Evidence of V: A Novel in Fragments, Facts, and Fictions
Winner of Minnesota Book Award for Novel and Short Story
Winner 2019 Foreword Indies Editor’s Choice Prize Fiction
Winner 2019 Independent Publishers Gold Medal Best Regional Fiction
Marshall Project Best Criminal Justice Books of 2019
Entropy Best Fiction Books 2019
In an ambitious blend of fact and fiction, including family secrets, documents from the era, and a thin, fragmentary case file unsealed by the court, novelist Sheila O’Connor tells the riveting story of V, a talented fifteen-year-old singer in 1930s Minneapolis who aspires to be a star. Drawing on the little-known American practice of incarcerating adolescent girls for “immorality” in the first half of the twentieth century, O’Connor follows young V from her early work as a nightclub entertainer to her subsequent six-year state school sentence for an unplanned pregnancy. As V struggles to survive within a system only nominally committed to rescue and reform, she endures injustices that will change the course of her life and the lives of her descendants. Inspired by O’Connor’s research on her unknown maternal grandmother and the long-term effects of intergenerational trauma, Evidence of V: A Novel in Fragments, Facts, and Fictions is a poignant excavation of familial and national history that remains disturbingly relevant—a harrowing story of exploitation and erasure, and the infinite ways in which girls, past and present, are punished for crimes they didn’t commit. O’Connor’s collage novel offers an engaging balance between illuminating a shameful and hidden chapter of American history and captivating the reader with the vivid and unforgettable character of V.
PRAISE FOR EVIDENCE OF V
“In riveting juxtaposition of prose and historical research, O’Connor recreates an almost Atwoodian reality where girls, some as young as eight or nine, were labeled “sex delinquents” and forced to reside in group homes designed to reform and domesticate them. . . . V’s harrowing tale highlights the stark reality of an all-too-recent past where victims of sexual abuse were scapegoated for their perpetrator’s crimes.” Publishers Weekly
“In trying to tell the story of V—a rebellious teenager with guts and smarts—Sheila O'Connor has written a novel that is as bold, non-compliant, and exceptional as its protagonist. The reader will root for V as she endures alienation, loss, and institutional cruelties (just to name a few of her struggles), but the reader will also root for O'Connor, who, as a writer and descendant of V, uses her artistry, intellect, and affecting literary powers to try to know what is ultimately unknowable. In the end, Evidence of V is both a novel and an ontological question, as in, is it possible to know (truly know) who and where we come from, and if not, what stories will we invent to fill that void?"—Nami Mun, author of Miles from Nowhere
“Written in compelling, creative, and near poetic prose, O’Connor vividly introduces the reader to V—a promising 15-year-old singer in 1930s Minnesota, sentenced to a reformatory for sexual delinquency. O’Connor uses a mix of fiction with historical case file information to illustrate the myriad ways such facilities exploited, misunderstood, silenced, and traumatized young women who were deemed insolent, damaged, and mendacious. Kin to Girl, Interrupted, Evidence of V gives a keen sense of how we have punished (and continue to punish) girls for non-criminal violations, often in a misguided effort to ‘rescue and save.’” — Lisa Pasko, author of The Female Offender: Girls, Women, and Crime
