The Lightning Circle by Vikki VanSickle (review)

Reviewed by: The Lightning Circle by Vikki VanSickle Kate Quealy-Gainer, Editor VanSickle, Vikki The Lightning Circle; illus. by Laura K. Watson. Tundra, 2024 224p Trade ed. ISBN 9781774882498 17. 99 E-book ed. ISBN 9781774882504 10. 99 Reviewed from digital galleys R Gr. 7-12 Seventeen-year-old Nora is desperate to put as much distance as possible between herself and the boy who doesn't reciprocate her crush, so she signs up to be a counselor at Camp Cradle Rock, despite having never attended the all-girls summer camp. Fortunately, the other counselors are warm and accepting, and the summer turns out to be more healing than Nora expected, as the girls share stories of heartbreak, both romantic and otherwise, along with their own interests and passions. Her position as a role model for the younger girls is revelatory as well, teaching Nora how to grant herself the same compassion that she extends to the campers, a End Page 264 skill that comes in handy when her crush sends her a devastating letter. The verse format is particularly effective here, as it moves between journal like-specificity of the day-to-day and the stream-of-consciousness thoughts that allow Nora to process her hurt and recharge. While the book has a compelling emphasis on the girls renegotiating their identities, including their relationships to boys and men, a diversity of sexual orientation is noticeably and unfortunately absent. Still, the bonds the girls form and the ways in which they comfort, heal, and support each other are deeply loving, and by the end of the summer, Nora finally sees herself as someone with so much more to offer than simply being some guy's girlfriend. There's no major trauma here, just the kind of heartbreak that can seem bigger than the whole world until one realizes the universe beyond their own hurt. Copyright © 2024 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois