Untwine - Hardcover

Danticat, Edwidge

  • 3.71 out of 5 stars
    3,112 ratings by Goodreads
 
9780545423038: Untwine
Hardcover
ISBN 10: 0545423031 ISBN 13: 9780545423038
Publisher: Scholastic Press, 2015

Synopsis

A haunting and mesmerizing story about sisterhood, family, love, and loss by literary luminary Edwidge Danticat.

Giselle Boyer and her identical twin, Isabelle, are as close as sisters can be, even as their family seems to be unraveling. Then the Boyers have a tragic encounter that will shatter everyone's world forever.Giselle wakes up in the hospital, injured and unable to speak or move. Trapped in the prison of her own body, Giselle must revisit her past in order to understand how the people closest to her -- her friends, her parents, and above all, Isabelle, her twin -- have shaped and defined her. Will she allow her love for her family and friends to lead her to recovery? Or will she remain lost in a spiral of longing and regret?Untwine is a spellbinding tale, lyrical and filled with love, mystery, humor, and heartbreak. Award-winning author Edwidge Danticat brings her extraordinary talent to this graceful and unflinching examination of the bonds of friendship, romance, family, the horrors of loss, and the strength we must discover in ourselves when all seems hopeless.

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About the Author

Edwidge Danticat is the author of many award-winning books, including Untwine, an NAACP Image Awards Outstanding Literary Work; Breath, Eyes, Memory, an Oprah's Book Club pick; Krik? Krak!, a National Book Award nominee; Brother, I’m Dying, a National Book Critics Circle winner and Huit jours. She is also a recipient of a MacArthur Genius Grant. Edwidge lives with her family in Miami, Florida.

Reviews

Gr 7 Up—Identical twins Isabelle and Giselle were born with their fingers entwined and the doctors had to separate them, digit by digit. Now at 16, their parents are separated and considering divorce and the twins are developing their own interests and friends. As the unhappy family is running late to Isabelle's school orchestra concert, the two are once again holding hands when the red minivan hits their SUV. For several days after the accident, the doctors and Aunt Leslie think Giselle is the twin who died and call her Isabelle, and Giselle, trapped in a coma, cannot tell them who she is. Unable to wake up or move, Giselle travels through her memory of friends, family, and mostly of Isabelle as she decides whether to let go of her twin and return to life or to stay in her vegetative state. Waking up, though, only leads to physical pain and grief as she struggles to recover from the accident and her sister's death. Haitian-born Danticat, better known for her adult books, shines in this young adult novel that at times seems to move into the supernatural and mystical before yanking readers back into realism. A bit mystery, a bit romance, even a touch of humor, the strong writing leads readers on a journey through Giselle's past, a journey she must take before she can face the present—and the future without Isabelle. VERDICT Well-crafted characters and strong writing make this a book to recommend, especially for fans of Gayle Forman's If I Stay (Dutton, 2009).—Janet Hilbun, University of North Texas

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

From UNTWINEPeople say that things like this happen in slow motion, as though you suddenly become an astronaut in the anti gravity chamber of your own life. This wasn't true for me. Things were speeding up instead and I did my best to slow them down in my mind. Mom was still screaming our names, taking turns calling Isabelle and me by both our proper names and our nicknames: Isabelle, Giselle, Izzie, Gizzie. She then called Dad (David! David! David!), shouting his name over and over again. Isabelle didn't need to call my name. Not because of the twin telepathy thing people always talk about, but because we were holding hands. We were holding hands the tightest we have ever held hands in our entire lives. We were holding hands just as we had been holding hands on the day we were born. We had shared the same amniotic sac, and during Mom's C-section, the doctor told our parents that he would need to untwine our tiny fingers to separate us. We were born holding hands. And now, even as our heads bobbed and our bodies flopped -- mine strapped behind the seatbelt and Isabelle’s loose and unprotected -- we screamed for our parents who were screaming for us, but we wouldn’t let go.

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Publisher
Scholastic Press
Publication date
2015
Language
English
ISBN 10 
0545423031
ISBN 13 
9780545423038
Binding
Hardcover
Edition number
2
Number of pages
320
Rating
  • 3.71 out of 5 stars
    3,112 ratings by Goodreads

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780545423045: Untwine

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  054542304X ISBN 13:  9780545423045
Publisher: Scholastic Inc., 2017
Softcover