Tag Archives: grief

Review: Pie by Sarah Weeks

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Pie by Sarah WeeksPIE
Sarah Weeks
Scholastic
Published October 1, 2011

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Beloved Aunt Polly’s death leaves Alice miserable and the small town of Ipswitch floundering. Her world-famous restaurant serving free pies must close, but as the will is settled, everyone wonders who will get Polly’s award-winning pie crust recipe? No one is more surprised than Alice when Aunt Polly’s attorney presents her with Lardo, her aunt’s grumpy cat and sole inheritor of the coveted recipe. News ricochets through town. In its wake a mysterious villain vandalizes Polly’s shop and catnaps Lardo (in case the rumors that the recipe is tattooed on the feline’s enormous belly are true.)

Alice’s mother refuses to listen to Alice’s claims that the cat has been abducted and instead rages against her sister’s leaving her out of her will. It’s up to Alice and the local grocery delivery boy to solve the mystery and rescue Lardo amid the whole town’s frantic attempts to recreate Polly’s famous pies.

An unexpected guest reveals the final pieces of Aunt Polly’s will, leaving Alice and her mother dumbfounded. While Alice knows the knot of grief inside her will never fully disappear, she finds a way to cope with the loss and keep her aunt close in her memory and in her sweet baked treats.

Though it grapples with a young girl’s first experience with grief, PIE is an overwhelmingly sweet story, packed not only with tender moments and humor but over a dozen pie recipes, ranging from the all-American classic Apple Pie to the unexpected Green Tomato Pie. This is a great story to read aloud – with frequent breaks to do a little baking! What a great opportunity to bond with middle readers both in literature and in the kitchen.

Language Content
No profanity or crude language.

Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
None.

Violence
None.

Drug Content
None.

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Review: There You’ll Find Me by Jenny B. Jones

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There You’ll Find Me
Jenny B. Jones
Thomas Nelson
Published October 3, 2011

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Embattled by grief over her brother’s murder, eighteen year-old Finley Sinclaire embarks on a journey, hoping to encounter the God he so powerfully sensed in the beautiful Irish countryside. Though God seems to elude her, she can’t seem to escape the attentions of teen heart-throb and actor Beckett Rush. With mounting pressure to perfect her audition composition for the New York Conservatory, win over her assigned adopted grouch – er, grandmother – and avoid being caught in the web of girls falling for Beckett, Finley’s life spirals out of her control. Only an encounter with God can right her, but where is He?

Fans of Jones’ earlier novels will not be disappointed in her latest book. With equal parts wit, fun, and spiritual depth, There You’ll Find Me brings readers on a journey through the lonely chill of grief to the warmth of budding love and the power of forgiveness, all set against a gorgeous Irish backdrop.

At first I was a little worried that the whole teen heartthrob thing would be a bit cliche. I think Jones’s expert writing and sense of humor kept the story interesting. I loved Finley right away – she’s so easy to identify with, and her spiritual journey felt so authentic to me.

Readers who enjoy Sarah Dessen, Nicole Quigley, or Laura Weiss will want to add this one to their reading lists.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Sexual Content
None.

Spiritual Content
Finley is on a spiritual quest to follow her brother’s journal entries and revisit the places he wrote about in order to encounter God in those places and use the inspiration of the Irish countryside to finish a musical composition. She learns about forgiveness and about how sometimes grief, expectation, and busyness can distract and prevent us from hearing the voice of God in our times of need.

Violence
None.

Drug Content
None.

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Review: Me Since You by Laura Weiss

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Me Since You
Laura Weiss
MTV Books
Published February 18, 2014

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It’s not easy being a police officer’s daughter. For Rowan, it means getting caught just about every time she tries have a little risky fun with her friends. Being busted yet again lands Rowan in her room, cornered by her father and his lectures about appropriate teen behavior. His being home means he is closest when a terrible call for help comes in. A call that changes everything.

Sadness. Cruelty. These are lessons Rowan learns. Grief and misery stalk her family, terrorizing them. The only upside to the whole mess is that it brings Eli into her life. But Eli’s no stranger to loss, either. Will his past draw them together or become an insurmountable wedge between them?

