Rating: 
Summary: Early praise for SOME THINGS THAT STAY
Review: "A luminous, impressive debut."--Publishers Weekly"A bit like a Northern Kaye Gibbons, Willis tells a coming-of-age story that is tender and moving. A first novel worth reading."--Library Journal "With likable wryness and honesty, SOME THINGS THAT STAY portrays an amusingly intinerant, unorthodox family--one whose members are deeply rattle and ultimately steadied by their needs for one another."--Martha Cooley, Author of The Archivist
Rating: 
Summary: Lyrical and Beautifully Written
Review: "Some Things That Stay" by debut author Sarah Willis is another in a long list of brilliant new writers. She's right up there with the best in terms of her wonderful voice and writing talent. She has a way with words that is very rare and I found her book utterly charming and delightful. The story of young 15yr. old Tamara Anderson and her very eclectic family. Her charm and mature voice lends itself to a wonderfully paced and articulate book. Author Sarah Willis, certainly has a talent for looking inside the mind and world of teenager and telling it her story with integrity and pride. Really great read!!!!
Rating:
Summary: This is a "Feel Good" kind of book
Review: "Some Things....." was superb! So rare is a book about teenagers so entertaining as this one. Maybe it's the fact that it is set in the '50's. Tamara is forced to look after her younger siblings while her parents are absent. This is no easy task, since Robert is a whiner and Megan won't talk. Needless to say, Tamara does a splendid job. I think I will read it again soon.
Rating:
Summary: Local setting only made a good story better
Review: Although I do not know the author, I grew up in the locale that is the setting of this story. I really enjoyed finding bits of our community in this novel but the story of a young girl's summer of emotional confusion as she deals with her mother's illness is moving regardless of location.Tamara's 'religious education' was an especially well written thread of this story that brought back memories of my own thoughts at that age.A seamless young adult novel.
Rating:
Summary: Some Things That Stay
Review: Although the age of 14 was many years ago, Sarah Willis brings it all back to me with her incredible insight and remembrance of teenage melodrama and angst. I thoroughly enjoyed her novel, and can't wait for her next piece of work.
Rating:
Summary: Lyrical and precise
Review: Fourteen year old Tamara has lived in a different house every year, with only her parents and her brothers as constants. Lying in bed in a room in a farmhouse where a year before a boy has died of leukemia she thinks about how heartbroken that boy's parents (and her family's current landlords) seem. Describing her parent's marriage, she says, "I try to imagine my parents without us kids. I can." I love this story of a girl who feels wild and honest. Sarah Willis writes with poetry and clarity. She cuts to the bones of feeling.
Rating: 
Summary: Touching story with a
Review: girl that will touch your heart. Tamara does a wonderful job of saying it how it is and I couldn't put this book down for even a moment. I felt sad when this book ended and it will stay with me for awhile.
Tamara has been left to care for her sister and brother while her mom is sick and her dad has left to sell his paintings and avoid reality. I loved when they went skinny dipping and I could have just imagined what it must have been like when Mr Murphy went down there and caught them and to have to get up while he was standing there! I wanted to be in that garden with Tamara and Mrs Burns.
This is a book you will love and this is an author to keep your eye on!
Rating:
Summary: Wow, is this good!
Review: Glad this is finally out in paperback--I'm giving it to all my friends! I read it again and like it even better than the first time around. Rich and powerful, but subtle, and delicate, too. The kid can write!
Rating:
Summary: A Bit Unexpected, Very Amazing
Review: I consider books like Some Things That Stay little gems. I found this book because I am a big fan of T. Greenwood's books. Amazon.com does a very good job with recommendations. There is a review printed on the book that goes something like "sometimes authors say something so amazing you stop and re-read that part again, Sarah Willis has this on each page." And I found it to be true. Tamara Anderson moves every Spring, all through her 15 years. The author could not have painted a clearer image of the surroundings, the characters and everything else that she conveyed in this book. It was a bit of a coming of age story, but I found it to be richer than the average coming of age novel. It was beautifully written with a lot of heart, I look forward to future novels by her. I highly recommend this book!
Rating:
Summary: A Beautiful Coming of Age Story
Review: I flew through Some Things That Stay, vacillating between a tear in my eye and a smile on my face. It's a poignant novel, set in the 1950's, chronicling a few months in the life of a teen girl who is desperately trying to find herself in a world which seems to be constantly changing. Tamara's father is a painter, and he moves his wife and three children on a yearly basis in order to find new subject matter for his paintings. The book begins with the family's move to rural New York state, and just as things seem to be settling down for Tamara, her whole life is thrown into turmoil again, from a source she never would have expected. I can't wait to get my hands on another Sarah Willis novel. This one was written with so much wisdom and understanding about the truly important things in life - your family, your relationships with others, your sense of self. Thanks very much to the amazon.com reader who including this gem in their listmania list!
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