Round House, the
reviewdate:
Aug 19 2015
isn:
9780062065247
Tagged with families
In the Unlikely Event
reviewdate:
Aug 5 2015
isn:
9781101875049
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Disgruntled
reviewdate:
Jun 28 2015
isn:
9780374140342
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We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves
Fowler's first-person narration is like a lucid dream. The protagonist, Rosemary Cooke, is caught up, but self-aware and conscious of various versions of the past and present. This is kind of a spoiler, but if you read the book jacket you'll find out the same thing--that Rose spent the first five years of her life with a chimp for a sister. The two (two months apart in age) were raised together until the chimp, Fern, was sent away.
Quotations:
Fair warning, as it turned out--kindergarten is all about learning which parts of you are welcome at school and which are not.
I can't believe that being called Fredericka my whole life wouldn't have taken a toll. I can't believe it wouldn't have mind-bent me like a spoon. (Not that I haven't been mind-bent.)
"When I get married," I say, "I want the wedding to be in a car in a car wash."
When I run the world, librarians will be exempt from tragedy. Even their smaller sorrows will last only for as long as you can take out a book.
reviewdate:
Oct 12 2013
isn:
978-1-101-59568-8
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Yonahlossee Riding Camp for Girls, the
Oh, I don't know, I guess I liked this book okay. The depression-era protagonist has been sent to a girls' camp that turns out also to be a boarding school after doing a bad thing. We slowly find out what the bad thing is. As we begin to realize that 15-year-old Thea wasn't really responsible for the bad thing she gets involved with another bad thing, but with more agency this time.
reviewdate:
Sep 5 2013
isn:
978-1-101-61628-4
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Opposite of Hallelujah, the
My sister Danna recommended this book to my parents, brother and me. If you read her review, you'll see why. The titled "opposite of hallelujah" refers to the protagonist Caro's sister Hannah returning home after spending eight years as a nun in a contemplative order. (Kate, you're going to want to read this one!) The girls' parents are excited to have their dark-secreted daughter back, but 16-year-old Caro...less so.
reviewdate:
Apr 15 2013
isn:
978-0-385-73836-1
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Happy Families
Twins Ysabel and Justin feel like a bomb has been dropped on their family when they learn that their father is transgender.
reviewdate:
Oct 26 2012
isn:
978-0-375-86966-2
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Complicated Kindess, a
At first I was dazzled by Toews’ clever and funny language and her decreasingly subtle but accurate depiction of adolescent depression. Eventually it started to wear on me, though. It’s the same thing that annoys me about Jasper Fforde: the cleverness is relentless. But, I still think this book will appeal to people who like reading about religious sects (the protagonist comes from a Mennonite family and town), enjoy women coming-of-age stories, or who can handle a lot of clever. Also--Look at the cover closely; it’s as perfect a match to a novel’s contents as I’ve ever seen. Kudos to Kelly Hill, designer.
reviewdate:
Jun 13 2011
isn:
1-58243-321-6
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Dragon Chica
To me one of the most important things about this book is that it's from a small press, GemmaMedia. From their about page, "Gemma features cultural memoir from around the world, Irish fiction and fine journalism, the Open Door adult literacy series and current affairs publishing with diversity at the heart of the story." Dragon Chica is a pretty great book. It's not a memoir, but it reads like one. It tells the story of a Cambodian-Chinese refugee coming of age in Nebraska. She, her mother, her older sister Sourdi, younger twin sisters and younger brother move there to help their aunt and uncle run a Chinese restaurant.
reviewdate:
Jan 13 2011
isn:
978-1-934848-48-7
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Namesake, the
I wasn't expecting to like The Namesake very much. I wasn't crazy about her short story collection Interpreter of Maladies, and the description wasn't particularly enticing. So why did I even read it? Maybe just because Lahiri is a Barnard alumna? Or because I'd saved it in my library account to read list, and it was the only thing I didn't have to go over to Columbia to borrow? Who knows? Regardless, I'm glad I did.
reviewdate:
Feb 2 2010
isn:
0-395-92721-8