Justice for the Mom

SMALL GREAT THINGS by Jodi Picoult is another book with which I have a love-hate relationship. I don't even know where to begin with what I want to say about this new book. I realize that this is a book that has racism/inequality--well, inequity--as its main focus/purpose/point/plot. It is what Jodi has been talking about in her interviews and statements about SMALL GREAT THINGS. It is in everything I'm reading about the book. It is the focus of just about single review I have read so far of the book.

But for me, SMALL GREAT THINGS is not a story about race. For me, this is a story about child loss--the devastation of child loss for ALL involved: the mom, the dad, the nurse(s), other health care staff, grandparents, and on and on the list goes. Losing Davis is certainly incredibly difficult for Brit and Turk, the parents. 

Brit is so incredibly devastated, she never recovers from the horror of the loss of her Precious. 

Turk deals with the loss the only way he knows how: with hate. 

Ruth is the consummate professional, attempting to over-ride her hurt at being mistreated in order to do what is best for the innocent in her care; when that falls apart, she grieves his loss as only one who fights for the life of another is able to grieve. 

The rest of the hospital staff is able to get on with their lives and put the death of Davis in whatever place health professionals do when a patient doesn't make it. They do their jobs. 

No one deals with the loss of this tiny, 3-day old baby in a so-called "typical" manner.

As someone who has experienced child loss myself (3 times), "typical" grieving is an oxymoron. There truly is NO "typical" grieving when it comes to the death of a baby--for anyone involved. What makes the grief that much more difficult to deal with is are the words--the insensitive words spoken in a vain attempt to comfort the bereaved.

Brit experienced such, but not one person cared enough to focus on her and what she may have needed. Not even her husband who supposedly so desperately wanted to help her through her time of grief. SMALL GREAT THINGS makes me angrier than I can possibly say for the sake of Brit--the Mommy who went into the hospital with a baby in her womb only to come out of the hospital with empty arms--the WORST, most WRONG thing that can ever happen to ANY parent. 

Yes, Brit is a White Supremacist who demands that black Ruth be taken off the care of her son, but like Ruth's color, that is NO reason to make Brit suffer even more than she already was. Casting blame didn't do Brit any good. It only fueled her hatred and intensified her grief.

Ruth loses her job and is dragged through the gutter all because those involved want SOMEONE to blame--to pay for--something that makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.

I'm here to tell you that the blame game only causes more problems and continues the hurt and devastation. I blamed my husband for our loss for a very long time. It almost ruined our marriage. It almost led me to do something similar to what Brit does. It fueled my rage and gave me something to hang on to since I didn't have my baby to hold in my arms. But in the long run, all I got out of it was a lot of physical and mental health issues--that I will probably have to deal with the rest of my life.

The grief will ALWAYS be there, but forgiveness is freedom. Blaming wraps the blamer tight in shackles and imprisons him/her worse than grief ever will.

My compassion goes out to Ruth, of course it does. I want Ruth vindicated with every fiber of my being.

But my real heart goes to Brit, the mom who is ignored and misunderstood as well as mistreated. 

SMALL GREAT THINGS by Jodi Picoult is another story that demonstrates the truth that we, as a society, have NO IDEA what to do with mothers who are not mothers with physical, live children in her arms. We treat these mothers even worse than we treat women like Ruth. Do you realize that there isn't even a name for parents (men or women) who suffer the excrutiating loss of a baby/child???

So Jodi, in spite of the fact that I am fan of yours, have been a fan, and always will be a fan, I want "justice" for Brit more than for Ruth in SMALL GREAT THINGS.

The Shining Star: Ruth

As a short story in preparation for the release of SMALL GREAT

THINGS in a few short weeks, SHINE by Jodi Picoult has certainly done a great job in whetting my appetite for her next release!!! Ruth is an amazing young girl and I am excited to see more of her and of what happens with her. She is strong, adorable, smart, and bold in a way that is unusual for a girl of her age. At this age in SHINE, she is precocious and just plain adorable. I am excited to see more of her soon!!!

A Reader's Dream Come True

Another winner!!!  A Reader's dream--to have the characters in a story come to life or real people become characters in a book!  Interacting with one another.....Wonderful!  Where The NeverEnding Story is mostly for younger kids (tweens and younger), Off the Page (and Between the Lines) is certainly a book for teens and older.  There isn't anything that could possibly be considered inappropriate or offensive--which I absolutely love.  It's a realistic teen love story with a happily-ever-after to rival the best of them!  And, to make it that much better, it even ends in such a way as to leave it open for a sequel!

