The Same Sky by Amanda Eyre Ward

I started out by thinking I would not like this novel. I was expecting a schmaltzy, fluff of a novel. That could not be further from the truth. This is a wonderful book that will challenge all your beliefs about immigration.

The story follows two main characters, Alice, a forty something woman in Texas who has everything she wants in life except a baby, and Carla, a thirteen year old girl from Honduras.

As the novel opens, Alice and her husband have just lost a baby they had hoped to adopt when the mother changes her mind and keeps the baby. How Alice copes with this is at times maddening and there were times I wanted to shake her. However, Ward does an excellent job of making Alice a very real, flawed person.

Meanwhile, the novel also follows the journey of Carla from Honduras to Texas. When Carla’s grandmother dies, Carla believes her only option is to try to reach her mother who has been working in Texas illegally and sending home money. The brilliance of this novel is the way in which Ward portrays the conditions and circumstances that lead this young girl to attempt to reach her mother in Texas.

This is a novel that will challenge your beliefs on immigration. It is impossible to read this story and not be moved by the circumstances which compel young children to attempt to reach the United States.

Buy this novel and let Ward challenge you to not remain complacent about the plight of immigrant children.

Publication date is set for January 20, 2015

Disclaimer: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. 

The Amber Keeper by Freda Lightfoot

 

The historical part of this novel tells the story of Millie, a young English nanny to a Russian family who witnesses the Russian Revolution first hand. This part of the novel is very interesting and well developed.

The other part is the modern day story of Abbie, Millie’s granddaughter. Unfortunately, this part of the book just isn't as good. It’s not bad per se, just not as well plotted. Abbie as a character is hard to like or sympathize with. She seems too flighty, not at all a strong person. This makes it hard to believe some of her actions towards the end of the book. In addition, the ending seemed rushed and not well plotted. It was as if the author just wanted to end the book.

All in all, this is not a bad book. It’s a quick read and the parts detailing Millie’s experience during the war are well worth the read.

Borrow it from your library.

Disclaimer: I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review. 

All The Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

“Even in darkness it is possible to create light” Elie Wiesel

“Truly, it is in the darkness that one finds the light” Meister Johann Eckhart

If it’s possible for a book to actually exude light, then Doerr's novel does just that.

Set in Europe during WWII, the book follows the lives of two children, Marie and Werner.

Marie, a young French girl who goes blind at 6 years old loses the light in her world both physically and metaphorically. We follow her journey from Paris to Saint-Malo as the war swirls around her.

Werner is a young German orphan boy with a remarkable talent for fixing radios. It is this talent that will lift him out of the orphanage and set him on a path he could never foresee. In chasing the light of his dream, Werner will instead be thrust into the darkest of places.

As they grow up amidst the turmoil and uncertainty of war, Marie and Werner  become both hero and victim, connected to each other in a way neither of them could have predicted.

This is a book to read slowly and savor, for within its pages Doerr has created magic.

Ultimately it is a book you will remember for all the light you CAN see.