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Richie's Picks: IRISES by Francisco X. Stork, Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic, January 2012, 304p., ISBN: 978-0-545-15135-1
"Every night, before Kate went to sleep, she poured rubbing alcohol on her palms and massaged Mama's legs so they would not atrophy. When she first started doing this, she kept expecting Mama to open her eyes, to sit up, say thank you, hug her. But as time went on, the nightly hope gave way to a sense that the limbs she was touching were devoid of energy, that life would never ...more
"Every night, before Kate went to sleep, she poured rubbing alcohol on her palms and massaged Mama's legs so they would not atrophy. When she first started doing this, she kept expecting Mama to open her eyes, to sit up, say thank you, hug her. But as time went on, the nightly hope gave way to a sense that the limbs she was touching were devoid of energy, that life would never ...more
When their minister father dies unexpectedly, sisters Kate and Mary must figure out a way to take care of their mother who is in a persistent vegetative state as well as themselves. Kate has a scholarship to Stanford, and Mary is a talented painter, but their lives have been restricted by their controlling father and their concern for their mother. As with Stork's previous two titles, this one explores questions about family, faith, and joy, but the exploration seems a bit more heavy-handed than
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I wanted to like this better, because I really loved the author's Marcelo in the Real World. But this one left me a little flat. It's about 2 sisters who must deal with the sudden death of their minister father, while continuing to care for their comatose mother and trying to figure out what their future is going to hold. The older sister, Kate, is 18, about to graduate from high school, but the younger sister, Mary, still has a couple of years of school left. Kate has always dreamed of going to
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I actually give "Irises" a 3.5. I have loved Francisco X. Stork's work in the past; however, this was my least favorite of his novels.
"Irises" is really the story of the love between two sisters, despite what the inside of the book jacket says. The book begins with a scene from their past, an easy time of love and light. In the next chapter, we step into the present and listen in on a conversation between Kate (age 18) and her father, a minister. He tells her,"You are the oldest in the family. I ...more
"Irises" is really the story of the love between two sisters, despite what the inside of the book jacket says. The book begins with a scene from their past, an easy time of love and light. In the next chapter, we step into the present and listen in on a conversation between Kate (age 18) and her father, a minister. He tells her,"You are the oldest in the family. I ...more
Unfortunately, this one just didn't really hold my interest. I think I may be judging this book more harshly because I liked Marcello in the Real World and The Last Summer of the Death Warriors so much. Though this novel poses some interesting questions about what constitutes life on a physical as opposed to a spiritual level, many teen readers will be turned off by the slow-moving plot and the flat main characters. Because of their sheltered upbringing, Kate and Mary are more formal than the av
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Definitely a book to be savored! "...a seed of peace..." Such a beautiful, evocative, inspiring thought that any of us can find at least that (as a start), no matter what has happened to us in our lives. This is not your typical novel, and there's not as much of a conventional "story" as even Stork's other two novels. This is more of a meditation, one that I, personally, needed to read over a long period of time. Every time I picked it back up, I was completely absorbed by it again, like I had n
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I liked this story of two sisters who have some difficult choices to make, it held me to the end. However, the bar was set very high because I loved Marcelo in the Real World as well as The Summer of the Death Warriors, and it didn't equal them. Maybe having girls as the main characters ?
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Is this REALLY the same author that wrote Marcelo in the Real World?
Sep 03, 2011
Cathy Blackler
marked it as to-read
Dec 07, 2011
Alyson (Kid Lit Frenzy)
marked it as to-read
Jan 01, 2012
Jennifer
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Jan 29, 2012
Jodi
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Mar 01, 2012
EL
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Mar 07, 2012
Elisha Karr
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May 17, 2012
Ann
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Oct 19, 2012
Nancy
marked it as to-read
