Book Journey

Summer has arrived and 15-year-old Francesca “Frankie” Schell has no big plans.  Four years ago while on the beach with her family, Francesca’s little brother Simon drowned while Francesca was supposed to be watching him.  Even now, Francesca’s mother is distant towards her and her father seems to be spending a little too much time at the single ladies house across the street.  Francesca’s best friend is always busy with her super cute boyfriend Bradley who Francesca wishes was her own.

With her home life a mess, Francesca goes to the local country club where she meets a darling 4-year-old boy named ironically Frankie and has a striking resemblance to Simon.  As more and more coincidences starts to come up, Francesca starts to wonder if there is such a thing as reincarnation or if this is some sort of cosmic alignment trying to help Francesca to move forward from the tragedy that has held her in place for so long.

The Summer Of Letting Go is an engaging summer read that brings you right into the world that Francesca lives in.  A powerful read of loss and moving on from the perspective of a teenage girl who not only has lived the pain of loss first hand, but also sees how if affects others around her.

I was surprised how engaged I became in this book.  Well written, I had at least two moments where I caught my breath.. Gae Polisner does a fine job of bringing you right to that teenage level of “emotion amplified” and I didn’t want the book to end.

If you do audio, I recommend listening to this one.  The narration of Tara Sands was excellent.  Tara handled the different characters flawlessly.

Premma James has lived in New York since she was twelve years old.   But Premma did not move from another state or another country to New York.

She moved from another time. The year 2090. The future.

In Premma’s time the world is in shambles due to a mosquito-born virus that killed millions.  For Premma, and those like her who have escaped to the past to live better lives, they are under strict rules:

1.  Never reveal where you are from

2.  Never interfere with history

3.  Never be intimate with someone outside their community

And that works just fine.  Until Premma meets Ethan Jarves.

 

YA with an environmental flavor!  ~Sheila

The Here And Now is A fairly quick paced YA read.  Premma makes for a wonderful environmentally conscious protagonist.  Her personal goals of trying to help prevent the future from happening as she knows it currently stands is admirable.

I enjoyed the read for the most part.  The way things fall together is a little convenient, however my enjoyment of world building books allowed that fact to lapse into the overall enjoyment of the book.

Fun Fact:  Ann Brashares is also the author of The Traveling Pants books, which was also a fun movie.  If you are familiar with that story you know what style of writer Ann is.  Her characters are relational and three-dimensional which makes for good reading!

Naked is David Sedaris’s 2001 take on his life at the time… reminiscing about teachers, camp, his sexuality, family life you name it David probably has covered it.

I started listening to David Sedaris last year with his Let’s Explore Diabetes With Owls.  His matter of fact humor left me wanting more and I have followed up with a couple more of his books on audio (he narrates them himself which makes them even more fun). 

Naked is a short three-hour listen and while it has its moments,

“We were not a hugging people. In terms of emotional comfort it was our belief that no amount of physical contact could match the healing powers of a well made cocktail.”

While I did enjoy David, the addition of his sister in this audio I found to be a harsh contrast as she handled the voices of teachers and I think at times herself to David’s steady rhythmic tone.  I have found I enjoy his narration alone much better.

Still… looking for a fun quick laugh…. give it a try. 🙂