A colleague has been sharing her adolescent fictional
reads, which have been focusing on young women and their struggles in harsh
physical and emotional environments. Shabanu provides an
insightful perspective of modern day nomadic, Pakistani culture. Suzanne Fisher
Staples actually lived in Pakistan and her experiences shaped this interesting
read. It took a bit of time for me to get immersed in the story as I was
waiting for the incident described on the back cover to take place. My advice
while reading this book is to forget the incident and concentrate on
appreciating the well-constructed characters, which include the animals.
Staples does a terrific job of bringing the personalities of the animals to
life. I wish I could nuzzle Mithoo’s neck!
This is a powerful, haunting story that
sadly is the reality of too many women across this globe. I love how the author
writes from the perspective of a thirteen year-old Nepalese girl, Lakshmi, in a
free verse, poetic style. Patricia McCormack choice of style and vivid language
made it a fast, easy and a more interesting read in my opinion. This is an
important, compelling story yet I was surprised that this book is targeted
towards adolescences. I felt it might be a little too disturbing.
Historical novels are not usually my thing. However, I was delighted to find that this historical
novel moves quickly while not trying to recapture history. Roberta Rich crafts a fresh story with new and thoroughly captivating characterizations. I
am definitely looking forward to Rich’s second book that continues the story of
Hannah and Issac in Constantinople.
The characters were one-dimensional. Sullivan’s prose is
flat. The situation with April is unbelievable, actually laughable. I finished
the book, but was not at all enthralled. Sullivan saved herself as an author in
writing her second book, Maine. In my opinion, Commencement can be removed from anyones must read list.
The cover of this book does not fit the
actual story. The cover makes this book seem like a throw away summer read. Instead
it is a novel that portrays the lives of three generations of an Irish Catholic
family. Sullivan highlights the lives of four women, the matriarch, a daughter,
daughter-in-law and granddaughter. I found the stories of these women
engrossing. I was sad when the book was coming to an end. I was so engaged that I wanted to know what
else occurs for these women in their lives. I rushed out to pick up
Commencement, Sullivan’s debut novel, hoping to be immediately captured like I was in Maine. In Sullivan’s case, the second time is the charm.
