Printz Honor
Foley, J.
A. (2014). The carnival at Bray: A novel. Retrieved July 7, 2016,
from southtexas.libaryreserve.com.
Summary:
The story follows the experiences of Maggie Lynch, a sixteen-year-old
girl from Chicago. Maggie, her younger sister Ronnie, and their mother Laura
move from Chicago to Ireland after Laura marries Colm. As a young teen, Maggie is not thrilled with
the move because she doesn't feel like she fits in with the other kids. Maggie
is not only struggling with her new life in a foreign country, but she is
having problems with her family, too.
Maggie's mother acts younger than her real age, and Maggie’s Uncle
Kevin, a rocker with whom she has always been especially close, has taken to
using heavy drugs back in Chicago.
During Christmas Maggie’s Uncle Kevin and Grandma come to visit in
Ireland for the holidays and Laura and Uncle Kevin end up in a huge fight and
Kevin leaves the next day. Maggie’s
highlight of the holidays is when she shares a kiss with her crush Eoin, but
her happiness is short lived when she learns her beloved Uncle is dead. A month later Maggie gets a letter explaining
that her Uncle committed suicide because he just couldn’t get his life
together. The package also contains two tickets to an upcoming concert in Rome
for Nirvana. Maggie and
Eoin run away together to Rome to see the concert. They enjoy the show and
later tour Rome. Back at their hotel room, they confess their love to one
another and end up having sex. She is almost expelled from her school Eoin
is expelled due to the run-away incident. The story ends with Maggie’s mom and
sister going back to Chicago and Maggie staying to finish school in Ireland. The
overall theme in this story is coming of age.
Coming of age involves the personal, spiritual, moral, or emotional
growth and maturation of an individual often based on real world experiences.
These experiences may lead the individual astray before bringing the individual
to a better place, as is the case with Maggie in the novel.
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