The Carnival At Bray

Wed, 08/12/2015 - 9:32am by manz

A 2015 Printz Honor Award winner, the teen novel The Carnival At Bray is Jessie Ann Foley’s first novel, and it’s beautifully written.

It’s 1993 and grunge, flannel, Doc Martens, and the music of Nirvana swirl through the air like sweat during a mosh pit at a Smashing Pumpkin's show. 16 year old Maggie Lynch moves from Chicago to Ireland with her family, thanks to her serial dating mother’s new relationship. Maggie initially survives on care packages of Twizzlers and Spin magazines from her young rocker uncle whom she cares for the most. Her time is spent missing her uncle, dealing with a new school, hanging out at the carnival, trying to make friends, and finding a boy for a first kiss. But eventually there are larger things to deal with.

It’s a book of love and loss. Of first love, learning to be who you are, figuring out how you fit into your dysfunctional family, and ultimately learning that life was meant to be lived.