The great unknowable end
(Book)

Book Cover
Average Rating
Published
New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, [2019].
ISBN
9781534420502, 1534420509
Status

Description

Slater, Kansas, is a small town where not much seems to happen. Stella dreams of being a space engineer. After Stella's mom dies by suicide and her brother runs off to Red Sun, the local hippie commune, Stella is forced to bring her dreams down to earth to care for her sister, Jill. Galliard has only ever known life inside Red Sun. There, people accept his tics, his Tourette's. But when he's denied Red Sun's resident artist role, which he believed he was destined for, he starts to imagine a life beyond the gates of the compound... The day Stella and Galliard meet, there is something in the air in their small town. Literally. So begin weeks of pink lightning, bloodred rain, unexplained storms...And a countdown clock appears mysteriously above the town hall. With time ticking down to some great unknowable end they'll each have to make a choice. If this is really the end of the world, who do they want to be when they face it?

Copies

LocationCall NumberStatus
Bridgeview Public Library - StacksYA ORMOn Shelf
Downers Grove Public Library - 2nd Floor - TeenTEEN FICTION ORMSBEE, K.On Shelf
Villa Park Public Library - Juvenile FictionYF ORMOn Shelf
Woodridge Public Library - Teen FictionTEEN FICTION ORMSBEEOn Shelf

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More Details

Published
New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, [2019].
Format
Book
Physical Desc
387 pages ; 22 cm
Language
English
ISBN
9781534420502, 1534420509
Lexile code
HL
Lexile measure
710

Notes

Description
Slater, Kansas, is a small town where not much seems to happen. Stella dreams of being a space engineer. After Stella's mom dies by suicide and her brother runs off to Red Sun, the local hippie commune, Stella is forced to bring her dreams down to earth to care for her sister, Jill. Galliard has only ever known life inside Red Sun. There, people accept his tics, his Tourette's. But when he's denied Red Sun's resident artist role, which he believed he was destined for, he starts to imagine a life beyond the gates of the compound... The day Stella and Galliard meet, there is something in the air in their small town. Literally. So begin weeks of pink lightning, bloodred rain, unexplained storms...And a countdown clock appears mysteriously above the town hall. With time ticking down to some great unknowable end they'll each have to make a choice. If this is really the end of the world, who do they want to be when they face it?
Target Audience
HL710L Lexile

Published Reviews

Publisher's Weekly Review

Strange things are happening in Slater, Kans., in the summer of 1977. Animals are dying and strong winds are blowing. There's pink lightning and red rain, and a hologram countdown clock appears above the town hall, indicating that something significant will happen on August 19. But for 17-year-old Stella, the world began feeling off-kilter before the weather changed, since her mother committed suicide and her older brother ran away to join Red Sun, the local commune. She'd like to become a space engineer, but she's stuck helping her little sister and working two jobs. Meanwhile, inside the commune, lifelong resident Galliard, who has recently fallen out with Stella's brother, has begun to think that Red Sun is less idyllic than he has always believed and wants to see what lies outside, a desire that draws him to Stella. Told in alternating perspectives by Stella and Galliard, Ormebee (Tash Hearts Tolstoy) skillfully parallels nature's disturbances with her characters' internal turmoil to create a suspenseful story about self-discovery and following one's dreams amid a life's complications. Ages 12-up. Agent: Beth Phelan, Gallt & Zacker Literary Agency. (Feb.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
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Horn Book Review

In 1977 Kansas, Stella works at the drive-in and takes care of her little sister Jill, foregoing college; Galliard has Tourette's and wants to become the resident musician for the commune he calls home. Wild meteorological events and a doomsday countdown clock bring them together. The story's disparate elements strain to hold together, but the emotional relationships between characters ring true. (c) Copyright 2021. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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Kirkus Book Review

An ordinary Kansas town experiences the extraordinary over the summer of 1977.When 17-year-old Stella's brother left the family two years ago for Red Sun, a nearby commune, Stella had to abandon her dreams of becoming an engineer to take care of her little sister while their father worked long hours. Galliard, a 16-year-old musician with Tourette's, was the first person born and raised at Red Sun. When Galliard's application for resident artist is denied, he does something he's never done: considers life Outside. Then several unusual things happen: pink lightning streaks through the sky, blood-red rain soaks the ground, and oddest of all, a clock appears, projected by an unseen source, on the face of the town halland on Stella's closet door. The titular unknowable end refers not only to the mysterious countdown, but also to the teens' futures. CanwillStella and Galliard (who take turns narrating) forge new paths for themselves, or will they remain stuck in their respective traps? Whoor whatis responsible for the countdown, and what will happen when time runs out? Drive-in showings of Star Wars, the dawn of the punk-rock explosion, the final days of Son of Sam's reign of terror, and the death of Elvis are just some of the events firmly grounding the story in reality. Assume whiteness throughout. Realism with a hint of science fiction will inspire readers to question their own trajectories. (Historical fiction. 13-18) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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Citations

APA Citation, 7th Edition (style guide)

Ormsbee, K. (2019). The great unknowable end (First edition.). Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Chicago / Turabian - Author Date Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)

Ormsbee, Kathryn. 2019. The Great Unknowable End. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

Chicago / Turabian - Humanities (Notes and Bibliography) Citation, 17th Edition (style guide)

Ormsbee, Kathryn. The Great Unknowable End New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2019.

Harvard Citation (style guide)

Ormsbee, K. (2019). The great unknowable end. First edn. New York: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers.

MLA Citation, 9th Edition (style guide)

Ormsbee, Kathryn. The Great Unknowable End First edition., Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, 2019.

Note! Citations contain only title, author, edition, publisher, and year published. Citations should be used as a guideline and should be double checked for accuracy. Citation formats are based on standards as of August 2021.

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