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3.55 AVERAGE
3.55 AVERAGE
A short review for a short read:
This is a good coming-of-age-against-the-odds story. The writing style involves a lot of short, almost-but-not-quite disjointed vignettes. The voice of the story's protagonist, Rory Dawn, is very strong, and her experiences growing up in a trailer park are very engaging. I read it over two evenings, but I definitely could have squeezed it into one. I do recommend it, though!
This is a good coming-of-age-against-the-odds story. The writing style involves a lot of short, almost-but-not-quite disjointed vignettes. The voice of the story's protagonist, Rory Dawn, is very strong, and her experiences growing up in a trailer park are very engaging. I read it over two evenings, but I definitely could have squeezed it into one. I do recommend it, though!
I loved everything about this book. It's about Rory Dawn, who lives in poverty outside of Reno NV with her mother. But it's also about the lives of people who don't have a lot of anything, and how hard it can be to leave that world behind. Even if you desperately want to. This came to my attention because Mari mentioned it in a BookTube video (mynameismarines on YouTube. Check out her channel if you haven't already) and her description intrigued me enough to pick up a copy from my library. She says the style probably isn't for everyone, and I agree. It's a series of clips, letters, memories, most of which are very short. This makes for a quick, but definitely not an easy read. I can't talk about why I loved the book so much without spoilers. Trigger warnings below.
There is also a lot in this book about how hard it is to rise above where you are born. Rory is highly intelligent, but doesn't see herself ever leaving the trailer park where she and her mother live. The first chapter is a wonderful insight into how hard it is to leave the place you began behind. In talking about her mother, Rory talks about how she doesn't laugh with her mouth open because she had lost most of her teeth before she was 20, and the ones she hadn't lost were rotting. Then she says "...the mistakes you made before the real lessons sunk in never fade...your reflection in the glass will never let you forget how stupid you felt when you didn't know any better. You never stop seeing those gaps in your smile." That is such an accurate description it breaks my heart. There are also some excerpts from a social worker who was working on the case of Rory's mother, and she wants to get her into vocational school. There is a great snippet concerning this "She didn't ask how far Mama could go, just how far a person like Mama has to go." This is such a great insight into how most people (Americans, at least) view the poor. We definitely have a "they must be lesser because they don't have money" attitude in this country, which is brought sharply into light here.
There are a lot more things I could talk about because this made me think a lot of thinky thoughts, but I'll cut off here. Brilliant, painful, heartbreaking book. Not for everyone, but I loved it so much.
Spoiler
All right. Rory is molested as a very young child, but the book doesn't use a lot of explicit terminology, because we are processing it along with Rory, who is only 16 at the end of the book. And the terminology of it is not part of her trailer park world. The clips where she recalls abuse but doesn't call it abuse are so, so painful but at the same time almost beautiful in a brutal way because of Hassman's skill with words. I saw other reviews say that some of the clips or vignettes are not necessary, but for me that wasn't true. I think, especially with young kids, coming to terms with something horrific is a very circuitous path. We get little flashes, little hints, and then the story backs off, or goes to a different time frame, something that's safer. For me, this was a very effective and realistic way of Rory dealing with her trauma. And the reader is dealing with it right along with her. The meandering path of the book gave a little breathing room before the next memory, the next horrible thing that happens. I thought it was a very powerful tool that was well used. I would absolutely recommend caution reading, because while there isn't a lot of explicit language about the abuse, the hints of memory are brutal.There is also a lot in this book about how hard it is to rise above where you are born. Rory is highly intelligent, but doesn't see herself ever leaving the trailer park where she and her mother live. The first chapter is a wonderful insight into how hard it is to leave the place you began behind. In talking about her mother, Rory talks about how she doesn't laugh with her mouth open because she had lost most of her teeth before she was 20, and the ones she hadn't lost were rotting. Then she says "...the mistakes you made before the real lessons sunk in never fade...your reflection in the glass will never let you forget how stupid you felt when you didn't know any better. You never stop seeing those gaps in your smile." That is such an accurate description it breaks my heart. There are also some excerpts from a social worker who was working on the case of Rory's mother, and she wants to get her into vocational school. There is a great snippet concerning this "She didn't ask how far Mama could go, just how far a person like Mama has to go." This is such a great insight into how most people (Americans, at least) view the poor. We definitely have a "they must be lesser because they don't have money" attitude in this country, which is brought sharply into light here.
There are a lot more things I could talk about because this made me think a lot of thinky thoughts, but I'll cut off here. Brilliant, painful, heartbreaking book. Not for everyone, but I loved it so much.
I didn’t like the format of this book, with the word problems and beating around the bush. Sad and interesting storyline, but I didn’t connect with the choppy storytelling.
This was a heartbreaking story, one I could relate to in many ways. The author skipped around and would half tell the story and then tell it later, so it was confusing a lot of the time But it was beautifully written. I felt for the character but not ever sorry for her. Her story told in a very matter of fact way, I was so afraid that it would end differently but it ended the way I wanted it to, except I want to read more about Rory D.'s life.
This book offers a heartbreaking account of a girl trying to break the cycle of poverty. I was pulled into her story and found the supreme court cases regarding "feeblemindedness" very interesting, and thought the grandmother- mother- daughter story line was compelling. However, the structure & style grew tiresome by the end, maybe trying a little to hard to be different.
This was one of those books that I didn't put down until I was finished yet was left unsatisfied at the end. It was told in a series of short chapters and while it sounded like a girl who was really interested in what the Girl Scout Handbook was about, it actually focused more on her life in a trailer park and her observations of life there. I just did not really get into the story or any of the characters. There were a lot of things I wanted to know more about, things that were hinted at or that I needed to read between the lines for but really wanted confirmation and more information.
emotional
funny
medium-paced
Funny and tragic and spellbindingly told
I should have liked this more probably. It was nicely written and everything, and I related to the character (young girl being raised by her single, bartender mother) but for whatever reason, it lacked something for me. It didn't emotionally resonate and it took me forever to finish. Meh.
This is one of those books that I felt like I should have liked more than I actually did. The author tried very hard to make this book Literature (capital L!) but at times it just felt a bit forced and in the end I didn't really feel connected to the main character or all that invested in her story. Tupelo Hassman is a talented writer, but the book didn't come together for me.