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Dec 15, 2011

Cara rated it:

"I want to believe the stories, that there really is someone who would search the whole mountainside just to find that one thing that he loves, and bring it home."

I am at a total loss as what to rate this book. But one thing I can say for sure is that it gave me a lot to mull over and analyze that I even thought about how I felt at the age of 15 again.

At Samara's age I can remember being very contemplative like she was in the story. She feels the urge to mature More...

9 comments like (7 people liked it)

Mar 06, 2011

Tatiana rated it:

Once Was Lost is a book about faith. About losing it and finding it.

Yes, I know how it sounds. Nothing can stop me from reading a book quicker than knowledge that I am about to delve into some "Christian fiction." I am not a religious person and dislike being preached at.

But in this novel Samara's waning faith in God is similar to a non-religious person's belief in the good in the world. Sam feels hopeless. Everything seems to fall apart - her house, her family More...

10 comments like (22 people liked it)

Aug 29, 2011

Valerie rated it:

This isn't one of those books that just slaps you in the face with happy feelings at the end and I usually go for those types of books. So I wasn't sure I'd like this book because I usually don't like depressing books. Don't judge me, okay! It wasn't depressing but I wouldn't say happy. However, I was surprised to find that I liked this book and even more that I in a way appreciated it. I'll admit that I was on the fence of give this book 4 stars but I decided not to for these reasons:

More...

0 comments like (4 people liked it)

Oct 31, 2011

Sesana rated it:

Sorry to say, but this was a bit disappointing. I love Sara Zarr, she's very talented, and she was writing well in this book, too. There's just way, way too much going on in a short (210 pages) book. Samara's mother has been bundled off to rehab, her father isn't dealing with it, she's having a crisis of faith, she suspects her father's having an affair, a girl she knows has been kidnapped, and she's developing a romance with the kidnapped girl's brother, who has a girlfriend. That's a lot for a More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Dec 02, 2011

Lawral added it

Poor Sam. She needed a hug throughout almost this entire book, and not the one-armed youth leader kind. She sufferes from knowing a lot of people but being close to very few. She's also dealing with the absence of her mother, and her mother's long-time alcohol abuse, all alone. Her dad doesn't want to talk about the situation, or at least he doesn't want to talk about it with Sam, and Sam can't talk to anyone else about it either, not even her best friend Vanessa, without hurting her father's re More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 07, 2011

Melanie rated it:

Sara Zarr has written an honest and authentic story in Once was Lost, about a young girl named Sam who is forced into adulthood earlier than most other teens. Her lovely mother has finally hit rock bottom, her Father (the local pastor) is strong and supportive to everyone except his own family, and a young girl in the church goes missing- sending the whole town into a scared suspicious frenzy. This story is written in a way that puts other teen angst novels to shame. There aren't any easy answer More...

0 comments like

Oct 03, 2011

Carolyn rated it:

Ok, I have one word for this book- depressing! I am a real fan of Sara Zarr (loved Story of a Girl and liked Sweethearts), so this one was a downer. The storyline follows Sam (short for Samara) who is a preacher's kid. Her father, although he is a preacher and popular among his flock, cannot communicate effectively with his own daughter and avoids meaningful conversation. Her mother is in rehab for alcoholism. Then, the younger sister of a close friend from the youth group she attends is abdu More...

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Jun 13, 2011

Laura rated it:

At first, I didn't think I was going to like this book much. I knew it was written from the perspective of a pastor's daughter, and I knew it dealt with themes of faith and spirituality. Because of that, I had some preconceptions that tainted my view of the book before I started reading. I was sure that the book was going to be pushing a religious agenda on readers. However, after I started reading, my preconceptions melted away as I discovered that the book was nothing like I had originally More...

0 comments like

Mar 25, 2011

Siobhan rated it:

This is a story about a teenage girl struggling with doubts about her faith and her family. Samara loves her parents and has always believed in every aspect of her church. With her father as the town’s most beloved pastor, everyone expects her to have zero doubts about religion. But, when her mother’s alcohol addiction causes her to leave home for rehab and then a local girl goes missing, Sam feels hopeless, sad and confused. All of these negative emotions are made worse by the fact that her More...

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Dec 02, 2010

Emily C. rated it:

Checked out this book from the library in hopes of finding the perfect YA novel to give to my mom for Christmas. Yes, Mom, I'm doing my homework for you. ;) While this is an excellent candidate and something I'll definitely reccommend, I don't think it's what Mom will necessarily want to own, mostly because there is a "child in danger" subplot that is a little disturbing.

