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Beth Kephart
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Dangerous Neighbors Hardcover – August 24, 2010

by Beth Kephart (Author)
4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 13 ratings
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It is 1876, the year of the Centennial in Philadelphia. Katherine has lost her twin sister Anna in a tragic skating accident.  One wickedly hot September day, Katherine sets out for the exhibition grounds to cut short the haunted life she no longer wants to live.

Filled with vivid detail that artfully brings the past to life, National Book Award nominee Beth Kepart's DANGEROUS NEIGHBORS is a timeless and finely crafted novel about betrayal and guilt, hope and despair, love, loss, and new beginnings.

Publisher’s Weekly Starred Review
Set in Philadelphia against the back-drop of the 1876 Centennial Exhibition (the first World’s Fair in the U.S.), this atmospheric novel traces the sentiments of grief-stricken Katherine, whose identical twin sister, Anna, died in a tragic accident earlier in the year.  As the novel opens, Katherine, who feels responsible for Anna’s death, has decided to take her own life.  Again and again, she is drawn to the exhibition grounds.  Here, futuristic marvels and unexpected events-including a disastrous fire- detain her from completing her suicidal mission.  Losing herself in a throng of strangers, she examines her past, recalling the development of her sister’s secret romance with a “dangerous neighbor” and the final sequence of events that led to Anna’s death.  Conjuring sharp, meticulously detailed images of fair exhibitions (“The wonders of the world slide past.  Parisian corsets cavorting on their pedestals.  Vases on lacquered shelves.  Folding beds.  Walls of cutlery.  The sweetest assortment of sugar-colored pills, all set to sail on a yacht”), Kephart (The Heart is Not a Size) evokes a tantalizing portrait of love, remorse, and redemption.  Ages 12-up.  (Aug.)
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Previous page
  1. Reading age
    12 - 15 years
  2. Print length
    192 pages
  3. Language
    English
  4. Grade level
    7 - 9
  5. Lexile measure
    930L
  6. Dimensions
    6.12 x 0.76 x 8.52 inches
  7. Publisher
    EgmontUSA
  8. Publication date
    August 24, 2010
  9. ISBN-10
    1606840800
  10. ISBN-13
    978-1606840801
  11. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Gr 6-10–Although born 20 minutes after her twin sister, 17-year-old Katherine has always been the rescuer, the watcher, the caretaker of the two. When readers meet her, she is disconsolate from Anna's death the winter before. She has plans to end her own life as her guilt and loneliness can't seem to be assuaged. The story of her emotional journey is set against a colorful cacophony of the 1876 Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. Katherine wanders through throngs of tourists, buskers, and hawkers. Her first plan, to jump from the rooftop of a balconied tower in the “Paris by Night” Colosseum, is stopped by Bennett, the baker's boy whom Anna had loved. As Katherine struggles with her memories of the once-complete relationship with her sister that was forced to make room for a third, her feelings of alienation and her failure to protect the one she cherished most intensify, and she is drawn again and again into the false world of the Exhibition. Ultimately, it is through chance meetings with “dangerous neighbors” and caring strangers that Katherine begins to consider the possibilities of her own life going forward. Her forgiveness of Bennett and herself gives birth to a sense of hope and helps this tenderly crafted story end with a positive spin. Kephart has painted a vivid picture of the Exhibition. Readers can practically smell the roasted peanuts and feel the bruise of crowds shoving by as she creates a lively setting against which a quiet, desperate struggle is played out.Karen Elliott, Grafton High School, WI
© Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

From Booklist

Set against the backdrop of the 1876 Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition, where new innovations in ice-cream and elevators were presented to a rapt nation, National Book Award finalist Kephart’s novel tells a powerful story of twin sisters, Anna and Katherine, who are warned by their father to take care of each other and to avoid their dangerous neighbors. Convinced of their invincibility, the girls ignore their parent’s cautions, and Anna begins a surreptitious love affair with a baker’s son, a romance that isolates Katherine, who gradually refuses to be responsible for her sister’s welfare. Kephart gradually unwinds the tragic story, which begins with Katherine’s grief over her separation from her sister, a separation that is only fully explained well into the story. Beautifully crafted and carefully researched, Kephart’s challenging novel captures the essence of a single historic event, including its seamy underbelly, while exploring the universality of love, grief, guilt, and the mysterious twin connection. Grades 8-12. --Frances Bradburn

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ EgmontUSA; First Edition (August 24, 2010)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 192 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1606840800
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1606840801
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 12 - 15 years
  • Lexile measure ‏ : ‎ 930L
  • Grade level ‏ : ‎ 7 - 9
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.12 x 0.76 x 8.52 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.3 4.3 out of 5 stars 13 ratings

About the author

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Beth Kephart

Beth Kephart

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Beth Kephart, a National Book Award finalist and winner of multiple grants and literary prizes, works in a range of genres—memoir, fiction, picture books, poetry, and memoir workbooks. She is an award-winning teacher at the University of Pennsylvania; a frequent guest speaker and workshop leader; a reviewer and contest judge; and a widely published essayist with work appearing in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Life, Catapult, Ninth Letter, Salon.com, and elsewhere. Her new books are We Are the Words: The Master Memoir Class, And I Paint It: Henriette Wyeth's World, Wife | Daughter | Self: A Memoir in Essays, and Cloud Hopper. More at bethkephartbooks.com.

