Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

Andi Alpers is an only child. She wasn't always, though. Just a year or so earlier, she lost her younger brother Truman to a devastating accident, and now Andi's simply struggling to survive each day. But that's easier said than done. Andi's failing school, her mother's mentally breaking down, and her father is an award-winning geneticist with little time for family. Soon, though, things start to change as Andi's dad checks her mother into a psychiatric hospital and drags Andi with him halfway across the world to Paris. They stay with friends of the family, one of whom is a renowned historian who recently made a discovery: the jarred heart of Louis Charles, the imprisoned son of Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI. Andi becomes wrapped up in the story of the lost child when she finds the diary of Alexandrine Paradis, Louis Charles's companion and servant. And one night in the old catacombs, the history and the past collide into one dangerous - if not deadly - adventure for Andi...

Revolution won an Odyssey Award and has several highly acclaimed reviews. I found the book well-written and enthralling...and a little too scary for my liking, but nevertheless, I couldn't put it down. It's not that the story itself was scary or involved traditionally scary elements like vampires or werewolves or other supernatural creatures; rather, I was frightened because of the thematic elements discussed. Andi has issues for which she takes medication, but that doesn't stop her from contemplating suicide a few times throughout the book. Her mother's mental health is deteriorating, which is something I find worrisome to contemplate. Add to the fact that Andi's father is doing genetic testing on a centuries-old heart of an eight-year-old boy, and I find that this is not a book to be reading home alone at night.

Other thematic elements include drug/alcohol use and abuse, implications of sex, parental issues, and moderate profanity. My recommendation is for teens ages fifteen and older.

Happy readings!

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