The Chaos

Starred review from March 5, 2012
Mixing mythology and massively ­surreal events, adult fantasy author Hop­kinson (The Salt Roads) explores questions of identity and image in her YA debut, set against the backdrop of a world gone mad. Canadian 16-year-old Sojourner “Scotch” Smith is trying to find her place, with her mixed Jamaican, black, and white heritage making it hard for her to fit in. Her relationships with her family, friends, and ex are in flux, weird black spots are growing on her skin, and she sees floating horse heads wherever she goes. Then, in a heartbeat, the planet is thrown into bedlam, with reality running wild and nightmares stalking the streets (“in London, Big Ben was now blowing giant soap bubbles.... There appeared to be a new island off the coast of Jamaica, and it seemed to be made of gumdrops”). Scotch must find her lost friends and family and come to terms with her own changing nature in a journey filled with peril, self-discovery, and terrifying moments. Hopkinson’s use of language and imagery is almost magical, and her characters add much-appreciated diversity to the genre. Ages 14–up. Agent: Donald Maass, Donald Maass Literary Agency.

April 1, 2012

Gr 9 Up-Scotch, a Toronto high school student of Jamaican, white, and black heritage, struggles to find her identity. She recently changed schools because of bullying, her parents are strict to the point of alienating her, her older brother recently got out of prison, she just went through a bad breakup, and the head of her dance team is preparing to kick her off for missing too many practices. As if this weren't enough, Scotch has to hide the fact that she is seeing mysterious floating horse heads (which she calls the Horseless Head Men) and that her body is becoming covered in rubbery black spots. Then The Chaos descends, heralded by a volcano popping up in the middle of Lake Ontario, and suddenly everyone is seeing the Horseless Head Men, and much, much more. Mythical creatures like Sasquatch are casually walking around, escalators are looping around like Escher drawings, and Baba Yaga's chicken house is terrorizing the streets. Frantic to find her missing brother, Scotch discovers that her black spots are growing so quickly that soon she will be unrecognizable. The action moves quickly but lacks grounding. There is no cause given for the global chaos, or why Scotch was affected before everyone else. Hints that The Chaos is somehow connected to her identity struggle render the worldwide devastation, and therefore much of the plot, meaningless. Hopkinson shows a strong understanding of how questions of identity and sexuality loom in Scotch's life, but this tale of magical realism gone haywire will leave most readers scratching their heads.-Eliza Langhans, Hatfield Public Library, MA

Copyright 2012 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

Starred review from May 1, 2012
Grades 9-12 *Starred Review* Award-winning author Hopkinson's YA debut begins like the standard outsider-with-issues talewell, mostly. Sure, 16-year-old, multiracial Scotch Smith is fighting with her best friend over an ex-boyfriend, and the 'rents are driving her nuts, but it's those tar-black blemishes that the doctor can't cure and her visions of floating horse heads that really worry her. Then the world is enveloped by the Chaos, and the story sails off into something weirdly wonderful. A huge erupting bubble absorbs her brother, a volcano rises out of a lake, and a smelly Sasquatch walks the streets of Scotch's hometown of Toronto. As streetlights turn into giant yellow highlighters, grass turns to cheese, and Big Ben sings dirty songs, Scotch realizes that everyone can now see the madness they all carry around with them. Frantic to save her brother, Scotch dodges a toothed tar ball as she races around the city, assisted by Baba Yaga. Hopkinson, who grew up in the Caribbean, mixes Jamaican legends, fairy tales, and sheer imagination to create this wildly inventive story that also skillfully addresses essential teen subjects: change, race, identity, love, and understanding cultural differences. Labels are impossible here, so just hand this refreshingly original treat to teens eager for something completely different.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)

Starred review from March 1, 2012
Noted for her fantasy and science fiction for adults, Hopkinson jumps triumphantly to teen literature. Scotch's womanly build and mixed heritage (white Jamaican dad, black American mom) made her the target of small-town school bullies. Since moving to Toronto, she's found friends and status. Now both are threatened by the mysterious sticky black spots on her skin (she hides them under her clothes but they're growing). When a giant bubble appears at an open-mic event, Scotch dares her brother, Rich, to touch it. He disappears, a volcano rises from Lake Ontario and chaos ripples across city and world, transforming reality in ways bizarre and hilarious, benign and malignant. A lesbian folksinger with Tamil roots becomes a purple triangle with an elephant's trunk; jelly beans grow teeth; buried streams resurface. Scotch searches for Rich across a surreal, sensual cityscape informed by Caribbean and Russian folklore. Although what they represent and where they come are open to interpretation, the manifestations are real to everyone and must be dealt with. Hopkinson opens her YA debut conventionally but soon finds her own path, creating a unique vocabulary with which to explore and express personal identity in its myriad forms and fluidity. Anything but essentialist, she captures her characters in the act of becoming. Rich in voice, humor and dazzling imagery, studded with edgy ideas and wildly original, this multicultural mashup--like its heroine--defies category. (Fantasy. 12 & up)

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July 1, 2012
Scotch just wants to cure the strange sticky black spots on her skin and win the local dance-off. But when a volcano erupts in Lake Ontario throwing Toronto into chaos, she must navigate a hallucinogenic world to make things right. Although the multicultural cast is likable and relatable, the various plot threads never quite coalesce into a harmonious whole.

(Copyright 2012 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)