I Love Surprises!!
There are many, I am sure, who would consider me an indiscriminate reader. There are very few topics or genres that I avoid, and if someone gives me a book, I'm usually willing to at least give it a try. Sometimes, though, I will start to read a book with the preconceived notion that I'm not going to enjoy it very much. When these books turn out to be wonderful, it's such a pleasant surprise!
Ordinarily, I'm not a huge fan of historical fiction, and I'm particularly not a fan of civil rights novels for children and teens. I just feel that, while rushing to make their point, these books tend to get very simplistic, hollowly written, and manipulative. Morning in a Different Place by Mary Ann McGuigan surprised me, then, by being nuanced, interesting, and moving. It is the story of a 13-year old Irish American girl who is growing up in 1963 with an African American best friend and an alcoholic father. Touching on issues of race, class, and social change, the author offers up a very good read.
Heartsinger is a slender novel by Dutch author Karlijn Stoffels, which is ostensibly the story of two musicians--Mee, who can see into people's souls and sing their sorrows, and Mitou, who brings great joy to everyone who hears her songs. I'm so glad that I ignored my feelings that it was going to be corny and vague, as it is beautifully written! Stoffels weaves together the disparate stories of numerous characters to create a whole that is far greater than the sum of its gorgeous parts. The reader doesn't always understand how the different tales are going to fit together, so when the connections become clear, it's all the more delightful.
Ordinarily, I'm not a huge fan of historical fiction, and I'm particularly not a fan of civil rights novels for children and teens. I just feel that, while rushing to make their point, these books tend to get very simplistic, hollowly written, and manipulative. Morning in a Different Place by Mary Ann McGuigan surprised me, then, by being nuanced, interesting, and moving. It is the story of a 13-year old Irish American girl who is growing up in 1963 with an African American best friend and an alcoholic father. Touching on issues of race, class, and social change, the author offers up a very good read.
Heartsinger is a slender novel by Dutch author Karlijn Stoffels, which is ostensibly the story of two musicians--Mee, who can see into people's souls and sing their sorrows, and Mitou, who brings great joy to everyone who hears her songs. I'm so glad that I ignored my feelings that it was going to be corny and vague, as it is beautifully written! Stoffels weaves together the disparate stories of numerous characters to create a whole that is far greater than the sum of its gorgeous parts. The reader doesn't always understand how the different tales are going to fit together, so when the connections become clear, it's all the more delightful. 
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