As a long-time fan of Jodi's books, I am excited to see her writing branch into other areas especially in regards to writing with her very  own daughter!  What a dream come true!  To have one of our own children love or want to do the same thing we love/want to do......I mean, it's not as if parents push their children to do what they do (as a general rule), but I know that it certainly makes any parent bubble with happiness when her child does want to do what she does for a living.  We are filled with pride at whatever our children choose to do and when they are successful in their careers, but we can't help but burst wide open with pride when they willingly choose to do what we love WITH us.

I am so excited to see where Samantha's own personal career goes.  Whether she chooses to continue writing with her mother, on her own, or do something else, I know her momma is very proud of her!

Jodi Picoult seemingly can do no Wrong

Jodi Picoult has the power, like no one else, to convince me that what I am reading at the time I reading HER book is THE GREATEST book I have ever read in my life as well as the most realistic story I have ever read.  Wow.  I had a difficult time getting started with LEAVING TIME.  Not because of the story, but because I was very busy with the end of the semester.  Once I had a few minutes to sit down and actually read the book, though, I found it next to impossible to put down.  Wow.  As I was nearing the end, I felt that I should have seen THAT ending coming, but wonderfully, I did not.  I love it when I get to the surprise without having figured it out.  I can still enjoy a book when I have figured out the surprise before getting there, but for me, it is simply more fun being able to read the surprise and experiencing it in its full force and effect.  Wow.  Great job, Jodi.  

I have always loved elephants, but LEAVING TIME has given me a much greater appreciation for them.  Wonderful.  

LEAVING TIME is a wonderful reminder of the fact that we have to be careful to pre-judge someone or simply to pass judgment on people before we know the whole truth.  There are certain characters in this book who I found myself drawn to and others I wanted to disappear simply because I didn't agree with them, didn't like their philosophy, or more importantly, I didn't like or agree with something they were doing.  But by the end of the book, I found myself changing my way of thinking about each of those characters!!!  

Picoult's books never fail to keep me riveted.  The best part is that with LEAVING TIME, we also get the back story of her novellas that she published online prior to the release of the book!  Awesome.  I can't say enough good things about LEAVING TIME by Jodi Picoult.

Another great novella by Jodi Picoult before LEAVING TIME's release

Now I am even more excited than ever for the October release of LEAVING TIME!!!!  Jodi Picoult's LARGER THAN LIFE is beautiful, tender, and a true page-turner that has only made me that much more excited about the release of her new book.  Why Jodi is not on EVERYONE'S reading list, I will never know.  For the past 10 years or so, I have bought Jodi's new books as they have come hot off the presses.  Yes, in hardback.  I do not regret a single purchase.  Owning all of her books is a goal of mine, but not just owning them, reading them, loving them, enjoying them for the greats works of literature that they are.  I would have to say that of all the authors writing in the twenty-first century, Jodi Picoult's books represent the world, humanity as it currently is.  A hundred years from now, people will still be reading her books not just for their amazing literary value, but also for their historical value in understanding humanity and the culture of today.  Keep on writing, Jodi, and I'll keep on reading and enjoying!!!!!

Jodi Picoult Continues to Prove She's Amazing

Jodi Picoult continues to hold my rapt attention with every single one of her books!  I am excited about her new books coming out in October!  In the meantime, she has written a novella or two that she has graciously shared with us in preparation for LEAVING TIME's release date.  WHERE THERE'S SMOKE is one of those hang-on-to-every-word books that I read in one sitting and wanted to keep going!!!  I can't wait to read more about this amazing character in LEAVING TIME!!!!  Thanks, Jodi, for sharing this great "little" story with us!

She--and He--went to Hell

Gayle Forman knows how to SHOW a story.  I'm always telling my students the importance of SHOWING not TELLING a story--really making their audience FEEL what is happening on the page.  Forman has caught that.  Wow.  What makes WHERE SHE WENT even more powerful and wonderful is the fact that it is told from the point of view of Adam whereas IF I STAY is told from Mia's point of view.  I don't remember ever reading books in a series where one book is told from one POV and the next book in the series is told from the POV of another character in the story--albeit a major, important character, but seeing the story through the eyes of that other character....WOW.

Jodi Picoult has a wonderful way of weaving the POVs of several characters within her books and she does it VERY WELL.  So well that for the past ten years, I have pre-purchased every new book of hers which means that I have at least ten years' worth of hard-back books for Picoult.  And I don't regret a single hard-back purchase.  Of course I will continue to do that with her books.

