My Name Is Venus Black

November 20, 2017
Lloyd’s moving debut explores the reverberations of a crime and its aftermath for a teen girl and her family. Venus Black is 13 years old, a seemingly normal teen and good student, when she shoots and kills her stepfather Raymond and is sent to prison. Venus won’t talk about why she committed the crime. Shortly after, her developmentally disabled little brother, Leo, to whom she is very close, goes missing. In 1986, at 19, Venus is released, and she’s desperate to start over. Taking a new name, she makes a life for herself in Seattle, attracting the eye of a local cop, Danny, and befriending her landlord’s nine-year-old niece, Piper, but thoughts of Leo still haunt her. Not knowing whether he’s alive or dead is excruciating, and her overbearing mother, Inez, desperately wants to make amends for the events that led to the shooting. Just as Venus gets settled, information comes to light about Leo’s disappearance that threatens her delicately balanced new life. Lloyd portrays Leo sensitively and adroitly brings the resilient Venus to life, but the narrative is marred at times by clunky prose and too-neat solutions. Still, this is a satisfying tale about family, forgiveness, and moving on, and will have crossover appeal for older teens. Agent: Jane von Mehren, Aevitas Creative.

November 15, 2017
The story of two siblings, estranged after an incident that throws their lives off the rails.In Everett, Washington, in 1980, 13-year-old Venus Black shoots her stepfather in the head. When she goes to a juvenile detention center, she leaves behind her younger brother, Leo, who has developmental differences. He is 7 "but acts more like he's 3 or 4" and has extreme and adverse reactions to loud noises, being touched, colors that aren't right, and disruptions of his routine. Venus is the only one who can calm him, and when she's arrested, he is inconsolable, unable to understand where she's gone and why he's staying with a neighbor. When he's kidnapped a few days later, it is Venus who's inconsolable, unable to forgive her mother, Inez, for this carelessness or for the ignorance and dismissiveness which triggered the murder. The rest of the book follows the siblings' parallel stories. Venus spends five years in juvie for the murder of her stepfather. When she's released, she attempts to build a new life for herself in Seattle, avoiding her mother and her past altogether. Using a fake name, she gets a job at a bakery and a run-down room to live in with a patchwork family--a man named Mike and his niece, Piper. Meanwhile, Leo's kidnapper has abandoned him, luckily to a father and daughter, Tony and Tessa, who love him very much and care for him compassionately. Over the course of the novel, it becomes very clear why Venus killed her stepfather and why she has such a hard time accepting the affection of male strangers. It also becomes clear that crime and punishment is not black and white, that we all have survival instincts beyond what we might imagine we're capable of, and that kinship can look nothing like a nuclear family and still harbor profound love. The plot follows all-too-convenient points to a predictably saccharine end, but it's impossible not to root for this strong, willful girl as she finds her place in the world and for her brother as he tries to make sense of it.A badass bildungsroman.

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February 1, 2018

Readers first meet Venus Black, age 13, in 1980 Washington State, as she is locked up in juvenile detention after a horrific event involving her stepfather, Raymond. The only positive aspect of her self-absorbed mother Inez's marriage to Ray is her developmentally disabled stepbrother Leo, whom Venus loves fiercely. Venus committed her crime out of a desperate attempt to ensure Leo's and her own safety. A few days after she is incarcerated, Leo disappears. Six years later, at age 19, Venus is released, determined to start over under an assumed name. She rents a room from Mike and grudgingly agrees to babysit his precocious nine-year-old niece, Piper, whom she eventually comes to love like a sister. When Piper moves away, Venus decides to find Leo, no matter the cost to herself or Inez. During her search, she also meets Danny, a determined cop who loves her despite her troubled past. VERDICT Fans of realistic coming-of-age fiction will enjoy Lloyd's fast-paced first novel for the freshly drawn original characters, compelling story line, and beautiful tribute to the healing power of love. It's bound to have crossover appeal to older YA readers.--Laura Jones, Argos Community Schs., IN

Copyright 2018 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2018
Lloyd's debut novel is charming, touching, and a host of other adjectives not often associated with a murderous 13-year-old. The book's ominous opening skips over how and why Venus Black killed her stepfather, cutting straight to the teenage protagonist landing in juvie. Days later, her seven-year-old autistic brother, Leo, is kidnapped. The siblings' mother, Inez, is suddenly without husband, daughter, or son. Through multiple perspectives, Lloyd tracks the Black family's separate paths over the next six years. Ex-con Venus seeks a fresh start with a new identity, but she struggles with the enormity of freedom. Grief-stricken Inez refuses to give up on either of her lost children, and routine-driven Leo is a victim of circumstance and a life thrown out of orbit. Lloyd's extraordinary plot is grounded in the complex, palpable emotions she exacts from her beautifully realized, heartwarming characters. A culminating series of reunions illuminate their richness and humanity as they confront guilt, blame, and forgiveness. Lloyd's vivid, superbly crafted novel will have wide appeal.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)