Hearts, Strings, and Other Breakable Things

In her first YA novel, Firkins, a playwright, screenwriter, and comics artist, offers a modernized, prudently pared-down retelling of Jane Austen’s Mansfield Park. Three years after her single mother’s death, 17-year-old Edie leaves foster care in Ithaca, N.Y., to live with her wealthy aunt and uncle and their two spoiled teenage daughters in Mansfield, Mass. Her intent is to “bury her head in her books” and hopefully win a scholarship to college, but her status-conscious cousins have other plans; they want to make her over so that she’ll fit into their upper-crust society. Meanwhile, Edie is sidetracked by attention from two potential love interests: childhood friend and next-door neighbor Sebastian, who unfortunately already has a beautiful girlfriend, and handsome Henry, who has a reputation for being a player. Part steamy romance, part comedy of manners, the story effectively mirrors Austen’s writing style with its sharp-witted dialogue and gentle pokes at society. Trapped in a superficial world, Edie emerges as a noble, genuine heroine, who (usually) remembers to follow her late mother’s advice: “If you let your heart drive, don’t forget to bring your brain.” Ages 14–up. [em](Dec.) [/em]