Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
The taut latest from Zumas (Red Clocks) traces the complex dynamics of an intentional community, where two children find refuge from child protective services. Former punk musician Caz has turned her ancestral house into a financially precarious group home, where elderly residents including her dementia-afflicted mother cohabitate with younger folks like her former bandmate Vara, who uses a wheelchair and serves as the house's nurse. When 13-year-old Nola and her autistic younger cousin, James, show up at the house, Caz decides to help them hide after Nola claims that James got the wounds on his wrists while in CPS custody. Marika, a prickly Jewish Greek Holocaust survivor, takes quickly to James, who reminds her of her brother. After a couple of days, the household finds a new rhythm to accommodate the children, and they resist pressure from a pastor neighbor who catches onto their clandestine sheltering of the kids and suggests a member of his congregation could foster them. As Zumas subtly unwraps Caz's motivations for establishing the house and reveals her hidden connection to the children, the story builds to an oblique but powerful meditation on the comfort and instability of found family. This packs a punch. Agent: Meredith Kaffel Simonoff, Gernert Co. (Sept.)
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
A young girl and her autistic cousin seek refuge in an intergenerational community. In the house her great-grandfather built, Caz, a musician, runs a home for the elderly, where she also invites young people to live rent-free in exchange for household chores and company for the senior citizens, who include her own ailing mother. In her youth, she fronted a popular punk band, and now she teaches music classes in the community. One night, one of her students, Nola, appears on Caz's doorstep with her disabled cousin, James, in tow. James' mother has lost custody of them again, and Nola can't bear for them to be in foster care anymore. Her mission is to keep James safe and ensure they're not separated. But she's just a child herself and exhausted by this responsibility. James is nonverbal, requires diapers, and has specific dietary needs, which is to say, he needs a lot of support. Understanding this, the residents of the Island of Misfit Toys that is Caz's community offer Nola and James safe harbor as best they can. From the first sentence, you know you're in the hands of a novelist with the ear of a very good poet. More than that, Zumas seamlessly balances the novel's lyricism with character building, backstory, and forward momentum. Sometimes the bickering among the residents devolves from comic relief into schtick, but other than that, this novel is a delight to read. It stands out as a book that features the interior voices of children, middle-aged women, and an elderly woman with equal verve. Zumas also finds a way to capture the way James experiences the world with creativity and care. The ensemble comes together to great effect. A tender and well-told story about the meaning of family. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
