What Kellee Thinks: This book beautifully intertwines 4 topics (photography, baseball, dementia and first loves) into a relatable teenage story.
Is there life after sports? Why has his grandfather suddenly given him thousands of dollars worth of camera equipment? And is it his imagination, or is the super-hot star of the girls' swim team flirting with him, right in front of the amazing new girl in his photography class? In his new novel, teen author Jordan Sonnenblick performs his usual miraculous feat: exploring deep themes of friendship, romance, family, and tragedy, while still managing to be hilariously funny. When a freakish injury ends his pitching career, Peter has some major things to figure out. (Sept.Meet Peter Friedman, high school freshman. It’s a powerful and profound look at a family coping with unexpected change. But Sonnenblick ( After Ever After) incorporates a message of hope, too: Claire’s ordeal gives her new appreciation for the power of music and a more empathic view of those around her. Claire is a bluntly honest narrator, never holding back even when anger turns to depression and her father starts to waste away (“If I were being a hundred percent honest, I couldn’t really say I was thankful he was alive in this condition”). Told from Claire’s perspective, Sonnenblick’s story delivers an achingly vivid portrayal of her wide range of emotions as her father returns home still recovering, suffering from aphasia and having trouble with simple tasks like eating with a fork. Claire must simultaneously navigate dance-class drama, getting braces (which still manages to feel like the worst day of her life even after her father’s affliction), and boys, including former friends and her frustratingly perfect older brother. After the trauma of witnessing her father have a stroke, 13-year-old Claire Goldsmith and her family struggle with their new reality.
0 kommentar(er)