“With grace and aplomb, Sheila O’Connor's Evidence of V: A Novel in Fragments, Facts, and Fictions shines a bright literary light on a dark page of American history. To every “tuff” girl, to every girl who ran wild or got in trouble, to every girl who had to make her own way or raise herself, and to every adult who ever knew such a girl, O’Connor’s new novel is for you. O’Connor tells the story of her grandmother V, institutionalized for her sexuality. When our power is too great, when shaming doesn’t work, when they don’t know what else to do, they lock us up. V is our grandmother, our auntie, our long-ago sister, and defiant best friend. V is us.” — Maureen Gibbon, author of Paris Red
“Evidence of V is unlike anything I have ever read. Exhilarating, heart-breaking, and haunting, the experience of V’s life and times scintillates and sears long afterward. Part mystery novel, poem cycle, police report, ethnographic study, noir screenplay, historical account, existential spreadsheet, medical report, legal history, hometown newspaper article, meta-feminist account, writer’s diary, literary collage, psychological assessment, family memoir, social criticism, and several other forms that are uncategorizable, by the end, the reader realizes, through Sheila O’Connor’s masterful artistry, that at the heart of the ‘lie’ of this fiction, lurk deeper truths—that our ancestors and their traumas can never fully be known to us and each of our family histories is a complicated mix of truth and lore and absence.” — Ed Bok Lee, author of Mitochondrial Night
Until Tomorrow, Mr. Marsworth
NCSS-CBC Notable Social Studies 2019 List
Lectio Book Award List for 2019-2020 (Texas)
Maine Student Book Award Nominee 2019-2020
Sequoyah Intermediate Book Award Nominee 2020 (Oklahoma State Award)
Childrens Book Review Best Kids Novels 2018
Midwest Booksellers Choice Awards Finalist
“This heart-tugging story is told entirely in letters, mostly between the loquacious Reenie and her elderly customer, hers in faux hand printing on lined-paper backgrounds and his typed. These letters demonstrate their growing friendship as well as Reenie’s developing activism and increasing understanding of what nonviolence really entails. Moving and thought-provoking.” —Kirkus Review
“In this Vietnam-era epistolary novel, O’Connor (Sparrow Road) introduces a sweet and unexpected intergenerational friendship. . . . The close-up on the remarkable relationship between Reenie and Mr. Marsworth shines here, as do the larger historical insights and the book’s resonant themes of pacifism and patriotism.” —Publishers Weekly
“…beautifully rendered through letters between an intrepid 11-year-old and an elderly pacifist. This is sweet story about a girl trying to save her brother from the draft. But it is also a significant historical tale about war, bullies, peace, friendship and family…. The intrigue comes together in an ending that deftly connects the dots and arouses both sympathy and joy for these very fine characters.” —StarTribune
“…weighty subject matter emerges in this tale told entirely through the correspondence between Reenie and Mr. Marsworth. O’Connor poses a question about pacifism in this novel: is it a lofty opposition to war or can it be practiced in daily life…” —VOYA
“This historical novel doesn’t shy away from hard truths about war and life, so keep a Kleenex box handy as you read it. . . . An excellent choice for a class read-aloud or literature circle selection to discuss the ramifications of war and the price that is paid for it.” School Library Journal; Recommended.
“Set during the summer of 1968, a profound relationship develops between Mr. Marsworth, an elderly recluse (and draft dodger). . . . There are numerous threads to this story, stunning secrets revealed, and various perspectives on the Vietnam War represented. All of the characters are well-drawn, distinct, and memorable, plus there are very provocative, discussion-worthy themes.” —Mark Adam, Mrs. Nelson’s Book Fair Company, Pomona, CA
INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE ABOUT SHEILA? OR, DOING A REPORT ON UNTIL TOMORROW, MR. MARSWORTH? CHECK OUT THESE INTERVIEWS.
