Readers' rating:
Published Jul 2021
336 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
Inspired by the Greek myth of Iphigenia and the Grimm fairy tale "Brother and Sister," Michelle Ruiz Keil's second novel follows two siblings torn apart and struggling to find each other in early '90s Portland.
All her life, seventeen-year-old Iph has protected her sensitive younger brother, Orr. But this summer, with their mother gone at an artist residency, their father decides it's time for fifteen-year-old Orr to toughen up at a wilderness boot camp. When their father brings Iph to a work gala in downtown Portland and breaks the news, Orr has already been sent away against his will. Furious at her father's betrayal, Iph storms off and gets lost in the maze of Old Town. Enter George, a queer Robin Hood who swoops in on a bicycle, bow and arrow at the ready, offering Iph a place to hide out while she tracks down Orr.
Orr, in the meantime, has escaped the camp and fallen in with The Furies, an all-girl punk band, and moves into the coat closet of their ramshackle pink house. In their first summer apart, Iph and Orr must learn to navigate their respective new spaces of music, romance, and sex-work activism—and find each other before a fantastical transformation fractures their family forever.
Told through a lens of magical realism and steeped in myth, Summer in the City of Roses is a dazzling tale about the pain and beauty of growing up.
"Educators especially will adore this immersive work not only as a comparative text but for its theater and pop culture references and its empathetic treatment of marginalized people...An insightful reimagining of myth that champions an array of social causes. An absolute must-read for teens and educators who love advocacy, myths, or folktales." - School Library Journal (starred review)
"Through its enchanting, dual storylines, readers spend considerable time with Iph's and Orr's inner thoughts, making this an intimate and observant character study. Iph and Orr are Mexican and Greek, and the supporting cast is diverse all around. Quirky, contemplative, and nostalgic." - Kirkus Reviews
"Though several of the novel's narrative threads take unusual turns that may frustrate some readers, Keil's lush language ('Honey to tongue, throat to heart, and she is shrinking like Alice') and endearing cast of free spirits enchant the whole way through. A nostalgic, heady read perfect for a summer day." - Publishers Weekly
"Divided into four acts, this sui generis novel is replete with a fairy tale ethos and references to Shakespeare, and magic becomes an increasingly powerful presence as the plot proceeds...Keil's novel will be a treat for romantics and fans of Anna-Marie McLemore and Francesca Lia Block." - Booklist
"Lush, empathetic, strident, puckish, infused with a street-level punk-rock magic...Much of its magic hums along like a current beneath the book's skin, bursting out in full bloom for a transformative finale. But it's there all along, if you're looking—and this is the kind of book you want to give your full attention to." - Tor.com
"Part myth, part magic, this is an imaginative tale that speaks to the challenges and joys of growing up." - Ms. Magazine
"A gorgeous, tender, warm-hearted reworking of mythic material that also feels resolutely set in the world that we live in." - Kelly Link, author of Get in Trouble
This information about Summer in the City of Roses was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Michelle Ruiz Keil is a Latinx writer and tarot reader with an eye for the enchanted and a way with animals. Her critically acclaimed debut novel, All of Us With Wings, was called "a transcendent journey" by the New York Times. A San Francisco Bay Area native, Michelle has lived in Portland, Oregon, for many years. She curates the fairytale reading series All Kinds of Fur and lives with her family in a cottage where the forest meets the city.
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