Bryant, Sharon

Sharon Haanes

PERSONAL: Born in ME. Education: Vermont College, M.F.A.

ADDRESSES: Home—ME. Agent—c/o Author Mail, HarperCollins Publishers, 10 E. 53rd St., 7th Fl., New York, NY 10022.

CAREER: Writer.

WRITINGS:

The Earth Kitchen (novel; for young readers), Harper-Collins (New York, NY), 2002.

SIDELIGHTS: In her debut novel for young readers, The Earth Kitchen, Sharon Bryant chose the challenging topic of mental illness. The book is set in the 1960s and involves Gwen, a twelve-year-old girl who was orphaned at six. Since then, she has been under psychiatric care because she has been slipping in and out of mental illness. To cope with her parents' death in a car accident, Gwen, who imagines that their deaths were actually the result of an atomic bomb, creates a fantasy world called the Earth Kitchen that is inspired by her comforting memories of her beloved aunt. The environment at the hospital is not as emotionally supportive as she needs, though she enjoys the rare visits from Dr. Stone. The nurses are not as helpful as her psychiatrist, and the hospital's regular air-raid drills—it is the height of the Cold War and fear of a nuclear attack is always in the background—push Gwen deeper into her fantasy-land psychosis.

The story ends with Gwen eventually emerging from her illness, a development reviewers felt offered young audiences a positive message of hope. However, a number of critics believed that Bryant's complex narrative in which fantasy and reality are blended would confuse less sophisticated readers. "This is a complex book that may require too much of its audience," School Library Journal contributor Bruce Ann Shook stated. A Kirkus Reviews writer similarly commented that "confusion can arise" from the challenging use of a mentally ill person's point of view. However, the reviewer added that the novel is still a "suspenseful and thought-provoking piece." Several critics also complimented Bryant's writing skill, with Joanna Rudge Long asserting in the Horn Book Magazine that the tale is "vividly and concretely evoked"; a Publishers Weekly contributor concluded that the narrative is "sensually written."

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

Book World, May 12, 2002, review of The Earth Kitchen, p. 12; December 1, 2002, review of The Earth Kitchen, p. 6.

Horn Book Guide, fall, 2002, review of The Earth Kitchen, p. 368.

Horn Book Magazine, March-April, 2002, Joanna Rudge Long, review of The Earth Kitchen, p. 208.

Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 2002, review of The Earth Kitchen, p. 407.

Publishers Weekly, January 28, 2002, review of The Earth Kitchen, p. 292.

School Library Journal, March, 2002, Bruce Ann Shook, review of The Earth Kitchen, p. 225.

Voice of Youth Advocates, April, 2002, review of The Earth Kitchen, p. 38.