexual assault and sexual identity, without ever once losing the bigheartedness of the story. Arnold gives Mim a worldview that is open and quirky-morphing-into-kitschy, and though some events come off as overly convenient, the honesty always resonates. As Mim reaches Cleveland, and Walt and Beck follow the road to their own destinations, Arnold never lets up on the accelerator of life's hard lessons. In the words of one of Mim's Greyhound seatmates, this has pizzazz—lots and lots of it. Copyright 2014 Booklist Reviews.

In this unforgettable production, memorable characters make a quixotic journey by bus and car. Sixteen-year-old Mim Malone runs away from her small town in Mississippi, or "Mosquitoland." Her uncommunicative mom is in Cleveland, her dad has remarried, and all the overly medicated and miserable young girl wants to do is go back to life before it all went wrong. In her 947-mile odyssey, Mim meets a gruff bus driver, a sweet old lady, a pedophile, a knife-wielding teenager, an obese and daiquiri-swilling gas mechanic, and two real friends—Walt, who has Down syndrome, and the gorgeous Beck, who opens her heart and journeys with her to discover the sad truth about her mother. Strole's narration re-creates the diverse cast. The book is at times funny and at times deeply moving, and Strole invests each character with truth—good and evil all mixed up come out in her voice as she brings Mim home in a road trip that will break the listener's heart. Grades 8-12. Copyright 2019 Booklist Reviews.

Newcomer Arnold's protagonist, 16-year-old Mim Malone, is as hold-nothing-back honest as they come, which makes the narrative she provides about her outlandish trek from Mississippi to Cleveland wholly enjoyable. Mim, blind in one eye from a solar eclipse and suffering from a "misplaced epiglottis" that results in unpredictable spells of vomiting, is reeling from her parents' divorce and an unclear psychiatric diagnosis when she is dragged to Mississippi by her father and new stepmother. Determined to get back to her mother, Mim hops a bus to Cleveland, beginning an Odysseus-like adventure that introduces a delightfully eclectic cast of characters, who are made all the more memorable by Mim's descriptions ("I've only known two other Carls in my lifetime—an insurgent moonshiner and a record store owner—both of whom taught me important... life lessons. In my book, Carls are a top-notch species"). There is no shortage of humor in Mim's musings, interspersed with tender scenes and a few heart-pounding surprises. Mim's triumphant evolution is well worth the journey. Ages 12–up. Agent: Daniel Lazar, Writers House. (Mar.)

Gr 7 Up—Mary Iris Malone, aka Mim, has moved from Cleveland to Mississippi (or Mosquitoland as Mim derisively calls it) with her father and new stepmother, who want her to forget her old life and even her mother. Mim is already struggling, but when she becomes convinced that her stepmother is keeping them apart, the teen steals money and hits the road to Cleveland to save her mother. The journey has bumps along the way—from a bus crash to unsavory characters. There are allies too, including romantic lead Beck and Walt, a homeless young man with Down syndrome. Mim grows on the trip and is forced to confront hard truths. Debut author Arnold's book is filled with some incredible moments of insight. The protagonist is a hard-edged narrator with a distinct voice. There is a lot for teens to admire and even savor-but there are also some deeply problematic elements. There's cultural appropriation: Mim uses lipstick to paint her face to soothe herself, calling it "war paint" and assuring readers that this is fine because she's "part" Cherokee. Walt's characterization veers close to stock, being only an inspiration for Mim. She and Beck have to take Walt to a veterinarian during a medical emergency. They joke that he is "kind of our pet." The revelations about Mim's mother's mental health, and her own mental health, arrive without clear foreshadowing and feel somewhat disjointed—particularly Mim's ultimate decision about her own medication. Recommended for larger collections, this is a readable, original story with strong writing, but the issues cannot be ignored.—Angie Manfredi, Los Alamos County Library System, NM

Gr 9 Up—Mary "Mim" Malone, using money from her stepmother's coffee-can savings, defiantly boards a bus from "Mosquitoland" (as she calls Mississippi) to visit her mom in Ohio. A bus wreck, a threatening encounter, a chance meet up under a bridge, a cute boy who makes her heart thump: Mim describes it all. The story skips back and forth in time, and Mim, while unflinchingly honest, sees it from her single point of view. And, she reminds readers, she is currently blind in one eye. Debut author Arnold introduces quirky and mostly believable characters, though a few seem over the top, such as the veterinarian who treats Mim's human companion. Narrator Phoebe Strole manages an array of voices, including Mim's English-accented mother, and Walt, a socially naïve Rubik's cube genius. VERDICT Listeners will appreciate Mim's wisdom, wit, and ability to produce snappy comebacks in awkward situations. Mim's sly, keenly observant narrative will appeal to fans of A.S. King's Glory O'Brien's History of the Future (Little, Brown, 2014) and John Corey Whaley's Noggin (S. & S., 2014).—Maggie Knapp, Trinity Valley School, Fort Worth, TX