Barbara Stuber

This DNF legitimately saddened me. I started Girl in Reverse amid the first wave of #WeNeedDiversity tweets, and I was so excited to read about Lily and her experiences. Sadly, the prose lost me almost from the beginning. Lily has a way of narrating that I think was supposed to feel natural and easy, but the text felt a little too elliptical, literally leaving me feeling lost. I don’t like having to stop to back up and figure out what half-tossed aside I missed buried within a sentence. I also was not digging the present tense at all.

More importantly, I couldn’t get a feel for either Lily or her world. I tolerated Lily and wanted to empathize with her situation, but her family felt too abstract. They were odd little caricatures off in a corner doing insensitive things. At least Ralph pulled his weight and called out Lily when she was making fun of “cupcake” sorority girls. Yeah! Fight ALL the stereotypes, Ralph! Also, except for the mentions of the Korean War, I had no sense that I was stuck back in the past. I really could have used more grounding.

I think Girl in Reverse is an important story, and I really wish I could have gotten into it a little more. So, like Dyerville, this will be shelved for a reattempt at a later date.

**ORIGINALLY POSTED AT http://www.shaelit.com/2014/06/dnf-review-the-dyerville-tales-girl-in-reverse/… (más)

Crossing the Tracks is a heartwarming book that combines humor with tragedy to tell the story of Iris – a fifteen-year-old girl sent away by her father to serve as a housekeeper for an elderly woman in rural Missouri, while her father focuses upon his business and fiancée in Kansas City. Although Iris faces her new responsibilities with uncertainty, she quickly finds the warmth, compassion, and understanding amongst the elderly woman that were lacking in Iris’ relationship with her father since her mother’s death ten years earlier. Set in 1926, this book is an effective example of historical fiction, showing what life was like in a rural area during that time period (i.e. cars and electricity are just becoming popular). Script-font letters from Iris to her friend, father, and soon-to-be stepmother are sprinkled throughout the book, adding intrigue and entertainment. Although it is sometimes difficult to keep the characters straight while reading the book, they are well-developed. The readers feel for the characters emotionally and are quickly swept up into the plot and suspense of the story. Themes within the book include: love, family, heartbreak, and forgiveness. The book is highly recommended for libraries to add to their young adult sections.… (más)