Customer reviews

4.3 out of 5 stars
4.3 out of 5
13 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Anna Lefler
5.0 out of 5 stars A complex, intense gem of a book
Reviewed in the United States on October 2, 2010
Verified Purchase
As the general plot of DANGEROUS NEIGHBORS has been nicely summarized by several reviewers already, I won't include another recap here.

Rather, I would just like to comment on the fact that I don't believe there's another YA author out there today who's writing books with the deft emotional touch that Ms. Kephart possesses.

One of the things I love about Ms. Kephart's books is that the main character is not the most colorful person in the room, nor the most boisterous. In other words - it's not the person one might expect. Her main characters may be shy, frightened or even damaged in some way, but that's where the storytelling begins. As Ms. Kephart reveals her characters through her lush and, at times, emotionally raw style, the reader is taken on an intimate and highly satisfying journey into the workings of an individual that, no matter the circumstances, illuminates aspects of human nature that resonate with all of us.

DANGEROUS NEIGHBORS provides the ideal counterpoint to many of the more trendy books at the opposite end of the YA spectrum by skillfully examining the timeless, emotional bonds that link us all through both pain and love.
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bookworm1858
3.0 out of 5 stars No connection to characters
Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2011
Dangerous Neighbors by Beth Kephart
Egmont, 2010
166 pages
YA; Historical
3/5 stars

Source: Library

Summary: Ever since Katherine's twin sister Anna died, she has felt alone and guilty of causing the death. In 1876, during the Centennial fair in Philadelphia, Katherine goes to the fairgrounds to end her own life.

Thoughts: As I had enjoyed one of Kephart's other books and had seen this title around the blogosphere, I decided to pick this book up. I was especially excited to see that it was set in Philadelphia in 1876 around the centennial. That is not a time period I'm very familiar with but I would like to learn more. Unfortunately I felt that the time period was not well utilized. The story could almost be set in any time period as the language and the few events that occur were generic.

Additionally because of the short length, I felt no connection to any of the characters. The main focus was Katherine and her now deceased twin sister Anna; other characters include Anna's secret beau Bennett, their parents, and maid. Anna, from what I read, was improper, rude, and insensitive to Katherine's concerns about her secret affair, an affair that could have ruined their family if discovered, I presume. Katherine, though, was somewhat controlling and needy toward Anna. No other character had a chance to develop a personality.

Admittedly this is a beautifully written book and if that's enjoyable for you, then give this a try. But it's not at all the kind of book I like.

Cover: I love the font of the title and while I didn't understand the shells, the explanation is revealed through the story.
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Megan
4.0 out of 5 stars Small novel that packs a big emotional punch
Reviewed in the United States on August 24, 2010
Beth Kephart's DANGEROUS NEIGHBORS is a slip of a novel that packs an emotional punch, and I don't think I was ready for the raw glimpse into what it really means to be "my sister's keeper." At less than 200 pages, the novel feels like a Polaroid snapshot -- and focuses exclusively on what has brought Katherine to a rooftop with no intention of returning to the ground the same way she came up.

From the start, Kephart's lyrical language had me completely entangled in the twins' story. As readers, we know Anna is gone from the very beginning -- but the circumstances remain a mystery. I liked that the facts were revealed slowly, like the unfolding of paper, and that we're introduced to each character in their own, sweet time. I've yet to encounter another novel that so perfectly captures the painful, heartache-inducing way in which sisters must grapple with one another moving forward in their lives -- and, in the process, pulling away from one another. With a sister three years my junior, I felt every word of what Kephart expressed about Katherine's perception of Bennett as a threat to the safe, secure and happy private life she had with Anna.

DANGEROUS NEIGHBORS is a novel of change; of growing up; of grief. It's Katherine's story of attempting to emerge from the darkest part of her life, but it's Anna's story, too -- Anna's vitality; her joy; but her cruelty, too. It's a glimpse at life in Philadelphia just a little more than a decade after the end of the American Civil War, and a look at what it means to try and protect those we hold dear. Can we really be our sisters' keepers, the ones on whom they rely? Is it fair to even ask that of a sibling -- that we care more for someone else as much as, if not more, than we care for ourselves?

After finishing the book, I closed it and sat back for a beat or two. I really liked it, yes, and found myself tearing through it at break-neck speed -- especially when I thought I was getting close to learning what really happened to Anna. But after it was all over, I couldn't help but feel vaguely unsatisfied . . . mostly because I wanted to learn more about William, a sort of 1876-version of an "animal whisperer," and the burgeoning feelings Katherine had for him. I wanted to see Katherine happy, particularly after everything she'd been through, but I received only a hint of the resolution I sought.

Still, that didn't cloud my enjoyment of the novel as a whole. Though certainly not an upbeat, wild ride, DANGEROUS NEIGHBORS is a deeply introspective, thought-provoking story filled with memorable details and dimensional characters. It's also my first read from Kephart, a popular young adult author, and I definitely don't intend for it to be my last.

Fans of historical fiction will find a philosophical story with excellent atmosphere and historical details that had me Googling the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition on my lunch break. Though the book is focused on two teenage girls, I hope that won't dissuade readers not accustomed to checking out teen fiction from picking this one up. There's nothing pedestrian about the writing, which was quite literary, and it makes a fine addition to the young adult historical fiction genre. More than worth the afternoon it will take you to pour through it . . . and made me want to clutch my own sister a little tighter.
4 people found this helpful
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