What I love about Zarr's writing for young adults is the humanity of her characters. The bad guys ar More...

1 comment like

Aug 30, 2010

Elle rated it:

When I started reading Once Was Lost, I was a little nervous because the story’s protagonist, Samara Taylor, is a pastor’s kid, who is struggling with her personal faith. The story is also about how the Christian Community deals with the disappearance of one of their teens. Personally, I am tired of books that rant against Christians and portray them with heavy handed stereo-types. Sara Zarr, thankfully, didn’t do that. Instead she told a really moving story about normal people who want to belie More...

0 comments like

Aug 18, 2010

Britt rated it:

Sam has the summer never to forget. Her father, a pastor of an unlabeled evangelical Christian church, is losing his way at home, but forging ahead in his ministry. Her mother isn't even at home - she's in rehab after succumbing to alcoholism, a condition brought about by her needing the stuff to cope with being the perfect pastor's wife. And Sam is not the perfect pastor's child. Her faith is tested sorely as she watches her father disappear into the work to heal a family, reeling from the abd More...

0 comments like

Aug 14, 2010

Maggie rated it:

I didn't really connect with this book. At first it was interesting with Sam, the MC, questioning her faith, which I think a lot of people can relate to. But then the plot took an unexpected turn and I wasn't sure what to make of it. I guess it was kind of like a parable because the event is something that certainly tests people's limits.

Sam was a frustrating character. She was too angry/sad in a way that I don't think really corresponded with her personal issues. Not that she didn' More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jul 04, 2010

Library Lady rated it:

Book+ ****
Audiobook=***

I've heard it said by many that authors shouldn't narrate their own work. I mostly believe this to be true. Sometimes it works-- as in the case of "The Graveyard Book" by Neil Gaiman-- but with this book, it doesn't. Zarr may understand the emotional intensity of her work, but she doesn't know how to convey that vocally.

However, her only so-so reading didn't detract from enjoyment of the story at all. I've gone to church my whole More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Apr 18, 2010

Sara rated it:

This author has been nominated for lots of awards (maybe not for this book, but at least for her previous ones), but at the end of this book, all I could think was, What's the point? The plot moved slow, nothing seemed to happen, and I couldn't see a reason that this story needed to be told at all. The only reason I even finished it is because the book was pretty short.

The plot: Sam is 15 years old; her dad's a pastor in her small town and her mom's recently been sent to rehab, so More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 30, 2010

bjneary rated it:

Samara Taylor is the fifteen year old daughter of a pastor workaholic and a mother who has been drinking so much, that she has landed herself into New Beginnings Recovery Center; her father wants to “officially tell” the congregation when he feels it is right, which is never. Sam is at a point in her life that she is questioning everything; the air conditioning is broken in their house, her ceiling fan is not working, it is the middle of a heat wave, the outside of the house looks like a disast More...

0 comments like

Feb 20, 2010

Walt rated it:

All I could think about every time I considered Sara Zarr's Once Was Lost was the completion of the line with 'but now am found.' That title set up an expectation that her book never quite fulfilled but hinted at. Maybe there will be a sequel with that title. Nonetheless, the book didn't leave me at all dissatisfied for not having fulfilled the "being found" part, because the book left me with the distinct impression that Sam could find her her way, whatever it might be, wherever it mi More...

0 comments like

Feb 01, 2010

Rachael rated it:

As the daughter of a pastor, Samara Taylor was raised to believe in faith, in a God who protects, and in miracles. But lately, everything going on in Sam’s life has caused her beliefs to waver. Though no one knows or acknowledges it, Sam’s family is starting to fall apart. Her mother is in rehab due to a DUI, the culmination of a history of alcoholism. Her father is rarely around anymore either, preferring to devote his attention to his congregation rather than the daughter he’s supposed to be t More...

0 comments like

Dec 14, 2009

Kit rated it:

This is a well-written book that isn't afraid to tackle tough issues. I don't know how Zarr knows about pastors' families, but boy, can I tell you she's right on about what it's like knowing that you're poorer than everyone in your congregation yet they're ready to judge you the minute they think you're spending the money they pay you on something you shouldn't! Not that I'm bitter or anything.

