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book review blogs
@Barrie Summy
(Note: I'm currently having difficulties uploading the book covers. Sorry.)
Starting with the book from last month the first book I'm reviewing is One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt - the original review can be read here. The story is about Carley Connors, a twelve year old girl that has found herself in the foster care system, placed with the Murphys. It's told from the point of view of Carley.
Back in 1999 I went to a local adoption agency to see about adopting and/or fostering a child. We had to go through a 12-week program so that we could be in a position to understand what we would be getting ourselves into and so we could understand where the children were coming from. One of the exercises that was most powerful for me was one where we were all given 5 slips of paper and told to write the five most important things on them - one per page. Once we had done this we were told we had to immediately give one up - decide which one and they would collect it from us. Then we had to place the remaining 4 slips of paper face up on the table as they came and looked at them and took another away from us. Then we had to have them face down and close our eyes and they kept taking the slips of paper from us until we didn't have any slips of paper left. The exercise evoked a lot of emotions from the participants, including but not limited to "that's mine you can't have it!", and we weren't really having anything taken from us, it was just symbolic. But it really brought home what these kids go through when they're taken from their homes and placed with strangers - even if it's in their best interest. They have no control and they lose so much and they're so vulnerable but they don't want to show that because they're wounded beings.
The author did an excellent job of capturing the vulnerability and letting us see what Carley was going through. The Murphys home was different than what she was used to - it was a happy home - but she didn't want to let them in because as soon as she did, she was afraid she'd be removed from the home and have to start all over. Mrs. Murphy was patient with her and really wanted to have an impact on her life - and did. The building of the relationship between Carley and the Murphys seemed natural and not forced by the author. It is a beautiful story and beautifully told. I think the other reviewer mentioned that it would make you cry, and it did make me cry. Sob actually to the point I literally had to put the book down at one point, collect myself and blow my nose before I could continue reading. But in a good way.
Having said that, there were a couple of things that bothered me. The first being that the way it was presented, Mrs. Murphy went to Children's Services and said she wanted a child and since Carley had just entered their system, they gave her to Mrs. Murphy. As I mentioned, I had to go through a 12-week program, followed by a background check and home study as a pre-requisite to even being considered as an adoptive of foster parent so I think that might have been lacking some research on the author's part. Obviously they may do things differently in different areas of the country but I don't think they just hand over kids because people say they want to foster a child. The other thing I'll mention here is that at one point Carley called the social worker and said she wanted to leave the Murphys house so the social worker paid a visit. Mrs. Murphy was surprised by the visit and asked the social worker if this was standard practice. The social worker said no. Going back to my situation, there were regular check-ups as well as random visits so that they could see the circumstances the child would be/was living in. And it's worth noting that the 12-week program I went through did not only include the one agency I was working with but rather it included several area agencies so the practices weren't exclusive to the one agency.
But while that bothered me some, it doesn't take away from the story itself. One for the Murphys is a book I highly recommend without reservation.
Okay, the other book I'm reviewing this month is Keep Calm and Carry a Big Drink by Kim Gruenenfelder. This is a follow up to her book There's Cake in my Future which I reviewed here. It picks up with Mel, Seema and Nic about a year later. They're getting ready for Seema's wedding and are once again having a cake pull with charms that supposedly predict your future. As with the last cake pull, Nic had rigged the cake so that her, Seema and Mel would get the fortunes they wanted. This time they weren't taking any chances though so just before Seema's bridal shower, they all tested the placement of their charms by pulling them out and putting them back into the cake, which Nic smoothed over before the shower.
Once again something happened and they all got the wrong charms. Mel had wanted the passport charm, which means travel but instead she got the money tree, which means financial security for the rest of your life. (Personally I think I'd prefer the money tree because you could still probably travel but you're guaranteed financial security, but that's just me.) Last time Mel had gotten the "hot sex" charm and while she didn't believe in the charms, she did her best to make it come true.
This time, since she again didn't get the charm she wanted, she decided to take fate into her own hands and be in charge of what happens.
In the last book the story was told from the perspective of each of the friends in alternating chapters. This time it was told solely from Mel's point of view. I think this may have been because the author possibly thought Seema's and Nic's journeys were complete and didn't need further first person telling. And while I would agree that Mel had more of a story to complete, I was a bit disappointed that it was strictly told from her point of view.
That said, I really enjoyed the book. The take away - for me - from the book is that it's important to follow your own dreams, despite what anyone else says or thinks. If you're open, you just might find happiness. :)
So, both good books. Both worth reading.
