Book Report

They’re Going to Love You by Meg Howrey – This is quite a lyrical, wonderful novel. The protagonist Carlisle is estranged from her father and has barely spoken to him in 20 years. He’s dying now. Her relationship with her dad has always been intricate; she’s always sought his love and the love of her dad’s husband, James. They loved her back but in something of a restrained way. Both are part of the ballet world, and Carlisle herself used to dance though she was too tall to make a career of it. Anyway, the book kept me interested though at times I wish the pacing had been a bit faster. But it’s really well written. Grade: 7  

 

One Day, All Children….by Wendy Kopp – The author is the founder of Teach for America. This book was addictive. It is the story of how she started the organization. She dreamed it up when she was a senior at Princeton in 1989 and she spent every waking moment making it happen. She had to constantly stump for funding. Kopp has some hilarious and harrowing stories. At one point, she tried to only sleep every other night since she just doesn’t have time. I loved the part where she described a typical week, full of trips to meet with potential funders. Kopp is clear that she’s an introvert, and that this was a lot for a 22 year old straight out of college. I am in awe of her and her teammates and the people who signed up to Teach for America. I also appreciate how Kopp just made this book into a page-turner. And of course when I finished the book, I was glad to google it and see that Teach for America is still going strong (this book was published more than 20 years ago, so I wasn’t sure). Grade: 8

 

Afterland by Lauren Beukes – In this post-apocalyptic story, a virus has killed off most of the male population. The protagonist Cole has escaped with her 12 year old son Miles from a facility where he is being studied, but Cole’s money-grubbing, ethics-less sister Billie is hot on their trail. In this world, Miles is a very hot commodity, since people want to use, abuse, and study any male who is left. Here is one book where every aspect of the post-apo world is well planned and utterly believable. The details and examples are imaginative and spot-on and gobsmacking. I absolutely loved it. Like this is truly what the world might look like if most men were gone. The plot is gripping and harrowing – at times I had to put the book aside since I was so worried about Cole and Miles. Billie was maybe too much like a one-dimensional villain, but then again, there are plenty of people in this world who will do anything for money and justify all their sins inside their own minds. No spoilers but – brilliant ending! Grade: 8

 

Small Things Like These by Claire Keegan – This is more of a novella than a novel, but it’s wonderful. Its cover tells of all the awards it won, and deservedly so. It’s a seemingly-simple tale at first, of an Irishman named Furlong, a family man, who is generally grateful for the ‘little’ things in life. He encounters something unspeakable at the local convent, and he must make a decision that could change his life. Grade: 8

 

Into The Abyss  by Carol Shaben – This is the true story of a small plane in Canada that went down in 1984. Four men survived the crash. The front cover tells us that one was a cop, and another was the criminal he was shackled to. But the book makes it clear that the two men were not shackled together at the time the plane went down. (Can we get some truth in advertising please??) At times the book – which is written by the daughter of one of the survivors – gets bogged down in too much detail though I loved that because of the passage of time since the accident, we hear what happens to each man years later. I’d say the most interesting aspect is that the “criminal” acts very heroically from the moment the plane goes down, and is treated well by society afterwards, but sadly he falls back into substance abuse and dies (years after the crash) due to exposure. Grade: 5