Stephenie Meyer attempted to begin to rewrite the TWILIGHT series through the eyes of Edward in MIDNIGHT SUN--a wonderful foil for having read their story through Bella's eyes, but because the manuscript was leaked during the drafting process, Meyer chose to quit working on the project--much to the dismay of her fans.  As far as I know, she'd be the only author to write the same story from the POV of a different character in the story--and it sell just as well as if not better than the original!  Finish MIDNIGHT SUN, Stephenie!  Please....?!

Adam's story of what has happened after Mia decides to stay is REAL.  Having suffered horrific tragedies within my own life, I GET Adam's fall into hell, but I also GET Mia's rejection.  There is no right or wrong when it comes to Grief.  It is what it is:  powerful; overwhelming; all-consuming; destructive; restorative; devastating; soul-wrenching; and it is NEVER exactly the same from one person to the next.

I can't even begin to imagine exactly what Mia and Adam each go through during this horrific time in their lives, but I do understand the all-consuming grief and how neither one knows how to handle it--what to do with it.

WHERE SHE WENT is a powerful, wonderful, sad, amazing story that is WELL WORTH YOUR TIME TO READ.  Forman is a true storyteller and I, for one, am thankful that she is sharing her stories with me.

Should I Stay or Should I Go....Choice

If I could, I would give Gayle Forman's book IF I STAY more than 5 little measly stars--so many more.  I stayed up late to read this book (it's 2:00 am) because I just couldn't put it down.  And I can't stop sobbing.  Mia's story is heart-rending, heart-touching, wonderful, terrible, amazing, awful, fantastic, horrific, and just plain and simply WELL WORTH READING.  Forman truly has captured this horrific story in all it's glory and gory detail in a manner that isn't off-putting--it draws the reader in and makes the reader CARE as well as understand Mia's choice and why her choice is truly a difficult one.

I could compare IF I STAY to Jodi Picoult's SING YOU HOME in that both stories show the wonder of music in our lives.

I could compare the love story in IF I STAY to John Green's love story in THE FAULT IN OUR STARS.

I could compare it to Alice Sebold's THE LOVELY BONES.  If I share the why, I might give away a part of the story that you need to read for yourself, so I won't say any more than that....for now.

I would NOT, as the cover of the book does, compare IF I STAY to the TWILIGHT saga.  Fans of TWILIGHT might enjoy this book, but the statement that is on the cover referring so specifically to fans of TWILIGHT infers that there are vampires in the story.  Clarification:  there are NO vampires in this story.  I guess maybe the quote on the cover is referring more to the comparison of the love story between Adam and Mia and Edward and Bella, but other than the fact that both couples fall in love HARD, I don't see any more to compare the two stories.

I wish I had had a soundtrack of the songs mentioned in the book to listen to as I read the book.  Apparently, though I found this out AFTER I finished reading the book, we can download the song playlist if we want from Forman's website: Playlist for IF I STAY

As I've finished the book and started to search for an image of the book to use in my blog, I have also learned that the book is being made into a movie that, according to IMDb, will be released in August of 2014.  Here's a link for the trailer:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2agNeovUjr0

I can't say enough wonderful things about IF I STAY.  I want to talk to someone who has read it so we can cry together and share the powerful emotions that this book invokes.  I can't wait to read everything else written by Forman.

Oops, I read it again!

OK, so TWILIGHT won't ever be considered "great" literature.  It won't become part of the literary canon.  It isn't even close to the level of the HARRY POTTER books or Jodi Picoult.  But let's face it; TWILIGHT is a FUN read.  I can't help it.  It draws me in even though it's not serious reading.  I call it my "guilty pleasure" reading, just like my Mary Balogh books.  I know it's sappy and, in many ways, just plain ridiculous, but I love it.  I find some of the story just plain embarrassing and others simply unrealistic, but even at that, I am drawn to the story like a moth to a flame.  I won't apologize for enjoying TWILIGHT or any of the other books in the series.  It is what it is.

I think we all need some things that we read that are just for pure enjoyment rather than having to THINK so hard about the symbolism and deeper meanings and theme and setting and so on and so forth.  Sometimes we readers just want to read something for the sake of reading.  It's kind of like how I'll read even the backs of shampoo bottles or deodorant cans in the bathroom when I don't have a book in there with me.

