CW: sexual abuse

This book deals with some heavy themes and does it well from the perspective of two middle schoolers grappling with them. I just felt that there was something missing plot-wise to make it a story rather than a meandering slice-of-life (albeit a complicated one). ( )

This story focuses on two young girls who share a bond because both have lost their mothers. One girl is African American and the other is a young white girl who moves into a prosperous black suburb. This is a coming of age story and the idea of friendship is presented throughout. ( )

Well, for better or worse, Jacqueline Woodson has a signature style; minimalism. I noticed it when I read Feathers. I still remember finishing the last page and thinking my copy of the book was damaged and the last 1/3 must have fallen out. I felt that way with this book too. I enjoyed what was there, but there wasn't enough of it. It, like Feathers, just abruptly ends. It must be intentional, these shallow dive books. I'm not sure what the intention is, but it's apparently a style she's sticking with. ( )

In largely black Chauncey, Ohio, Marie leads a comfortable middle-class existence with her father who is a professor. The one dark spot in Marie’s life is that her mother walked out on the family when Marie was 10 and who communicates enigmatically through postcards. One day, Lena is the new girl at school. The other kids call her “white trash” but Marie finds herself drawn to Lena’s aloof sadness. Marie is still dealing with her mother’s absence but learns that Lena is in a worse spot: Lena’s father has been sexually molesting her since her mother died of breast cancer. The terrible secret is the girls’ bond and although there are times when Marie feels they should tell someone she maintains the secrecy. Then Lena tells Marie that she and her younger sister are running away because their father has begun touching the sister.

This was one of the saddest books that I have ever read, but it had such a powerful message. It was beautifully written, and the language that was used tried to lighten up the mood of the book with created imagery. I could not put this book down, because I wanted to just read to be sure that Lena and Dion were going to be safe eventually. I feel like the author has a way of taking such negative topics, and she tries to lighten it with the imagery created. I loved the second to last line of the book, "The world puts us here for the quickest second, then snatches us right back up." This line hits you hard, but it is beautiful and delicate. It is as if the author is trying to get her message out, about valuing the people's lives that you either touch or come in contact with no matter who they are as a person. Her main message was that we are all just people here. Such power and emotion fill this story with dignity and honor. ( )