Thiago De Oliveira De Oliveira itibaren Voronov Log, Bryanskaya oblast', Rusya, 242331
Books like this should be used more in the school system to supplement American history text books. I hated history in school because it was presented as a collection of dates, names, and places.
Lacey’s a 14-year-old with heartbreaking dreams. It’s her first day of work (she’s volunteering at the library) and she’s so excited because she’s going to have a day free of taking care of her mom. She hopes it’ll lead to a summer of fun times at the library and maybe she’ll make a friend and she can have a sleepover. Her dreams are so small because her mom’s sick. She hallucinates that her father (Lacey’s grandfather) talks to her. (He’s been dead for years.) I’m not sure exactly what her mental disorder is (depression? schizophrenia? maybe she’s bipolar?) but it’s taken a huge toll on her and on Lacey. This book is short (not even 200 pages) but powerful. It’s hard to put down and hard to keep reading. My heart broke for Lacey (and for her mom, Angela) and I hoped for a happy ending I was afraid wouldn’t come. I’ve read another book of Williams’ (The Chosen One) and what I think she does really well is give a small snippet of these teenage girls’ lives. It’s enough to get to know them and enough to feel fully invested in their lives, but when the book ends, while we have closure, I still wanted to know more about what would happen. I don’t know if I’d ever feel a book of hers is too long. So recommended, but have tissues on hand.