Samara is a fifteen year old grappling with feeling abandoned both by her mother, an alcoho More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 19, 2009

Rhonda rated it:

"Now I think miracles are things that happen in stained glass, and on dusty Jerusalem roads thousands of years ago. Not here, not to us. Not when we need them." -pg. 40

Have you ever felt just a little out of place in your own world? Have the things you have always held onto fallen apart in your hands? Do the things you once believed feel like a distance fantasy? Do miracles really even exist? Meet Samara Taylor - fifteen, a pastor's kid, pretty, quiet, and growing up in ru More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 19, 2009

Rachel rated it:

This book is about a girl who's father has always been a pastor and everyone has always viewed her as her father's daughter the god girl. Only thing is her mother has always been a secret alcoholic and made her doubt there is a god in any fashion. Now her mother is staying at New Beginnings a rehab facility and her father doesn't want to give her the time of day. A local girl goes missing and Sam starts to connect with her older brother. Only thing is he's a suspect and shes forbidden to be alon More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Oct 04, 2009

Marjorie rated it:

Glad I found ONCE WAS LOST By Sara Zarr

Oh, Sara Zarr! I have been waiting all of my life for this book. This is the book I longed for when I searched the shelves of my local library; the one I could only dream of while perusing the big bookstore when we went to the city. You did it, although too late for the girl I used to be, the teens of today will find it. And love it.

In her latest novel, ONCE WAS LOST, Zarr shows the truth of growing up as a child of faith – one immer More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Apr 24, 2011

Kelly rated it:

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here

0 comments like

May 10, 2010

Tabitha rated it:

Sam's mom is in rehab, dealing with alcohol issues. Her dad, a pastor, is busy trying to be there for his congregation. In the middle of all this, Sam is left very much alone and has no idea how to deal with the things that are making her life difficult.

This is an interesting story that deftly handles the concept of questioned faith in God. There is no preaching or holier-than-thou attitudes, which is wonderfully refreshing. The mystery of Jody's disappearance keeps the story on More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 24, 2009

Michael rated it:

Sam Taylor is a preacher's kid in a small town. Her mother has recently entered rehab following a DUI arrest and her father seems to be in denial about the whole thing, even refusing to acknowledge the current predicament to his congregation. In the midst of this, a young girl in the congregation disappears, leading the church and the town to go into high gear trying to find her and also begin to cast doubts on anyone and everyone as possibly being involved in the disappearance.

Wit More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 12, 2010

Zoë rated it:

"Now I think that miracles are things that happen in stained glass, and on dusty Jerusalem roads thousands of years ago. Not here, not to us. Not when we need them."

Once Was Lost by Sara Zarr is the story of Samara aka Sam, a pastor's kid who can't help wishing she was anything but. What's the point of being a pastor's kid when it doesn't stop your mom from ending up in rehab after a DUI, or your father from ignoring you in favour of listening to everyone else's problem More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 11, 2010

Maddie rated it:

This was my first Sara Zarr, and i have to say, I was not disappointed. This book ties religion, mystery, love, and family problems without over doing it. This book taught me when everything is going wrong, it's ok to lose a little faith, it's natural. And sometimes restoring that hope takes little steps.

I have to admit,I don't like a lot of novels that have religion in them. When I read on the inside cover that this book had religion in it, I was thinking, I hope this book doesn't o More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Aug 26, 2009

Mary rated it:

Samara Taylor (15) is the daughter of Pastor Charlie who works 80+ hour weeks helping everyone in his congregation with their problems. Sam's mother is in rehab following a drunk driving conviction, and Sam doesn't know when (if) she's coming home, but she's not returning Sam's phone calls. To add to her already stressful summer, Jody Shaw, a member of the church choir and younger sister of youth group friend, Nick, disappears. As the oppressively hot days drag on with fruitless searches and que More...

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Jul 29, 2009

Darin rated it:

When you first figure out what the general gist of what Zarr's narrative is going to be, and realize the number of different plot threads that are woven into the plot's introduction, you'll probably do what I did--count the number of pages, re-read the first thirty or so, and ask yourself, "There's no possible way she's going to pull this off." But she does, and how.

The best part of Zarr's writing style is that all the characters are completely believable--imperfect and More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Oct 26, 2011

Catie rated it:

3 1/2 stars

While I can now say unequivocally that I am a committed Sara Zarr fan, this one is probably my least favorite of hers. Like her other novels, it’s well written and replete with honest, bare emotion, but for some reason I didn’t connect with this one completely. For me, her books belong in two categories: there’s the more bristly, damaged, and difficult category for Story of a Girl and Sweethearts, and then there’s the melancholy but hopeful category for How to Save a Life More...

4 comments like (12 people liked it)

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