Last
Friday, I was so excited to finally get to bring home the Advance Reader’s Copy
of Kimberly Sabatini’s upcoming debut novel, Touching the Surface – its release date is October 30. I’d been
looking forward to reading this book ever since I found out that it had been
accepted for publication by Simon Pulse (a young adult imprint of Simon &
Schuster) last February (2011) and since I first saw the actual ARC copy this
past January. I spent last weekend reading it during my free time from work,
not wanting to put it down, and finished it last Sunday afternoon, with just
minutes to spare before I had to go to work. I was glad to have Kim’s words,
characters and images in my mind during a long and mundane work-night. And
they’ve been in my mind ever since.
There’s
so much I want to say about this book and (as usual with my writing), I’ve
spent much time trying to find just the right words to accurately convey what
an excellent book Touching the Surface
is.
Full
Disclosure: This review post is going to be somewhat subjective, because Kim
has been a good friend, as well as an active and supportive member of the
children’s writing community here in the Hudson Valley, NY, for many years.
Since the beginning of this year, I’ve helped her moderate the monthly meetings
of our local Society of Children’s Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) Shop Talks.
And she and I have shared many great SCBWI meetings and conferences together,
as well as many great talks about writing and life.
I
remember when, about five years ago, Kim showed up at a Shop Talk meeting, with
a sheaf of pages – the first chapter of her novel, about a teen girl’s
experience in the afterlife, and inspired by the death of her beloved father a
couple of years before. She read it to everyone there in a faltering yet
excited voice and I knew immediately that I’d heard something special and
unique – unlike any other teen novel I’d read before. When everyone gave her
their feedback, I told her that I could tell right away that her story was
special – heartfelt and well-written – and I had no doubt that one day it would
be a success.
Since
then, I’ve read Kim’s manuscripts in various forms of revision, and each time
I’ve been really impressed at how she rewrote and developed the story, while
still remaining true to her original and ongoing vision. I think that her
agent, Michelle Wolfson of Wolfson Agency, and her editor, Annica Risi of Simon
Pulse, saw the same great potential and the result is this wonderful published
book.
Reading
Touching the Surface in its ARC form,
I have no doubt that it will have a great audience of readers – teens and
adults – and that it will help inspire them for years to come.
It’s
the story of Elliot, a 17-year-old girl, who has died for the third time and
surfaces in a lake at the Obmil Center for Progression – she is pulled out by
Mel, an older woman who has acted as her guide each time she’s been there. Kim
explained to our SCBWI group that “Obmil” was her interpretation of the
Catholic concept of Limbo – as a picturesque mountain lodge retreat that is a
sort of way station for souls who have died, and need to have life lessons
before they can move on to their afterlife. It’s such an inventive setting,
especially since the various souls’ memories, thoughts and moods can cause the
Obmil’s surrounding buildings and grounds, as well as its atmosphere to change,
creating steep mountain paths, fields of flowers, or a sudden snowfall.
At
first, Elliot has no recollection of her previous life and only vague memories
of her past two lives – as an elderly man who’d died alongside his twin
brother, and as a forty-year-old divorcee who had died with her best friend in
a plane crash after a self- help retreat.
One
of Obmil’s objectives for a “Third Timer” such as Elliot is to go through a
process called “Delving.” I loved these scenes, where, in a New Age-y Workshop setting,
each soul is suspended in a “swing” that allows him or her to relive a
past-life experience, and the participants in the group are able to share in it,
while the guide helps the person to cope with or process the revealed issues
that have kept him or her from moving on. It’s like a fantastical form of
hypnosis.
Elliot’s
memories are so urgent however, that she begins to re-live her past without the
safety of the swing, and even, at times, outside the haven of the Workshop. Her
remembrances involve Oliver and Trevor, two teens who are also at the Obmil,
and who are as different from each other as day and night. Oliver is light and sweet-natured,
with a positive, Zen-like outlook, but Trevor is dark and angry, with an
aggressive attitude. Elliot feels a natural kinship to Oliver, and although she
is repelled by Trevor, she is as equally drawn to him. Through her guided and
unguided Delves, she is dismayed to discover her connection to both boys. And
she finds it difficult to forgive herself for the effect she’d had on both of their
lives, and now, afterlives. It’s hard for her to accept Oliver’s kind
friendship, and she feels that she deserves Trevor’s wrath. Her relationship
with them forms a constantly shifting triangle, and it’s interesting to see how
all three characters are able to grow and work out their complicated and
emotional ties to each other.
Another
character at the Obmil is Julia, Elliot’s roommate at the lodge – she’d been
Elliot’s closest companion in her first two lives, but was somehow absent from
her recent past life. And for some reason, Julia is now avoiding Elliot,
causing more hurt and confusion in Elliot’s already distressing afterlife. Julia
does have her reasons, though, and when her back story is revealed through
Delving, it’s understandable. It’s a good sub-plot about the give and take in
long-lasting friendships.
Touching the
Surface is
the perfect title for the book’s multi-layered themes. Elliot must delve
through the surface of her knowledge of her past life to uncover its meaning
and to have a deeper sense of herself and the people she has loved. She also
must learn to look past the surface of her companions, to forge deeper and more
understanding perceptions of them. There is much more to each character than
what appears on the surface. Even Mel and her Obmil colleagues - caretaker
Freddie, and David, a pompous Guide - have an interesting and surprising
connection to each other and to the Obmil.
Kim
further enhances her theme with metaphors and images of water in its many forms
– a hidden pond; a rushing waterfall; an unpredictable crust of ice on a lake.
She also adds recurring
images
of birds – eagles and paper origami cranes – to add beauty and resonance to her
words. The result is a story that is as beautifully written as it is
compelling. I found myself wanting to take a highlighter to its pages, to mark
the phrases, sentences and passages that affected me and made me think – I will
definitely make good use of the highlight feature on my Nook copy.
I’m
so glad that Simon Pulse is the publisher of Touching the Surface – Kim’s book deserves to be released by a
major publisher. But I also think that it’s more than just a “teen fiction”
book. Yes, its protagonists are teens, and it does cover many of the typical
teen-novel tropes – like making sense out of one’s life; a potential
love-triangle; a best-friend relationship; the issues that a troubled teen must
go through with parents and in school. But that’s just on the surface. Delving
into the story reveals much more than that – I think it’s a metaphysical fiction
tale about personal growth; person-to-person connections; guilt and forgiveness;
the healing of hurt and anger; and overall, love that can transcend life and
death. Offhand, I’m hard-pressed to come up with YA novels and authors with
similar themes – Suzanne Weyn’s “Reincarnation” comes to mind. But I would classify
Touching the Surface with some of the
best metaphysical fiction – for any ages – that I’ve read, by such amazingly
insightful authors as Richard Bach, Mitch Albom and Paolo Coelho.
It’s
for that reason that I recommend Touching
the Surface to any reader from teen to adult, who wants to read a
beautifully-written, thought-provoking tale with wonderfully imagined
characters, setting, and story-arc, that also gives a deep message about life,
death and the afterlife, and has the potential to stay in the reader’s mind and
heart long after they’ve turned the last page.
