Reviews for These shallow graves

School Library Journal
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Gr 9 Up-It's September 1890, and Josephine "Jo" Montfort has been called home from Miss Sparkwell's School for Young Ladies upon her father's death. The police said it was an accident, but Jo knows her father would never have been so careless as to clean a loaded gun. When rumors of suicide reach her ears, she feels compelled to discover the truth of what happened that night in her father's study. Risking her reputation, the teen searches for answers wherever the clues take her, even to the dangerous slums and docks of New York City. With a handsome and nosy newsman as her reluctant guide, Jo begins to learn more about her family's murky history. Each secret she uncovers leads to another, stirring up her past and threatening her future. Donnelly's latest is a glimpse into the changing societal structure of turn-of-the-century New York City, personified by Jo Montfort. She is a girl trapped by her family's expectations and yearning for a different life, sentiments that will resound with today's teens. She and her co-amateur detective and forbidden romantic interest, Eddie Gallagher, are likable, well-drawn, and interesting. While there may not be many surprises for discerning readers, interest is maintained as they unravel the puzzle through Jo's naive eyes. The plot moves forward at steady pace and short chapters break the novel up into easily devourable pieces. VERDICT A beautifully written mystery that will appeal to a variety of readers.-Heather Miller Cover, Homewood Public Library, AL © Copyright 2015. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.


Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

In 19th-century Manhattan, socialite Jo Monfort's wealthy father meets an untimely death. Seventeen-year-old Jo, like her literary namesake in Little Women, aspires to be a writer, but her itch to learn about the world outside her social class threatens her family's expectation that she'll marry Bram, the most eligible bachelor in New York. When Jo's father is found dead of a gunshot wound in his study, it's assumed to be an accident, but Jo wonders how her safety-conscious father could possibly have been cleaning a loaded gun. She overhears a rakish young reporter declare that her father's partners in a shipbuilding firm paid hush money to keep the fact that it was murder out of the press. Jo won't rest until she gets to the bottom of the story, despite the risk to her reputation. Melodrama and intrigue drive this fast-paced thriller with a Wharton-esque setting and a nave young protagonist willing to be exposed to the shadier side of lifeprostitutes, uncouth men, and abject povertyon her way to solving a mystery and asserting her right to claim her future for herself. The author keeps the clues coming at a rate that allows readers to be one small step ahead of Jo as the story races to its surprising conclusion. Readers who love costume dramas will relish this one. (Historical mystery. 13-17) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.


Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

*Starred Review* Reporter Eddie says to newspaper heiress Jo Montfort, You're a very unusual girl, and in some ways it's true: rich and accomplished young women in 1890s Manhattan aren't supposed to have aspirations beyond a good marriage. But Jo, clever and curious, dreams of being a reporter like Nelly Bly. When her father is found dead in their Gramercy home authorities say he shot himself accidentally while cleaning his gun, but Jo knows he was too intelligent about firearms to clean it loaded her life takes a dramatic turn as she struggles to determine the true cause of his death, be it murder or suicide. As her dangerous, potentially reputation-ruining exploration continues, she repeatedly encounters Eddie Gallagher, a smart and ambitious reporter who alternates between aiding Jo and trying to send her home. But she perseveres and soon finds herself drawn into the seedy underbelly of New York as she seeks out information in whorehouses, dens of thieves, and insane asylums all places where a proper young lady might not belong, but a true reporter can't avoid. Donnelly, whose A Northern Light (2003) was a Printz Honor Book, has crafted a remarkable portrait of a girl struggling with the constraints of an overbearing society and looking for answers in the midst of deep grief. The writing is lovely and nuanced and the plot fast-paced and thrilling, though savvy readers will probably guess at least some of the twists. What really sets this apart is the characterizations. Jo is no stock heroine: she is brave and smart and determined, yes, but also rash and impulsive and frequently so blinded by familial loyalty that she doesn't see things other characters and the reader might. Her slowly unfolding romance with Eddie doesn't detract from her ambition or her goal, and the judgmental rigidity of her society and the mystery surrounding her father's death are as much a roadblock to her longed-for journalism career as they are to this unsanctioned relationship. And then there is Fay. The smart-talking street thief with a hard-luck life and a bitter future could have been introduced as many things: a foil for the privileged Jo, her romantic rival for Eddie, or just a cautionary reminder of the cost of a fall from grace. Instead, Fay and Jo slowly form a close bond, quickly becoming close confidants despite their different upbringings and outlooks. Eddie says that Jo is not like other girls, but, true to form, Jo disagrees. Most girls are a lot like me, she says. Wanting answers to their questions. This is the ultimate truth to which Donnelly continues to circle back, that there is no solid line dividing different kinds of girls. Fictional or otherwise, people can't be split into good or bad, rich or poor, unusual or plain. It's that realization that elevates this from just a well-crafted historical thriller into a smart, insightful, timely depiction of a young woman poised on the brink of a new world after the shattering of another, armed with the qualities and the companions to see her through.--Reagan, Maggie Copyright 2015 Booklist


Publishers Weekly
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

This captivating historical thriller, set in turn-of-the-century N.Y.C., follows the peril-filled progress of beautiful socialite Josephine "Jo" Montfort as she risks her life to prove that her wealthy ship-owner father's death was not an accident. She stumbles wide-eyed through dark and dangerous sections of the city she never knew existed, accompanied by a street-smart young reporter named Eddie Gallagher, an assistant coroner named Oscar, and a pretty pickpocket named Amy. Donnelly fills her generous-sized novel with monstrous villains, suspenseful situations, hair-breadth escapes and shocking discoveries. It's highly dramatic material and actress Bubbs doesn't as much read it as perform it. She catches Oscar's buoyant optimism, the sternness of Jo's uncle Philip, and the fragility hidden under Amy's bravado. And, most important, she brings to life moments of elation and despair that Jo and Eddie experience in the course of their rocky romance. It's a highly entertaining presentation adults-young and otherwise-will enjoy. Ages 12-up. A Delacorte hardcover. (Nov.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.


Horn Book
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Wealthy New Yorker Jo knows what's in store for her: a loveless marriage; children; tedious social events. Following in the footsteps of her hero, female journalist Nellie Bly, seems an impossible dream--until Jo begins to investigate her father's apparent suicide. Rich late-nineteenth-century detail, an ever-deepening mystery, a heroine to cheer on, thoughtful considerations of class and gender, swoon-worthy romance--this is a most entertaining read. (c) Copyright 2016. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.


Publishers Weekly
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Josephine Montfort, one of the wealthy elite in 1890 New York City, is supposed to finish school, marry a suitable gentleman, raise a family, "and that is all." But smart, self-assured Jo desires more from life-and wants to become a reporter like Nellie Bly. When Jo's father unexpectedly dies, and she discovers that his death wasn't an accident, she teams up with an intrepid reporter named Eddie to find out what really happened. They uncover secrets that upend everything she has known, and Jo risks her reputation as they visit checkered parts of the city and she starts to fall for Eddie. While this isn't a short book, Donnelly's (Revolution) action-packed chapters propel this compelling mystery. Through Jo's sheltered perspective, readers learn about class disparity right alongside her, and Donnelly is as adept at describing an opulent ball as she is a seedy neighborhood. Though some of the constraints placed on female behavior during that time period have faded, the injustices Donnelly highlights remain all too relevant. Ages 12-up. Agent: Steven Malk, Writers House. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

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