2017 Reading Challenge discussion
People & Things They Do (2017)
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A book with a child narrator
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Anne
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Jan 01, 2017 07:49PM
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Last week I finished "Un monstruo viene a verme" (A Monster Calls). Really beautiful, very unexpected. I prepare myself for the typical story about a kid who overcomes to fears or something like that, so the shock when I started to really feeling the story was bigger.
Falling Angels by Tracy Chevalier has multiple narrators, two of whom are children. As the book moves forward they age and at the end of the book they're in their late teens IIRC. Good book about late Victorian England, partly about the suffragette movement.
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Dorothy AllisonA simply brilliant novel about family, poverty, child abuse and strong women in the southern United States it has spare prose, some really fine imagery, and a heartbreaking mother-daughter relationship. For anyone looking for a banned or controversial book, I would recommend this one. It's been "banned" in school districts in Maine and California. Banned is in quotes because it was removed from the curriculum, not censored or destroyed. Steven King and his wife bought lots of copies for Maine libraries to make sure it was accessible to people recovering from child abuse.
A wonderful book from the perspective of a young man with autism. This books was not at all what I expected. It's endearing, honest and raw. I really enjoyed it and highly recommend it. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon. I could also recommend in this same vein House Rules by Jodi Picoult. This one is also told mostly from the perspective of a boy with autism.
One of the Boys - Daniel Magariel
A short and somewhat brutal story of two brothers at the mercy of their manipulative, abusive, drug addicted father. Not an easy story, but well written and I felt so badly for them and the predicament they were in. Told from the point of view of the younger brother, a 7th grader.
I read What the Waves Know by Tamara Valentine. A 14 year old narrator that hasn't spoken since she was six. On her sixth birthday her parents fought, she told her dad she hated him and asked him why he didn't just leave. He left. She ran after the car, but couldn't catch him. Some might call this a coming of age, but it is so much more than that. Obviously the little girl is hurting, but she has also blocked her memory of events after her father left. Her mother is hurting as well, both for her husband leaving and her daughter not talking. The writing is wonderful. I'm just a reader, but the writing in this book draws you in and wraps you in the story. I didn't want to put it down and I didn't want it to end. Highly recommended.
"My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry" by Frederik Backman - a charming book full of fairy tales and magical lands as told by the 7-year-old protagonist Elsa. However, the tales become real-life stories of difficult events that the grandmother created in order to deal with hardships in life. profound, funny, and lovely all rolled into one.
Miracles: Poems by Children of the English-Speaking WorldOriginally, I had this book under the category of poems but since this entire book of poems is written by children, I put it in this category. Very enjoyable. Impressive at times, cute at other times and very insightful when it comes to a child's perspective on a number of topics.
Books mentioned in this topic
Miracles: Poems by Children of the English- Speaking World (other topics)What the Waves Know (other topics)
One of the Boys (other topics)
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (other topics)
House Rules (other topics)
More...
Authors mentioned in this topic
Mark Haddon (other topics)Jodi Picoult (other topics)
Dorothy Allison (other topics)

