Playing Solitaire

Living with her grandfather in a small Oklahoma town, fourteen-year-old Ellie is in constant fear that she will be approached by her father, who is running from the police because he attacked her and mutilated her hand.

Grade 6-9-Ellie will be starting ninth grade in the fall, in the small Oklahoma town where she now lives with her grandfather. Her mother has died of brain cancer, and her father has done something so despicable that she vows to kill him if she ever sees him again. To pass the time, and to console herself, the teen plays solitaire. Though there are numerous hints, it is not until almost the middle of the book that readers learn that in a drunken rage, her father cut off part of three of her fingers with his hunting knife. Ellie's hatred and fear of him consume her thoughts, but a blossoming friendship with a neighborhood boy, an adopted dog, and a caring grandfather help her to heal emotionally. The climactic scene in which she actually confronts her father at gunpoint is action-packed and holds a few surprises. Ellie's narration reveals her typical teen struggles with self-image and friendship, as well as her overwhelming fear that her fugitive father will appear. The novel is short (a typical chapter is six pages), and with its clean, clear writing, depth of character development, and fast-moving plot, it will be accessible to reluctant readers, yet still hold the attention of those just looking for a good story.
Angela J. Reynolds, Washington County Cooperative Library Services, Aloha, OR
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

With the tension and pacing of a thriller, Antle's (Lost in the War) novel tackles difficult issues including alcoholism, grief and emotional abuse honestly and with a delicate touch. The author plants clues as to why 13-year-old Ellie has recently moved to Drasco, Okla., to live with her grandpa from the outset: "Nobody'll be feeling sorry for me 'cause my daddy was a mean drunk or 'cause Mama died of brain cancer." The protagonist finds comfort in the "neat little rows" of cards in her favorite game, solitaire, the loving bickering of Grandpa and his outspoken neighbor, her adopted dog and a new friend, but the impending possibility of her alcoholic father's reappearance threatens Ellie's sanctuary. The theme of solitaire works on several levels, as Ellie tries to go it alone, secretly plotting to kill her father when he arrives, and struggles to trust family, friends and her newfound feeling of belonging. Antle handles Ellie's longing for revenge responsibly and believably, gradually upping the emotional ante for readers until, in the penultimate scene, she reveals the past episode that triggers Ellie's all-consuming anger. In a subtle, spare style and with fully delineated characters, the author skillfully creates the community of this eccentric small town and portrays the ways loved ones both tiptoe around and champion those they care about in times of crisis and pain. Readers will be heartened by the hope and redemption dealt in the final hand of this complex psychological novel. Ages 12-up. (Apr.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

A somber story is undone by one-dimensional characters and some far-fetched storylines as Antle (Lost in the War, 1998, etc.) writes about a teenager and the tragedies around her. Ellie has something to hide. It's not the fact that her mother died of brain cancer or that her father is a drunk. It's her left handshe is missing part of three fingers. She lives with her grandfather under a new name, keeps her hand in her pocket, and means to kill her father if he ever comes around. She plays solitaire in the summer before high school; when potential friend Dex appears, they play a lot of wordless double solitaire. In the background of this unsubtle plot hovers her fatherthe lingering memories, the phone calls, a car resembling his, the shadowy figure when she visits her grandmother at the nursing home. In a trim, direct, first-person narrative, Ellie reveals that her father cut off her fingers with his hunting knife in a drunken rage. The terse storyline is black-and-white: the father is a bad-guy drunk wanted by the police, and Ellie has the means to shoot him; in the clumsy grand finale, Grandma escapes from the nursing home and tackles Ellie's father before he is hauled off to jail. New puppies and the promise of ongoing friendship with Dex wraps the tale up too neatly, and trivializes all the suffering that has gone before it. (Fiction. 12-14) -- Copyright ©2000, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Still recovering from her mother's death, and having grown up with a mean-drunk father, Ellie hopes living with her grandpa and starting ninth grade at a different school will be a new beginning. But her past stays present in two secrets: the horrifying reason behind her disfigured hand, and her determination to kill her father. When her father initiates contact, Ellie keeps silent, afraid her plans will be disrupted. Ultimately, a dramatic confrontation brings unexpected actions and results. In straightforward, simple prose, the first-person narrative relates one teen's devastating response to emotional and physical abuse. Unfortunately, the book rushes through the climax and the ending, never specifically resolving what Ellie learns, particularly given the behaviors exhibited by adult family members. Antle's book lacks the emotional intensity and character development of Cynthia Voigt's When She Hollers (1994), in which a teen also confronts her abusive stepfather, but Ellie's experiences and emotions similarly illustrate how fear and hatred can lead to desperate, extreme actions, and show the importance of getting outside help, no matter how difficult the circumstances. Shelle Rosenfeld