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Revolution    by Jennifer Donnelly Amazon.com order for
Revolution
by Jennifer Donnelly
Order:  USA  Can
Delacorte, 2010 (2010)
Hardcover, CD, e-Book
* * *   Reviewed by Lyn Seippel

Andi Alpers blames herself for the death of her brother Truman. Heartbroken and full of anger, she barely copes, lashing out at anyone who tries to comfort her. She lives alone with her artist mother now that her dad has left. Her mother paints picture after picture of Truman. So many that she is now hanging them on the ceiling since the walls are full.

Andi is on medication for her depression, always taking more than the dosage prescribed. Previously a straight A student, she's only a senior thesis outline away from being expelled from St. Anselm's, a prestigious Brooklyn Heights school. All that is holding her together is her music and music lessons.

Concerned, her dad takes her to Paris for spring break and commits her mother to a psychiatric hospital where they take away her paints and medicate her. Andi makes a deal with him about her thesis. If she can finish it to his satisfaction, she'll be allowed to return home early.

Andi's dad, a Nobel prize winner, is in Paris to compare the DNA of a heart that is believed to have belonged to Prince Louis-Charles (son of Louis XVI) with that of his mother, Marie Antoinette. Andi finds an undiscovered antique journal belonging to Alexandrine Paradis, who lived during the French Revolution when Prince Louis-Charles met his tragic death.

Andi becomes obsessed with the journal. The words from two centuries ago are somehow comforting after she has been caring for so little for so long. She also meets Virgil, a young musician/cab driver. He makes her wish she had more time in Paris, but she must get home to her mother.

This dual story is well worth the read. Donnelly weaves in and out of Andi and Alex's lives, creating suspense for both.

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