Do I believe in vampires?  Absolutely not.  I do believe that there are people who want to be vampires so much that they'll go to great lengths to become as close to a real vampire as they possibly can.  I think that's pretty ridiculous, but to each his own.

Do I believe even for a second that if Bella smelled as incredible to Edward the Vampire as he clams that he honestly would have been able to control his vampiric urges and keep from killing her?  Not even for half a mili-second.  Really?!  I just don't think so.  Bella was dead the second Edward caught her scent.  But it's fun to imagine that Edward is strong enough to withstand his basal vampiric urges and ultimately to fall in love with the one person who is his "brand of heroin."

Would Edward really be able to suck the venom out of Bella after James' bit her?  Not a chance.  That's too easy.  She'd have been a vampire right then and there.  But if she'd become a vampire this early in the series, we never would have the triangle between Jacob, Bella, and Edward.  Bella would never have a chance to get to know Jacob better if she were already a vampire by the end of the first book.  And what fun would that be?!

Let's face it....for all those nay-sayers about TWILIGHT, they're right that TWILIGHT isn't GREAT.  But my response is that it doesn't have to be GREAT to be FUN to read!!!!!

Now on to MIDNIGHT SUN!  Yeah, I'm gonna read that before I get to NEW MOON!  I haven't looked up MIDNIGHT SUN on Goodreads yet; it'll be interesting to find out if it has it listed!!!

August 19, 2012 to August 22, 2012
February 11, 2014 to February 20, 2014

A Story that sticks in the Imagination

As I’m reading 2 separate books about the holocaust currently (Sarah’s Key and The Storyteller), it strikes me like a bolt of lightening that most of my knowledge of the holocaust is about Hitler:  what HITLER did, how HITLER’S regime took over, SS soldiers, concentration camps.  Yes, there’s Schindler’s List, The Diary of Anne Frank, The Boy in the Striped Pajamas, Night, and others that focus on the victims of Hitler’s horrific crimes against humanity, but the truth remains that the vast majority of my knowledge of the Holocaust comes from my history lessons in my History classes and most of the lessons the teachers taught focused on Hitler and the “story” of the Holocaust from Hitler’s—not perspective, but at least what Hitler did more focusing on the Jews and others Hitler’s regime focused on killing.

I have to ask myself why the history books and teachers focus more on Hitler than the victims.  Why is Hitler’s name more well known than any names of any of heroes, Jewish and non-Jewish, including those who saved Jews (and the others) from destruction?

I don’t have any answers to the Why? question except to say that the only thing I can come up with is that as long as we focus on Hitler’s actions, we don’t have to FEEL.  Yes, Hitler was an evil man and he needed to be taken down a peg, but as long as we focus on him and what his regime did, our feelings about the Holocaust can stay separated from the reality. 

I haven’t begun to FEEL what happened during the Holocaust until I read the STORIES of the victims.  Yes, some of the stories I’ve been reading are works of Historical Fiction (Sarah’s Key and The Storyteller), but the truth remains that whether the story is a true memoir of someone who lived through it or a work of Historical Fiction where the essence of the story is what’s real but not the actual STORY that is told that these stories make readers like me FEEL.

Reading about Hitler is a way of separating myself from the true horror because sure, it’s awful what Hitler did, but since there aren’t any names or real faces of those who suffered, it’s not REAL what Hitler did.  These stories provide faces and names—reality.  And thus, FEELINGS…..

Jodi Picoult has, of course, done it again with her brilliant novel THE STORYTELLER.  I was riveted from beginning to end and I hated that the book came to an end at all.  She talks about how when an author ends a story without a true ending, it leaves the story forever with the reader because it's always in the reader's imagination.  She's so right.  I know a lot of people who hate stories that just end without a clear ending, but I am one who has always enjoyed them.  It's one of the reasons why GONE WITH THE WIND by Margaret Mitchell is so genius.  I have changed my mind 20 different times about the ending of that book and I like every one of my endings!  (Like Josef in THE STORYTELLER trying to write the ending of Minka's story, but can't find one that works....)  It's the reason why I refused, and continue to do so, to read or watch the sequel to GONE WITH THE WIND, SCARLETT.  I like the imaginings in my head of the ending of the original story and I don't want them "ruined" by someone else's imaginings!

As the granddaughter of a Jew myself, I really connected to Sage and her reaction to her grandmother and finally hearing her grandmother's story.  Sadly, my grandmother isn't around anymore for me to hear the whole story, but what I do remember is important and makes me proud of my heritage.

