Tracie Barton-Barrett is a lover and writer of all that is animals. Her first book, Buried Deep in our Hearts, introduced us to the lives of certain fTracie Barton-Barrett is a lover and writer of all that is animals. Her first book, Buried Deep in our Hearts, introduced us to the lives of certain families which intersect through the passing of their respective fur babies.
Her latest book, FINDING HER SPIRIT, is just as memorable as it takes us on a journey through the eyes of a teen girl and the horses which weave in and out of her life, even after they are gone. But this is not only a horse story, nor is it only for teen girls. It is a bildungsroman (coming-of-age) filled with family drama, relatable teen loneliness, and the special horses (one in particular) that enter a young girl’s heart, changing her life forever.
While FINDING HER SPIRIT is a book of trials and tribulations, it conveys a solid balance between poignant and hopeful as the protagonist grows from child to woman. Whether or not you have ever ridden horses, enjoyed their beauty from a distance, or have them at the bottom of your favorite pet list, this book is a reminder that animals are an integral part of our lives, our memories, and our psyches....more
Finally, a chance to write a review for this YA male bonding story! While I call it YA, it may be that adults will enjoy it as well, as I did. And whiFinally, a chance to write a review for this YA male bonding story! While I call it YA, it may be that adults will enjoy it as well, as I did. And while not a male, I did pick up the book with an open mind. As a former English teacher and current private tutor, I read a LOT of classics, many of them over and over again. I have read Lord of the Flies at least 5 times over two decades, and I enjoy it for its own reasons that are not important here. But I mention LOF because the author does as a sort of comparison. I do not see too many similarities to LOF, but perhaps I have dug into the nuances of that particular classic too deeply and too often. That aside, The Benevolent Lords of Sometimes Island (great title and cover, BTW) sits well enough on its own without any comparison to anything else. I won't go into the plot too much as so many other reviewers have already done that. Instead, I want to explain the reasons why I enjoyed this book so much. I love books that take us into a past era (in this case, 1986) because by taking away the tech junk (cell phones, GPS, etc) suspense is almost guaranteed. They also do not get in the way of the boys' imaginations, their individual personalities which shine through succinctly, and the fact that in order to survive, these young men need to use their collective wits to get them out of a situation that appears to offer no way out. I also enjoyed the memory aspect of the story. This tale is told in first person by William, an average kid with a pretty moral compass, even though he is the catalyst for the danger he and his cronies eventually find themselves in. He's a good kid who does something rash, and they nearly end up paying for it dearly. As a memory story, the reader must decide if the narrator is reliable or not. I like to think he is, because that makes him more likeable as well, and I really like William a lot. In the famous book A Separate Peace, we have a narrator much like William, reviewing a particular summer of his youth through a future lens. In ASP, the narrator is a little jaded, even a tad jealous as he recounts his tale. But William is kind and loving throughout, and as he narrates his memory, we can tell he is a good guy. It's important to like our story teller. Semegran also compares his story to The Body by Stephen King, though many will remember the movie version Stand By Me. I find this story to be much more like that one. A group of boys during a particular summer that will change all of them forever, for better or worse. Although the author takes a bit of a long time in his exposition, as well as the resolution, neither of these traits bother me personally because I do read so many classics, and all of them simmer for a while before coming to a boil. This book is no different, allowing the reader to sink deeply into each boy's personality, quirks and all. Once it gets going, it moves like a bullet train up one side of a mountain and down the other, time being the main element the boys have no control over. A human can survive without air for three minutes, water for three days. It is this time factor that becomes a character in its own right, bearing down on the boys as they do their best to survive. This memory story is a dark one, and that is why the narrator tells it such clarity. And it is way more than middle schoolers vs. high schoolers. It is a tale of character, of decisiveness, of cause and effect, of friendship. All of those things spun together cohesively create a 4-star book. So why did I give it 5 stars? Because Scott Semegran is an indie author. He writes. Edits. Designs. Markets. Shares. He walks a tightrope of faith without the help of a big publisher to back him up. Kudos to this author who has written a fabulous story and for letting us peek into the mind of young boys surviving danger while at the same time dealing with the beginnings of their journey toward manhood. ...more
I had read about the award-winning author Jesmyn Ward and her unmatched writing talents before picking up this hardcover version of Sing, Unburied, SiI had read about the award-winning author Jesmyn Ward and her unmatched writing talents before picking up this hardcover version of Sing, Unburied, Sing, but this is the first book of hers I have read. Because I always start with the positive, let me say that this story is filled with some of the most brilliantly poetic writing I have ever come across. I read A LOT, and that includes adult literary. For reference, and in my opinion only, Sing, Unburied, Sing is sort of a cross between Morrison's Beloved and Fitch's White Oleander. I actually had to stop reading a few times, not only to re-read the elegant passages, but to remind myself what the story is about. It is a sad tale of a family knee-deep in crisis, partly due to a young drug-addicted mother who carries the weight of many ills on her shoulders. It is this weight that moves the story forward. It is told in multiple viewpoints, which adds to the depth of the characterization. The characters are all multi-layered, ghosts make an appearance adding to the drama, and the setting becomes part of the reader's blood after only a few pages. But there is a reason I do not give it five stars: the story itself. This is an exhausting read. Not because of the sadness that pervades throughout, but because I felt like I was being buried by the sadness; that there was no way out, no hope. While the ending does offer some relief, and certainly closes most doors, it only comes after pages and pages of rip-my-heart-out moments. I have no problem with sad books. I have re-read and loved Of Mice and Men, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, and dozens of other books that take the reader on a no-way-out journey where, in the end, we discover there is a way out after all. But this book is so much deeper than those. Perhaps because of the BLM movement currently being at the center of my thoughts; or because the book reminds us there are families just like this in pockets all around us that we can do nothing about. I once saw the 1995 movie Leaving Las Vegas, (adapted from the novel by John O'Brien), about an alcoholic man who chooses to drink himself to death, and the prostitute who befriends him. The movie starts out sad, and goes downhill from there. It is one of the most depressing films I've ever seen, with an ending that makes the beginning seem like a party. Again, Sing, Unburied, Sing has a somewhat hopeful ending, but for a few readers it will be too little too late. For me it almost was. But because the writing was so addictive and beautiful, (like the saddest song you've ever heard that you just need to play over and over), I took tentative baby steps to reach the end. Perhaps there needs to be, even in the most depressing of stories, a touch of comic relief. Just a little happy moment painted here or there, to keep the reader from putting the book down every few pages and picking it up only when they think they can handle it. So with three stars for the story, and five stars for the writing, this book gets four from me. Will I read more of her work? Absolutely. I will always support a brilliant writer like Jesmyn Ward. I just hope the next book won't be quite so taxing on my spirit....more
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