Some Things That Stay

Rating:
Summary: Into the Top Five
Review: I have this tendency, after reading "High Fidelity" by Nick Hornby, of ranking everything. Sneaking a new book in is a tough thing. What do you drop out of your five? "Sophie's Choice?" Can't do it. "High Fidelity" itself? That's seems ironic. No. But, somehow, after finishing "Some Things That Stay," I had to weasel it in there somehow.
I don't even know why I was drawn to this book. I had just picked up Sarah's new one, "The Rehearsal," and thought, with only two books to her credit, I might as well read them in order.
What unfolded, in "Some Things That Stay," was a beautiful coming-of-age story. The beauty of it, for me, was that it was told in a sparse, Hemingwayesque style. There couldn't have been more than one hundred sentences that contained more than two commas. But, there, in it's simplicity, was warmth, humor, and observation so keen, it took my breath away.
The tale was one of an odd family. A family that moved. And with the moving came coping. Each family member accomplished that a bit differently. But, the story is anchored by its strong female lead, letting life flow over her as she experienced the first pangs of sexual experimentation, the loss of her mother's ability to live with them because of health, and her anger toward her father.
The main theme is a univeral one. How do we deal with loss? It is explored in many ways with various characters and subplots.
Finally, it is a book you will close at the end and say to yourself, Who can I give this to? Who can I grant this discovery to? A new author! A wonderful story!
Now, which book is getting the bump? I've gotta figure this out. . .

Rating:
Summary: Into the Top Five
Review: I have this tendency, after reading "High Fidelity" by Nick Hornby, of ranking everything. Sneaking a new book in is a tough thing. What do you drop out of your five? "Sophie's Choice?" Can't do it. "High Fidelity" itself? That's seems ironic. No. But, somehow, after finishing "Some Things That Stay," I had to weasel it in there somehow.
I don't even know why I was drawn to this book. I had just picked up Sarah's new one, "The Rehearsal," and thought, with only two books to her credit, I might as well read them in order.
What unfolded, in "Some Things That Stay," was a beautiful coming-of-age story. The beauty of it, for me, was that it was told in a sparse, Hemingwayesque style. There couldn't have been more than one hundred sentences that contained more than two commas. But, there, in it's simplicity, was warmth, humor, and observation so keen, it took my breath away.
The tale was one of an odd family. A family that moved. And with the moving came coping. Each family member accomplished that a bit differently. But, the story is anchored by its strong female lead, letting life flow over her as she experienced the first pangs of sexual experimentation, the loss of her mother's ability to live with them because of health, and her anger toward her father.
The main theme is a univeral one. How do we deal with loss? It is explored in many ways with various characters and subplots.
Finally, it is a book you will close at the end and say to yourself, Who can I give this to? Who can I grant this discovery to? A new author! A wonderful story!
Now, which book is getting the bump? I've gotta figure this out. . .

Rating:
Summary: We were all teenagers once...
Review: I just loved reading this book. It brought back so many memories of being 15 years old and thinking your parents were absolutely nuts. I loved the way Ms. Willis wrote in the first person. Her funny and dead-on comments by all of the children in this book were delightful. I can't wait to read another of her stories. I will be recommending this book to my many friends who are readers. What a delight!

Rating:
Summary: Perfect
Review: I loved this book, the prickly main character, Tamara, and her oddly dysfunctional family. This is a lovely coming of age story that touches on so many true and heartfelt issues in a teenaged girl's life - the anger at her aloof father, her fear and anger with her ill mother, her desire for closeness and love, yet her rejection of those qualities in her own home. There were scenes and phrases in this book that, as the mother of a teenaged daughter, just stopped me in my tracks, they were so right on and illuminating.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful
Review: I must admit that I originally gravitated towards this book because of the beautiful dust jacket. But after only a few pages I knew that I was reading a keeper. Tamara, the main character, is reminiscent of Ellen Foster and Frankie from Member of the Wedding. Now I'm looking forward to more books by this author.

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful!
Review: I really liked this book! It is very engaging. I was worried it would be just another "dysfunctional family" book - so popular these days, but it wasn't at all. Read it!

Rating:
Summary: Heartfelt and Endearing
Review: In a perfectly pitched voice, Tamara Anderson chronicles life on the move with her quirky unconventional American family. In the year 1954 the Anderson's settle down in a small upstate New York town. But Tamara knows she shouldn't get her hopes up too high on staying in Mayville, New York. Every year of her young life her father who is a landscape artist packs the family up and relocates them in an effort to seek new scenery for his paintings.

Longing for a place to call home and dealing with all the stressors of entering womanhood, Tamara's world takes on ever increasing complexities. For one, the new neighbor's, the Murphy's, introduce Tamara to Christianity, a practice her atheist parents oppose. Moreover, Tamara's budding sexuality faces temptation as she develops a relationship with the Murphy's son Rusty. Finally, Tamara takes on her most challenging role; she becomes the mother figure of her family when her own mother takes ill and is admitted to a sanitarium.