On Penpals and Protests: Barnes and Noble Interview with Sheila O'Connor
My Writing and Reading Life: Children’s Book Review Interview with Sheila O’Connor
Where No Gods Came
Winner Minnesota Book Award
Winner Michigan Award for Literary Fiction
Barnes & Noble Discover Great New Writers
"With character studies reminiscent of James Baldwin's masterwork Go Tell It on the Mountain, O'Connor suffuses her imagined world with such feeling that readers live the pages more than read them. A flawlessly nuanced work of fiction with a steadily increasing intensity, Where No Gods Came is a brilliant work of storytelling..." — The Barnes & Noble Review Discover Great New Writers
"A sensitive, often disquieting book that rings true throughout. . . . It's the skill of an accomplished writer that we see Faina's extraordinary spirit, while simultaneously experiencing her pain and despair. The end result is an uplifting, even inspiring book without any of the sugarcoating often found in stories like this." — California Literary Review
"...a touching odyssey of a girl poised between the emotional abyss and the reader's heart." — Minneapolis Star and Tribune
"Written with precision and perception, this is a highly recommended work from a writer to watch." — Library Journal
"...a fresh and moving coming-of-age novel, a memorable portrait of the artist a scrawny young girl...Faina is a fairy-tale heroine, the dark haired younger sister exiled in an alien land, unwanted, dressed in her sister's discarded granny gowns and cracked-vinyl boots, consigned not to sweeping cinders exactly but to scrubbing her mother's puke in a dingy apartment. If Where No Gods Came is a kind of fairy tale, it's the real thing, as told by Grimm not Disney, full of real menace, sharp edges and rough corners, strangeness and, ultimately, the possibility of grace. It's a story about the power of love and guts and imagination to sustain a skinny kid in a hard world." — Buffalo News
"The various voices ring true. Ms. O'Connor writes of family and love and loss and youth at risk and hard-earned pleasure; she does so with a noticing eye and tone-perfect ear. Her sense of the landscape here described—both actual and metaphorical—is keen, and her language self-assured. This is a fine, fierce book." — Nicholas Delbanco; Michigan Literary Award Judge; In the Name of Mercy; Old Scores; What Remains
"Above all Where No Gods Came is a novel about resiliency and hope; that at the end of all the darkness, personal courage and trust prevail; that grace is a story of transcendence, in whatever limited human form it may take; and that for every Faina of our world, there are a hundred more—girls of fierce intelligence and determination stuck in unfortunate circumstances. It is a story for our time."— Three Candles, Steve Mueske, Editor
"Fervent and despairing and truth-hard, this novel kept me spellbound, hurtling toward a hoped-for redemption." — Susan Straight, Highwire Moon
"In Where No Gods Came, Sheila O'Connor fearlessly takes us inside a family long past the breaking point, reminding us of the power of love, the pain of separation, and introducing me to one of the most compelling young women I've met in a long time. Resilient, vulnerable and with a heart as big as they come, Faina McCoy will break your heart. I didn't want her story to end." — David Haynes, All American Dream Dolls; Live at Five; Somebody Else's Mama
"Sheila O'Connor's beautifully readable novel about young girls living close to the precipice is truthful, tough and filled with delicate hope. She shows how we all survive by inches, by grace." — Maureen Gibbon, Paris Red
"This is a beautifully written story about the ways in which people find the strength to move on—physically, emotionally and spiritually. Long after the last page is turned, you’ll find yourself thinking about the people who have graced them. Faina’s strength stays with me." — Jacqueline Woodson
Keeping Safe the Stars
Midwest Booksellers Choice Award
“A compelling story about what it means to love fiercely.” —Booklist
"Choosing an unusual setting—the 1974 summer of Nixon's resignation—O'Connor skillfully tackles complex issues of truth and loyalty in a story filled with adventure, suspense, and family drama… A thought-provoking page-turner." —Publisher's Weekly (Starred)
“Family loyalty, stubbornness and love in a…totally satisfying blend.” —Kirkus Review (Starred)
“The characters are well-developed and authentic, and their resourcefulness and fierce family loyalty are admirable. Set during the last few days of Nixon’s administration, Keeping Safe the Stars brings up questions of morality and explores the notion of trying to do what is best for one’s family.”—VOYA (Starred)
“Fans of O'Connor's finely written "Sparrow Road" will find even more to admire in this warmhearted novel.” —Minneapolis Star Tribune
“…it’s a marvel to watch these three children band together — and to be there when they, and Old Finn, realize that even the most fiercely independent of us will eventually have to rely on other people to make it through.” —New York Times Sunday Book Review
“Keeping Safe the Stars is a compelling story that will stay with you long after you finish the last page.” —Cindy Hudson Mother Daughter Book Club
Tokens of Grace
"Tokens of Grace accomplishes something extraordinary; it looks without blinking and speaks without pretension."
