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jbojkov's review against another edition
3.0
I liked Mayday better. I’m glad I read it first. This is a solid story about a young girl whose mother kills her twin brother and attempts to kill her when they were two- luckily Sarah survives. Unluckily, she has a father struggling with alcoholism and his duties as a father. This follows her over the summer she turns twelve as she attempts to make sense of her past and take control of her future. I liked it, but you can see Harrison’s growth as an author clearly from this book to her next.
kellerm's review against another edition
4.0
Good book but it may be my timing that I didn't like it more. Burned out on "to Kill A Mockingbird" references and girls with problems.
kickpleat's review against another edition
4.0
A very sweet novel about a girl trying to make the best of her crazy situation. Her relationship with her dad and her neighbours seemed real (though I didn't buy that her 20 year old babysitter dated a guy in a moustache) and the story was moving and there was not a dry eye in the house.
alissabar's review against another edition
4.0
I wasn't sure at first if I liked this book. It was so sad that this girl had some serious issues and had no one but a plant to talk to. However, I loved how the story developed, how she found solutions to her problems, and how she found friends in those around her. I grew to love her as a character.
yapha's review against another edition
3.0
Sarah Nelson hates being thought of as "that girl." Her mother tried to drown her in the sink when she was two, and has been in a mental hospital since then. Sarah is afraid that she will go crazy like her mother. She can't talk to her father about it -- he is dealing with his grief in his own way. Instead she writes letters to Atticus Finch (from To Kill a Mocking Bird) and talks to her Plant. Her main goal for the summer before seventh grade is to french kiss a boy. Instead, she ends up learning more about herself and her relationship with her mother. For grades 5-7.
ARC provided by publisher.
ARC provided by publisher.
scorpiostrawberries's review against another edition
slow-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death and Mental illness
Minor: Death of parent
mon_ique's review against another edition
3.0
I loved Sarah's voice; it was just as confusing, interesting, and funny as a real preteen. Her crushes, her love of To Kill a Mockingbird, her boredom with her summer- I felt so bad for her in the beginning, until she started opening up and reaching in to her neighborhood. I loved how the struggle's of this family were written, but I wish the mother's voice could be heard. I know, unless you have been in a really close situation with what happened in this book with the mother (postpartum depression?? It was never really explained) it would be hard to see both sides of such a big issue, seeing the mother's point of view, what was mentally wrong with her.
My biggest issue with this book was the appropriateness. What grandmother hides her risque romance books and then (when she finds out her 12 year old granddaughter reads such things) is all like, "Well, if you have any questions..."??? Like, ew.
Another issue was the continuity. Certain times, I was so sure this character was sitting right there, and then all of a sudden they were driving in the car. I feel like in the online version I read, some things were missing (or poor book editing) because certain things are mentioned that were never written about adn showed up randomly talked about.
3 and 1/4 stars!
My biggest issue with this book was the appropriateness. What grandmother hides her risque romance books and then (when she finds out her 12 year old granddaughter reads such things) is all like, "Well, if you have any questions..."??? Like, ew.
Another issue was the continuity. Certain times, I was so sure this character was sitting right there, and then all of a sudden they were driving in the car. I feel like in the online version I read, some things were missing (or poor book editing) because certain things are mentioned that were never written about adn showed up randomly talked about.
3 and 1/4 stars!
shelflife's review against another edition
2.0
I totally thought this was going to be emotionally riveting. A young girl is dealing with her life 10 years after her mother tried to drown her and her brother, succeeding in killing her twin brother, while she survived. As Sarah approaches age 12 and is growing into a young woman, she is faced with many challenges.
She lives with her dad who is very sad and drinks to cope, she is curious about her mother who is institutionalized, and is worried about doing a family tree in her upcoming 7th grade year in school. Since her story was all over the news, her father and her have moved several times once people find out who she is so Sarah lives in fear of people finding out. She is coping who growing, finding a crush, have a college age girl be a sort of replacement mom and writes to Atticus Finch in her diary to sort out her feelings and she collects words.
Other than that nothing really happens in this story. I found being in her head only slightly interesting but not the emotional punch I thought it would give me. It's was just meh.
She lives with her dad who is very sad and drinks to cope, she is curious about her mother who is institutionalized, and is worried about doing a family tree in her upcoming 7th grade year in school. Since her story was all over the news, her father and her have moved several times once people find out who she is so Sarah lives in fear of people finding out. She is coping who growing, finding a crush, have a college age girl be a sort of replacement mom and writes to Atticus Finch in her diary to sort out her feelings and she collects words.
Other than that nothing really happens in this story. I found being in her head only slightly interesting but not the emotional punch I thought it would give me. It's was just meh.
kariadams's review against another edition
2.0
In general I thought this book was slow, however I did enjoy the last 50 pages or so. The storyline in general was interesting I just couldn't get into the book.