Tamara is a keenly observant young lady. The language in which she tells her tale hits just the right note. The story is full of splendidly constructed passages that stay with the reader long after the book is closed. Adults and mature teens are sure to be pleased with this novel that tenderly touches the sensitive spot of one's heart.

Rating:
Summary: Heartfelt and Endearing
Review: In a perfectly pitched voice, Tamara Anderson chronicles life on the move with her quirky unconventional American family. In the year 1954 the Anderson's settle down in a small upstate New York town. But Tamara knows she shouldn't get her hopes up too high on staying in Mayville, New York. Every year of her young life her father who is a landscape artist packs the family up and relocates them in an effort to seek new scenery for his paintings.

Longing for a place to call home and dealing with all the stressors of entering womanhood, Tamara's world takes on ever increasing complexities. For one, the new neighbor's, the Murphy's, introduce Tamara to Christianity, a practice her atheist parents oppose. Moreover, Tamara's budding sexuality faces temptation as she develops a relationship with the Murphy's son Rusty. Finally, Tamara takes on her most challenging role; she becomes the mother figure of her family when her own mother takes ill and is admitted to a sanitarium.

Tamara is a keenly observant young lady. The language in which she tells her tale hits just the right note. The story is full of splendidly constructed passages that stay with the reader long after the book is closed. Adults and mature teens are sure to be pleased with this novel that tenderly touches the sensitive spot of one's heart.

Rating:
Summary: True to heart story triumphs over purple prose (no pun)
Review: One problem I have with novels in which the narrator is a child or teenager is that normally their voice is too adult. After all, the author is an adult. I can imagine how hard it must be not just to write well, but in a sense to "act", because you're not a child anymore. This is why I so enjoyed Some Things That Stay. The narrator, Tamara, is a very smart and mature 15 year-old, but she is truly her age.

I have a weakness for coming of age stories, and this one will remain in my memory for a long time. Tamara is the daughter of an itinerant family. She is longing to put roots down, but this doesn't seem to happen. One issue that the book addresses so well is the difference in perception that parents and children sometimes have. For the parents, it is such an adventure to go live all over the country, when in fact Tamara is outraged. After a discussion on sex (quite a big deal in the 50's, I suppose), with pictures included (after all, the father is a painter), Tamara says: "They imagine themselves great teachers. They swell with pride at their openness, their boldness, their ability to get out the facts. But they started with us much too early, and now, when a frank talk about sex might actually interest me, they have collapsed into themselves, like those distant galaxies, the hot air and gas all burned up."

The novel covers one year in the life of Tamara's family, a year that will change everything and everybody. Sometimes the prose can be a little corny (in a letter from the father to the mother: "She needs you. You are her reds and yellows and greens, her indigo, emerald, and ultramarine. I am only black"), but overall this is a very satisfying book, a story that rings true in so many instances. For example, Tamara despises her father at times (she once called him "Cosmic Cretin"; another time she said: "Maybe [God's] a little bit like my dad too: blinded by His own light"), yet she loves him so deeply. A contradiction so strong and so real takes some skill to portray, and the author does that beautifully. This book is a must-read.

Rating:
Summary: True to heart story triumphs over purple prose (no pun)
Review: One problem I have with novels in which the narrator is a child or teenager is that normally their voice is too adult. After all, the author is an adult. I can imagine how hard it must be not just to write well, but in a sense to "act", because you're not a child anymore. This is why I so enjoyed Some Things That Stay. The narrator, Tamara, is a very smart and mature 15 year-old, but she is truly her age.

I have a weakness for coming of age stories, and this one will remain in my memory for a long time. Tamara is the daughter of an itinerant family. She is longing to put roots down, but this doesn't seem to happen. One issue that the book addresses so well is the difference in perception that parents and children sometimes have. For the parents, it is such an adventure to go live all over the country, when in fact Tamara is outraged. After a discussion on sex (quite a big deal in the 50's, I suppose), with pictures included (after all, the father is a painter), Tamara says: "They imagine themselves great teachers. They swell with pride at their openness, their boldness, their ability to get out the facts. But they started with us much too early, and now, when a frank talk about sex might actually interest me, they have collapsed into themselves, like those distant galaxies, the hot air and gas all burned up."

The novel covers one year in the life of Tamara's family, a year that will change everything and everybody. Sometimes the prose can be a little corny (in a letter from the father to the mother: "She needs you. You are her reds and yellows and greens, her indigo, emerald, and ultramarine. I am only black"), but overall this is a very satisfying book, a story that rings true in so many instances. For example, Tamara despises her father at times (she once called him "Cosmic Cretin"; another time she said: "Maybe [God's] a little bit like my dad too: blinded by His own light"), yet she loves him so deeply. A contradiction so strong and so real takes some skill to portray, and the author does that beautifully. This book is a must-read.