—New York Times Book Review
"40 splendid vignettes to examine one year in the childhood of two young girls. And because we care so much about these characters, we come away wondering what became of them in later years." — Cleveland Plain Dealer
"Tokens of Grace carries a big sweet cry that lingers." — Minnesota Daily
"A sensitive portrait of change, readjustment, and growth." — ALA Booklist
". . . a powerful haunting collection of stories." — The Sunday Independent
"No resolution presents itself; life simply continues with its moments of terror and of grace. O'Connor captures both the toughness and fragility of memory in this many faceted exploration of one young girl's coming of age." — Hurricane Alice
"There is nothing minimal in this small book called Tokens of Grace. These vignettes are pure distillations of memory, the kind of momentous moments one only meets in childhood. As they accrue, one realizes none of these moments has passed without each germinating its own see of belief--a story is growing and the story is a forest in which many of us have lived. Sheila O'Connor should rest content that, in this venture, she has expressed the inexpressible experience." — Mary LaChapelle, House of Heroes
Sparrow Road
International Reading Association Award
Midwest Booksellers Choice Awards Finalist
Voya Best Book
Booklist Best Book
Chicago Public Library Best of the Best
Bank Street Best Books
“Sparrow Road…the crumbling country estate, a former orphanage, is a place readers will want to explore. It is suffused with a sense of longing, the same wistful atmosphere surrounding the characters in this beautifully written novel, with its leisurely revelation of secrets and sad events of the past…. Readers finding themselves in this quiet world will find plenty of space to imagine and dream for themselves.” — Kirkus Review (Starred)
"That O'Connor can write a book with essentially only one young character and have the result be a timeless piece of middle-grade fiction is a tribute to her understanding that emotions are universal, no matter how old we are, and that art is a balm that has the ability to soothe all wounds. A special book". — Booklist (Starred)
“With believable characters and lyrical first-person narrative, O'Connor skillfully explores the complexities of mother-daughter relationships with sensitivity and humor in this charming coming-of-age story.” –The Family Beat
“…the strength of even imperfect human connections is celebrated through the relationships among a multitude of vivid and varied characters.” — Recommended Review The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
"Lyrical writing in this first-person narrative, good character development, and a sympathetic heroine will keep readers absorbed." — School Library Journal
“An artist compound with no other children in sight may seem an unusual setting for a young adult novel. But O'Connor, a longtime poet with the Writer-in-the-Schools program who teaches fiction in the MFA program at Hamline University, is at her best when she's showing how these artists reveal themselves to their young visitor.” — Minneapolis Star Tribune
"If you love mysterious, stunning, entertaining, mind-blowing books this one is just for you!" — New Moon Girls
"Sparrow Road by Sheila O’Connor is a beautifully told coming of age story ... I highly recommend it for mother-daughter book clubs with girls aged 9 to 12 or even up to 14." — Mother Daughter Bookclub; Cindy Hudson
"Sparrow Road is a book that strikes—and gentles—with Truth. Here is a world of Sorrow and Comfort, crafted by an artist who dares to suggest, without sentimentality but with a hard-nosed realism, that a broken world can be renewed through love and daring and community and art. What a sweet and hopeful and engaging story." —Gary Schmidt, Newbery Honor-winning author of Lizzie Bright and the Buckminster Boy and The Wednesday Wars
"Sparrow Road has restored my faith in middle grade fiction…a beautiful ode to creativity, kindness and the power of forgiveness."—Collette Morgan; Wild Rumpus Book Store
"Sparrow Road is a place for wishing long and dreaming, and so is this terrific novel. Sparrow Road is quite wonderful and I recommend it highly."—Karen Cushman author of the Newbery Medal-winning, The Midwife’s Apprentice, and the Newbery Honor-winning Catherine, Called Birdy
"Sparrow Road has everything I could ask for in a novel – mysteries, secrets, a creepy mansion with a haunting past, a cast of unforgettable characters, and a twisting tale of self-discovery."—Ann Martin, Newbery Honor-winning author of A Corner of the Universe