As Rowan tries to navigate the confusing wake of disaster, another loss rips through her family, and she crumbles under the weight of a crushing grief and emotions Rowan has no idea how to begin to manage. The road to healing isn’t something anyone can lead her through. If she’s going to survive, she’s going to have to find her way.

Rowan’s story packs a serious emotional punch. It is loss come to life. Weiss describes a gut-wrenching grief exacerbated by the (sometimes well-meaning) friends and family members of the grieved. The voices of wisdom and comfort come from those who’ve lost someone themselves. (How true to life is that?!) In addition, she forces readers to examine the fallout which come from people posting cruel comments to one another over the internet. Bravo, Ms. Weiss. Bravo.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Extreme with moderate frequency.

Sexual Content
The opening scene contains a description of a thirteen year-old girl making out with a college boy. He lifts her shirt and bra, and she remains exposed for a moment when they are caught by a police officer. The rest of the book is pretty clean, however. There are a few kisses and a couple of oblique references to sleeping together.

Spiritual Content
After experiencing a tragic loss, Rowan wonders about life after death. Who is in Heaven? Is there a Heaven? Things like that. The focus is on the questions rather than the answers, and the narrator draws no real lasting conclusions other than a decision to communicate her thoughts with a loved one via a grief journal.

Violence
Rowan’s father is a police officer. In a short sequence from his point-of-view, he references some difficult situations he dealt with as a cop. One in particular involves a child beaten nearly to death. It’s a brief but gruesome recollection. Several characters witness a murder-suicide involving a baby.

Drug Content
Friends and peers invite Rowan to drink beer and smoke weed with them. More than once, Rowan drinks quite a few drinks. She also begins smoking cigarettes.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Review: It’s Over by Laura L. Smith

Book Review and Content, Christian World-View, Clean Fiction, Contemporary, Young Adult/Teen 12-18, , ,

It’s Over
Laura L. Smith
Playlist Fiction
Published April 14, 2013

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Tragedy greets Kat when she arrives home from college for fall break. Though her three roomies band together in support, Kat can barely find the strength to move through the motions of her life. Claire, still reeling from her own injuries of heart, seems to be the only one who can reach Kat. As Thanksgiving draws closer, each girl faces a shift in an important relationship, and as Claire suggested, each attempts to discover something to be thankful for amidst the rubble that remains. Palmer fields not-so-subtle comments on her waistline from her mother and expertly blocks her boyfriend’s attempts for sex. But can she stay pure and stay with Keegan?  As in the first book, the four roommates draw strength from one another, support each other and encourage each other in faith.

Smith carries readers through a rainbow of expertly rendered emotions, from happy holiday celebrations to the deepest of heartache and the purest dawning of hope. Each of the girls has a distinct voice with a different perspective. This is a great series for the reader looking for some fun, lighthearted moments and open to the deeper lessons life has to offer.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
None.

Sexual Content
A short but steamy make-out session between a girl and her boyfriend. A discussion between two sisters about making a commitment to save sex until marriage.

Spiritual Content
Following an unexpected tragedy, Kat wrestles with feelings of anger and betrayal toward God. Palmer struggles to maintain boundaries with her eager-for-sex boyfriend, and faces the possibility that perhaps this relationship isn’t God’s plan for her life after all.
Violence
Brief references to injuries sustained in a car accident.

Drug Content
Kat smells pot smoke in her cousin’s room.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Review: Canary by Rachele Alpine

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Canary
Rachele Alpine
Medallion Press
Published

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Sixteen year-old Kate still reels from the recent loss of her mother. Now she and her brother Brett communicate with their emotionally-absent father through a series of post-it notes. When Dad lands a new job as basketball coach at a ritzy private school, he opts to transfer both kids to the new school.

Kate, determined to adjust and desperate to reconnect with her father, begins attending basketball practices and cheering from the stands. That’s when she meets Jack, a gorgeous and popular star player and boyfriend of any girl’s dreams. But the thrill of being Jack’s girlfriend soon loses its shine when she discovers several unsavory habits of his. Jack pressures and Kate bends, pressing herself into the mold he expects her to be. Then with one drink, everything changes. Those who should protect her wound her instead, and Kate begins to unravel.

