The Freak Observer by Blythe Woolston | eBook

Publishers Weekly

Woolston's morbid and layered debut delves into the shattered life of 16-year-old Loa, whose younger sister, Asta, died of a genetic mutation and who, more recently, lost a friend in a tragic accident. Loa suffers the effects of PTSD, including vivid nightmares and flashbacks, which are gracefully written and interspersed throughout. Amid their grief over Asta's death and financial problems, Loa's parents neglect her pain as the family tries to scrape by. "After all those years of fighting hard, we lost. Now we get drunk. We hit each other. When the truck won't start, we punch the windshield so hard the shatterproof glass breaks. Is this depression or anger?" she asks. Loa is strong, but overburdened and isolated; laced with bleak humor, her deadened, searching narration carries this dark and highly promising first novel. The chapters begin with questions or statements, usually drawn from physics, biology, or math, which tie in to Loa's struggles ("What should you do if you are stuck on frictionless ice? Assume you are nude and there is no atmospheric resistance") as she tries to find her way. Ages 12-18. (Aug.)

Children's Literature - Della A. Yannuzzi

Loa Lindgren is not a happy sixteen-year-old. She and her family are trying to find meaning in their lives after the death of Loa's sister Astra. One day, Loa's physics teacher, Mr. Banacek, tells her she can earn extra credit by fishing out a scrap of paper from a jar and writing an essay about the topic she randomly chooses: "Freak Observer (Boltzmann Brain)." Loa has no idea what a Freak Observer and Boltzmann brain are, but she is determined to find out. But Loa has lots of other issues to contend with like having bad dreams, weird visions, panic attacks, and the appearance of The Bony Guy (a metaphor for death?) She thinks she's suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder ever since her sister died and has trouble coping with the real world. If losing her sister isn't enough for her to handle, Loa then sees her friend Esther get hit by a truck, her dog die, and her father lose his job. Loa is trying to make sense of her non-life, but things get worse when she meets Corey, who is a strange guy and has his own set of problems. When he is packed off to Europe, he sends her strange postcards that seem to serve no purpose but to make her life more miserable. Toward the end of the book, she realizes Corey is really talking about himself and not trying to make Loa's life more complicated. Things start to improve when she meets Jack, who is a bit strange, but shows Loa how he makes ceramic ducks. Author Woolston's first novel is a puzzle for the reader to figure out. She begins each chapter with a concept related to physics, like Orbital Physics, Applied Ballistics, or Constructive Interference, that supposedly connected to putting together the puzzle. There is so much going on and so many ideas thrown at the reader that notes might help in trying to decipher what the author is trying to say. In simple terms, Loa and her family need a different life, they need to find some happiness, and Loa needs to stop thinking about death and figure out how she fits into the realm of the huge universe. And who or what is the Freak Observer? Readers will have plenty of time to find out the answer if they can stay with this challenging book until the end. Reviewer: Della A. Yannuzzi

VOYA - Kristin Fletcher-Spear

Loa has post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) stemming from the death of her little sister, and the more recent death of a classmate—which she witnessed. She is on her own dealing with her nightmares of the Bony Guy (death) and panic attacks. She uses physics and alcohol to help herself through it. She has family, but they are in their own stages of grief and cannot reach out to Loa. Only side characters, Corey and Jack, breach the pain and grief to help her. Each chapter begins with pseudo-math and physics questions that set the tone of the chapters. Loa's voice is the story's strength. She's wry, observant, and honest in her narration. Without the strength of her voice, the book would completely fail. The story unravels very slowly which will leave readers wondering what has made Loa the way she is. The abrupt change of scenery and the introduction of Jack, the non-neurotypical guy, bring about the tidy, yet hopeful, ending. This melancholic contemporary novel has many stellar moments that will appeal to issue-driven novel readers, but will need to be handsold through booktalking to reach a wider teen audience. Reviewer: Kristin Fletcher-Spear

Kevin Sawyer

Sixteen-year-old Loa Lindgren witnesses a gruesome car accident that takes the life of her best friend, Esther. The event leaves Loa with a debilitating case of post-traumatic stress disorder. A mysterious figure known as the Bony Guy—death incarnate—terrifies her through vivid hallucinations and haunts her dreams at night. When Loa's cherished baby sister Asta dies from medical complications, her already-broken family unravels even more. Loa meets Corey, a confident and peculiar schoolmate, who persuades her to join the debate team. But as their strange friendship blossoms, Corey abruptly leaves for Europe. Without friends or family to help, Loa begins to cope with her condition through, of all things, theoretical astrophysics. Loa's mom enrolls at a university and the onceprivate and rural family find themselves connecting to each other and learning what it means to move on. Reviewer: Kevin Sawyer

School Library Journal

Gr 8 Up—Sixteen-year-old Loa Lindgren's family is emotionally splintered and drifting following the death of her younger sister Asta, whose Rett syndrome necessitated constant care and kept the family on a rigid schedule. Plagued by PTSD and nightmares about death, Loa clings to household chores, watching over her younger brother, and her beloved physics to rebuild a sense of normalcy. With no real plot, the novel feels fragmentary, mirroring the protagonist's feelings of disconnection. Incidents such as the death of her classmate in the opening pages, Loa's extra-credit physics project on the phenomenon of the freak observer (Boltzmann brain paradox), and her failed relationship with her debate partner are explained in chunks of narrative scattered throughout the text, which may confuse some readers. However, the author has created a likable narrator in Loa. Readers will root for a happy ending, though probably not be surprised by the deliberately ambiguous one that nonetheless hints at a hopeful future. Teens will either love or loathe the book with no middle ground likely for such a unique, disturbing, creative story.—Leah J. Sparks, formerly at Bowie Public Library, MD

Kirkus Reviews

Readers meet 16-year-old Loa in her guidance counselor's office as she is being encouraged to return to her schoolwork after witnessing her friend's death in a road accident. Although physically battered and bruised, Loa seems disengaged, which is surprising until it quickly becomes clear that this horrific event is one in a series, including the death of her baby sister, that has torn her family to shreds. This text provides a sharp snapshot of Loa's life as she battles PTSD from these events and attempts to conquer related vivid death-related dreams and hallucinations. Anchoring each chapter is a short question or statement, generally related to science, that ties to the forthcoming chapter—although Woolston makes readers work to see the connection, enabling them to understand Loa on another deeper level. A keenly observant narrator noticing life's small details, Loa holds nothing back, which is both riveting and heartbreaking. An auspicious debut for both the author and Carolrhoda's new Lab imprint. (Fiction. YA)

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