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Book Snap #61

Title: Girl Made of Stars

Author: Ashley Herring Blake

Date Read: August 12, 2019

Two snaps!

Another win in the YA category!

We all play roles in our lives, and Mara plays many: she is a twin; a daughter; a girlfriend; a friend; a student; and an activist. Although all of these roles have independent names, her loyalties and decisions are blurred as these roles intersect and find themselves at terrible odds.

Mara and her fraternal twin, Owen, are close. Very close. They share stories of the stars from their rooftop together. But when her brother is accused of raping her friend Hannah, it tilts her whole world on an unsteady axis. As she navigates her way through her family loyalty it forces her to deal with the trauma of her own past.

“This. This is why I never said anything. Because no one ever believes the girl.”

(Ashley Herring Blake, Girl Made of Stars)

Herring Blake explores, with compassion, the complicated lives of teens– especially young female teens, as they navigate high school friendships, relationships (LGBTQ), misogyny, and the misuse of power. Mara is a fully developed character with whom we can see ourselves and for whom our heart aches as she tries to makes sense of how to just be with others as each of her roles morph.

One of my favourite passages is where Mara wonders at the types of things that could be inscribed as an epitaph to her as she tries to sort out who she is, and who she wants to be.

Mara McHale, Some type of girl

Maybe I’m the type of girl who likes short skirts.

Maybe I’m the type of girl who likes boys and girls and those who sometimes feel like both and neither.

Maybe I’m the type of girl who slaps a boy in the face when he does something shitty.

Maybe I’m the type of girl who hides and cries in her bed alone, remembering the terrifying day that took away all her control and trust.

Maybe I’m the type of girl who’s tired of hiding and crying alone.

Maybe I’m the type of girl who realizes she’s not alone.

Maybe I’m the type of girl whose favorite person in the world did something unforgivable.

Maybe I’m the type of girl who finally accepts it.

Maybe I’m nota stupid girl.

Maybe I’m just a girl, plain and simple and real.

(Herrington Blake, p.264-5)

We are all, all types of girls. Highly recommended reading! You will love the Girl Made of Stars.

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Book Snap #60

Title: The Winemaker’s Wife

Author: Kristin Harmel

Date Read: August 5, 2019

One and a half snaps

This was a lovely surprise, a gift from my dad. I’ll savour a glass of bubbly in a whole new way now!

This unique historical fiction tells the true story of the secrets held in the caves of the Champagne region in France. The winemakers of this region endured immense hardship both to keep the grapes and barrels producing some of the world’s finest champagne while also sending messages to the Allies, protecting Jewish refugees, and storing and supplying guns and munitions to the renegades who worked against the Nazis in World War Two.

This multi-layered story skips back and forth between World War Two and present day to unravel the story of Edith Thiery, and her granddaughter, Olivia. Secrets abound and reveal a beautiful story of trying to do what is right in the face of everything being wrong.

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Book Snap #59

Title: Dear Evan Hansen

Author: Val Emmich with Steven Levenson, Benj Pasek & Justin Paul

Date Read: August 2, 2019

Two Snaps!!

I inhaled this one!!! It is a sensational YA novel adapted from the Broadway smash-hit. Beware: after reading you’ll want to book a trip to see it on the stage as well!

Evan’s chronic social anxiety leads his therapist to give him a unique homework assignment: write a daily uplifting letter to himself, promising that today’s going to be a great day.

Evan is lonely, he doesn’t fit in, and he begrudgingly completes his letters without much belief that they will ever really help him to cope with life in high school. When his letter falls into the wrong hands, Evan becomes embroiled in a lie that takes on a life of its own. For the first time in his life he is no longer invisible– he is a viral social media sensation and his life at school is remarkably changed as well. But it’s all a lie. And one lie leads to another.

Dear Evan Hansen explores life and how we choose to live it. Do choose to read this book– you will love Evan Hansen!

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Book Snap #58

Title: Bina

Author: Anakana Schofield

Date Read: July 31, 2019

Oh snap!

I thought the structure of this novel seemed compelling; there was a mixture of what looked like poetry, lists, and prose. It is introduced as a novel written in warnings, scrabbled words on the backs of envelopes from a woman who has had enough. It grew old quickly.

Although true to the character Schofield has imagined, I found Bina’s repetitive ramblings tiresome. There is a good story there– but I felt like it wound around itself over and over and nothing new was ever really revealed.

There are no bad books… only books that haven’t found the right reader. I was not the right reader for Bina.

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Book Snap #57

Title: Where The Crawdads Sing

Author: Delia Owens

Date Read: July 19, 2019

Two snaps!

This New York Times Best Seller came highly recommended by friends who had read it, and it did not disappoint!

Owens writes in an elegant prose that transports you to the North Carolina marshlands and surrounds you with the sights and sounds of the southeastern United States. A wildlife scientist herself, Owens layers her tale with precise and deliberate descriptions of nature unfolding through seasons and landscapes.

“And just at that second, the wind picked up, and thousands upon thousands of yellow sycamore leaves broke from their life support and streamed across the sky. Autumn leaves don’t fall; they fly. They take their time and wander on this, their only chance to soar. Reflecting sunlight, they swirled and sailed and fluttered on the wind drafts.”

(Owens, p. 124)

This is a compelling and heart-wrenching coming-of-age story. The central character, Kya, is as complex as she is misunderstood. Kya, or “The Marsh Girl” as she is known by the townspeople who shun, ridicule and exclude her, is hauntingly alone but resolutely determined. She navigates heartbreak, questions how to trust others, and struggles to make sense of how to know and understand love. Interspersed within this beautiful narrative an engrossing murder mystery unravels as we flash back and forward through Kya’s life, wondering at the threads of who might have killed Chase, the town’s handsome quarterback.

This book has it all: a tumultuous family upheaval; a beautiful love story; a fascinating murder mystery, a courtroom drama reminiscent of Atticus Finch, and ethereal prose. An absolute must-read.