But beneath her tumultuous emotions and failing hope, Kate finds a steel resolve within herself. Instead of being destroyed by bullying, she finds her voice and dares to make herself heard, no matter the consequences.

Canary is a raw and beautiful story. At intervals, Kate’s often poetic and poignant blog posts appear, adding another layer of depth to an already fascinating story reminiscent of Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak or Sarah Dessen’s Just Listen. Fans of Thirteen Reasons Why by Jay Asher may also enjoy this novel and its bold attention to the devastating problem of bullying in schools and communities today.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
No F-bombs, but regular use of other swear words.

Sexual Content
Several references to sex and some jokes about aberrant sexual behavior. A girl discusses pressure to engage in sex with her boyfriend. She succumbs to his persistent requests. At a party, a boy drugs and attempts to rape a girl who is barely able to fight him off. The scene is pretty brief and without a heavy number of details. The instance sparks rumors, rude comments, and general mistreatment toward the victim.

Spiritual Content
Brief reference to heaven in the context of a funeral conversation.

Violence
During the assault, the boy shoves the girl, bruising her. Several boys bully another boy in the cafeteria. Students also harass the assault victim.

Drug Content
Several scenes features parties at which teens consume alcohol. A boy slips a drug into a girl’s drink, rendering her disoriented and helpless.

Note: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

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Review: The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

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The Fault in Our Stars
John Green
Dutton Books
Published January 10, 2012

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Sixteen-year-old Hazel has lived the roller coaster ride of a terminal cancer diagnosis for the last three years. Now, each breath comes with a price, and she cannot go anywhere without a small portable oxygen tank in tow. Meds prevent the tumors from growing, for now.

At a weekly support group, she listens to tales of other teens fiercely battling cancer. Listens but remains apart, until the unexpected entrance of Augustus Waters.

Augustus draws Hazel out of her self-imposed seclusion with his unflappable visionary nature. He is in many ways the opposite of the quiet, brooding Hazel, and her perfect foil. As the two begin to know each other, they swap favorite novels, and Augustus falls headfirst in love with Hazel’s pick, a novel about cancer called An Imperial Affliction. As the two discuss the book, its philosophical brilliance and painfully tantalizing unanswered questions, their bond deepens.

Terrified of causing the destructive grief that must result from falling in love with someone with a terminal diagnosis, Hazel pulls away from Augustus. He pursues her relentlessly, even spending his wish from a cancer organization to take Hazel to Amsterdam to meet the author of her favorite novel (seriously, what literary lover can resist this kind of wooing? Talk about big guns.)

Amsterdam is everything and nothing Hazel could have hoped for: her dreams dashed and come true at the same time. In response, she must decide how to live her life and what she believes about herself, others, and eternity in the face of faithlessness on the part of humanity and the universe.

John Green has proved his valor as a writer worthy of tackling the deep emotional and cosmic issues with earlier novels, but this novel may yet be his most incredible work. This novel tackles the big human questions about life, love, and loss, exploring at once what they mean and how one responds to them. All this and yet the story remains poignant and breathtaking and sometimes quite hilarious. And tragic. This is another one to read with tissues handy.

Also worthy of note: The Fault in Our Stars the movie will hit the big screen in 2014.

Profanity/Crude Language Content
Infrequent but extreme.

Sexual Content
Main characters watch a young couple kiss and briefly fondle over clothing. One scene (without graphic detail) implies that the characters have sex.

Spiritual Content
As the characters face the reality of their diagnoses, they wonder about and discuss what happens after death. Hazel does not believe in God or heaven. Augustus believes in a more nebulous Something beyond.

Violence
While this isn’t violent content, it is only fair to mention that there are some heavy descriptions of different medical treatments and their side effects as well as the dying process. These are critical elements to the story, but some sensitive readers may find them too intense.

Drug Content
Augustus has an unusual habit of hanging a cigarette from his mouth which he never lights, but instead revels in the metaphoric significance of this action. Gus and Hazel sip champagne over a fancy dinner. Hazel and Augustus undergo various cancer treatments involving different types of medications.

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