By Jodi Lynn Anderson
Harper Teen, 2017, 257 pages, Young Adult
Kansas, 2065. Adri has secured a slot as a Colonist--one of the lucky few handpicked to live on Mars. But weeks before launch, she discovers the journal of a girl who lived in her house over a hundred years ago, and is immediately drawn into the mystery surrounding her fate ... Oklahoma, 1934. Amid the fear and uncertainty of the Dust Bowl, Catherine fantasizes about her family's farmhand, and longs for the immortality promised by a professor at a traveling show called the Electric. But as her family's situation becomes more dire, Catherine must finally separate illusion from reality and sacrifice everything she loves in order to save the one person she loves most. England, 1919. Lenore struggles with her grief for her brother, a fallen British soldier, and plans to sail to America in pursuit of a childhood friend. While their stories span thousands of miles and multiple generations, Lenore, Catherine, and Adri's fates are entwined in ways both heart-breaking and hopeful.
This book reminded me a lot of I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith in that it’s beautifully written, mostly in the format of letters and journal entries. Anderson’s settings and characters are written with loving detail, which is a pretty amazing feat given the format. I read this book a few months ago, but I can still conjure up memories of the beautiful way Anderson describes the choking horror of the Dust Bowl, and the utter loss Lenore feels for her brother. While Adri’s storyline isn’t quite as strong as the other two, it helps tie everything together in a unique and hopeful way. Overall, this ends up being a story about love and the power of friendship and family. Those who read this book are in for a treat!
MB
1 comment:
I really enjoyed this book I had to read it for grad school and I loved all the connections that were developed over the course of the story. I loved the ending. I also loved the growth that all of the characters went through over the course of the story.
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