5 Stars
Rating: PG
Language: G
Violence: PG (There's a scene where an animal is cut open--my least favorite kinds of scene EVER)
Sex: PG (Inferences are made that it did happen, but nothing is described)
Drugs/Alcohol: G
Every once in awhile
you come across a book that is so monumental that even as you’re reading it,
you know it has become a favorite for the rest of your life. Jodi Lynn Anderson
has an uncanny ability to make me feel and hope for characters in just 250 pages.
I’ve lost a lot of my faith in the YA genre recently because of all the books
published, it’s very rare to find one where the characters are able to grow and
change through difficult decisions.
This book is about nothing
and about everything all at once. It’s about family, finding new love, losing
an old love, grief, and the bravery it takes to do what’s best for those who
you care about most. It’s something most of us don’t think about too deeply
because it’s the natural revolution of life. This story has a poignant way of assisting our understanding of the human condition—it’s sad at times, difficult and
rough, but it is also filled with empathy, love, and complete and utter
bravery. It takes a lot of strength to leave behind everything you know in
hopes for a better life and I respect those decisions now more than ever.
Through the book, we follow three characters—Adri,
Lenore, and Catherine—all of whom are connected through a little farm in
Canaan, Kansas. Adri stumbles upon the letters and entries from Catherine and
Lenore as she’s waiting to be shipped off to Mars on a permanent mission.
Through the girls, 100 years older than herself, Adri was finally able to find
a human connection in a world where she thought she was completely alone.
The importance of knowing your history and connecting
with those of past generations is a pivotal point in the story. Recently, I was
in Minnesota with my dad and we passed the house where my great-grandparents
used to live and where my grandpa was born. It made me think of how much these
little towns have seen. Passing the house, we saw it was recently sold; a fresh coat
of paint applied; but inside was where there was so much life. That house had
seen people live. Babies were born
there, children were raised, grandchildren appeared, and people passed away.
There were probably screaming fights and moments of quiet grief and that house
saw it all as it transferred to each new family.
I’m using a house as an example, but for this story,
Anderson used a Galapagos tortoise. This tortoise was there when new life was
conceived, she was there for births and deaths, she saw the hardest of life as
children struggled to stay alive amidst the dust storms of the 30s. She saw the
birth of new love, she saw children grow into adults, and watched as a family’s
time came to an end just so another family could fit into the picture. She was
the real trove of history. As Adri was reading the letters and the journal, the
girls felt far away in the past. They were long dead and had faded into
history, but as she watched Galapagos the turtle, sitting in the backyard, she
realized that this turtle saw everything. This turtle was history…and I think that’s a very powerful thing. People can
fade, but there might be someone (or something) left that still remembers and knows.
I find it really hard to write the correct words down
that express my overall gratitude and love for this story. People forget to
reflect on the quiet moments in life and they’re often left forgotten. This is
why this book makes me so inanely happy (but so sad at the same time). It has
helped remind me to enjoy the little moments and rejoice in them because “a
whole life can begin with one little spark.”
(I will be making my
whole family read this book. No question).
“There was a time Mama would say she dreamt of going back to
England…and I used to believe her. But now I suspect—despite the terrible
uncertainties beyond Canaan—that the main thing is she believes happiness is
something behind her, to remember instead of chase.”
Onward and forward,
Lauren
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