Rating: 
Summary: An Excellent Memoir
Review: This is one of the most hauntingly sad stories I've ever read. It's been months since I read it but I find myself remembering the ache I felt reading the book each time I see a copy in the library. I just bought the sequel and can't wait to read it.
Rating: 
Summary: Great For Your Summer Reading List
Review: Content: A memoir sharing the author's unbelievably sad childhood, yet some of her memories are touching and sweet....even comical.Writing Style: This is an easy, quick read. Interesting to read from her point of view as a child. Some phrases were overused, which I found to be ineffective and a little annoying. For conservatives: The F-word is used quite a bit, but you can understand why she'd be angry enough to use it.
Rating:
Summary: Opens the door for self-reflection
Review: Everyone has childhood secrets. Few of us have the opportunity to recapture the memories through research and reflection. While I was reading "Blackbird" I found myself recalling my own childhood memories. A good book, especially a memoir, will open up opportunities to ponder your own life, allowing you to understand what once may have been hidden or confusing. I do not know if Ms. Lauck intended for her book to be read in this way, but this reader has a new understanding for her own chilhood. Ms. Lauck's ability to write in the manner of a child's thoughts was captivating. This amazing quality adds to the essence of the story, and allows the reader (if openminded enough) to re-establish ties to their own childhood experiences. I have just ordered "Still Waters." I can't wait for it to arrive.
Rating:
Summary: Absolutely Wonderful
Review: This book was quite possibly the best book I have ever read. I read it so fast I was mad when it was over. I thought the story, either truth or fiction, was so well written with such perfect emotion and strength. It was a story that kept you going as you traveled the journey with her. I can't wait to read Still Water.
Rating:
Summary: A Brilliant Works
Review: I stand up and applaud Ms. Lauck, not only for her writing gift but for her "survivor" mentality. I'm currently writing my own memoir, and if mine is only half as outstanding as Blackbird, I will be thrilled.
Rating:
Summary: Cheerleader
Review: Blackbird and Still Waters will soften the hardest of hearts and make it easier for "the survivors" of this world to keep on going. Two of the greatest books I have been a part of in years.
Thank you.
Rating: 
Summary: Oh please - no more Snow White.
Review: While Jennifer Lauck's personal strength is to be commended, Blackbird lacks both a true adult perspective and a believable child's memory of her experiences. We are taken through a long journey of loss and a description of a child's stoicism in the face of cruelty and arbitrary actions on the part of her "evil step mother". That she repeats the Snow White theme as well as her particular sensations when she senses something is wrong - over and over agin - becomes tiresome. The only reason I finished it was to discuss it in my bookgroup - even this would not have been motivation enough had I not been new to the group.
Rating:
Summary: Unbelievable
Review: This was such an emotional journey Jennifer Lauck lived and took me through as a reader. I finished this book and immediately started the sequel, "Still Waters." She has such an amazing way of remembering and telling her story. By the end of the series I felt like I've known Jennifer all my life. ... I HIGHLY recommend it!
Rating: 
Summary: Hmm.
Review: All I could think while reading this book was, this can't be real. Then again, it was the 70's, maybe things were different then. The sexual abuse, the mental abuse, the lack of parental involvement. Dad disappearing while her mother is sick. Is it really that easy for a child to get dumped in a house and stop attending school? Again, this was the 70's maybe it makes a difference.
I read the other review with her concerns, and again, I kept thinking, perhaps it was the time when this occurred.
It just seems overwhelmingly unbelievable. Ficton or truth, it did make for an interesting read.
Rating: 
Summary: LOOSE ENDS...........
Review: I too couldn't put this book down, but was VERY bothered by such an abundance of "loose ends". Why didn't the dad have hospice or visiting nurses help out??? Why didn't the kids ever have visitation w/ their mom when she was in the hospital? Why didn't they ever even TRY? Why didn't the dad even know that his wife had died BEFORE he went to visit her in the hospital? How on earth did the aunt and uncle actually "find" them in LA? Especially when they didn't seem to leave much of a paper trail??? Why did only one adult Jennifer ever came in contact with get involved in seeking more information- ie. child abuse hot lines, etc. What about either of the teachers of these kids? Seems odd that even when someone from the state DID visit their home... that the investigator never figured out what was REALLY going on... Interview the neighbors, the person filing the report,teachers,etc. This is horrifying that no one intervened on this family's behalf, when there are SOOO many agencies out there that can help in so many of the situations this family found themselves in. It seems that her family set the trend for her initially by NOT utilizing any outside help in the beginning- just trying to "deal" with things the best they could. Lots to be learned on how things can and should be done differently. Hope that the author seeks and finds her birth parents; this too can be very informative and satisfying. Could be a way that she could gain a feeling of connection from, half siblings, etc. From the book, she definitely could handle a negative outcome if so found.
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