Great job, Jodi.  Great job.  Thanks for the GREAT read....

Whether Wolf or Human.....F-A-M-I-L-Y

Jodi Picoult's Lone Wolf:  Another winner.  I love that this book is all about family and that no matter how bad it gets within a family, BEING a family is still more important than even the deepest of hurts.  Picoult shows that it's ok to FEEL the hurt....to find ways to express it, but more importantly, to DEAL with it....most of all, T-O-G-E-T-H-E-R.  Of course my sick curiosity made me want to hear Luke's side of the story as far as the affair was concerned.  I am repulsed by myself for not only thinking that as I was reading the last 100 pages, but that I'm even admitting it "out loud" on the internet for others even to read.

Two negatives (and I want you to know that regardless of any negative comments, they do NOT take away from my enjoying of Picoult's work!):

1.  As I've already mentioned in a previous posting, I'm getting tired of Picoult's books having a major court scene.  Every book has one.  Just ONCE I'd like to see Picoult resolve the conflict within the story without involving the court.

2.  Picoult is getting a little sloppy as far as grammar is concerned.  I noticed quite a few split infinitives in this one.  Yes, Cara probably would have used them easily, but the highly educated and really great lawyers wouldn't. 

(Jodi Picoult, if you ever read this, please know that I've done the same thing to every author, no matter how much I love his/her work.  I've gone on record for blasting J.K. Rowling for her lack of subject/pronoun agreement when using indefinite pronouns.  I've marked every single one in all 7 books!!!!  So please know that it's not a sign that I don't like your books.  It's just that I'm an English teacher and I honestly just can't help myself!!!)

Jodi, Jodi, Jodi, Jodi....

I have been avid fan of Jodi Picoult ever since I read My Sister's Keeper and The Pact enough years ago that I can't remember how long ago it's been....although, if I'd take a look at my bookshelf, I could probably take a really good guess since I've been buying her books in hardback as soon as they're released ever since then.  But anyway......

I am currently reading the most recently released Picoult book, Lone Wolf.  As usual, it really is a great book--a great STORY.  Picoult truly knows how to weave a tale that makes me want to keep reading to the next word, the next line, the next page.  I have only been reading it for the past two days since I had to finish The Hunger Games trilogy before I could move on to anything else, yet I'm already over halfway through the book.  I should finish it before the weekend. 

But, Jodi Picoult, as much as I love your books and as much as I consider myself a HUGE fan, I have something I need to say.  You're not going to like it, but it needs to be said:  You, like Nicholas Sparks, are now too predictable..  In every book I've read of yours over the past seven or eight years (at least since The Tenth Circle), you ALWAYS have a situation that leads to a trial.  And SOMEONE involved in the trial ALWAYS keeps SOMETHING secret throughout the WHOLE trial, even though each promises on the Bible to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth.  One of the lawyers is seen as a lawyer out for him/herself politically.

I LOVE that this book revolves around family and the importance of mending family conflicts and BEING a family, not matter what.  In spite of the secrets and awful things that tore this family apart, they are still, most importantly, a family.  And weaving in the information about wolves and how they work together as a family unit is just incredible.

But predictability, Jodi Picoult.  Predictability.  I'm tired of (bored with) the courtroom drama.  GET OUT OF THE COURTROOM, Jodi Picoult!!!!  Just once, please, write a book that doesn't involve a courtroom or lawyers, unless the main character just happens to be one.  Please???????!!!!?????? 

You are an incredible writer.  But you've gotten yourself into a rut with these courtroom dramas.  They're becoming overly melodramatic just to keep the story going.  Focus on this family on their relationships.  Just ONCE let the characters resolve their differences without involving the COURT!!!


UGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

SING YOU HOME by Jodi Picoult

I've completely lost count as to what number book this is for me....I was trying to keep track, but since I use this blog for more than the books I read, I can't keep going back to look every time I want to post something new.  Oh well.  It's my issue.  I'll learn to deal!

Jodi Picoult has been one of my favorite authors ever since I read her book The Pact several years ago.  It definitely is a book worth reading.  I had a problem with the ending of the book, though, so, since Jodi Picoult is still alive and has an email, I emailed her and asked her why she ended the book the way she did since it was obviously the wrong ending.  (I was much nicer in my email, I promise you!)  Within 24 hours, this published author wrote me back!!!!!  I was so excited to see her name in my email in-box that my heart literally fluttered in my chest and I had a hard time catching my breath as I opened the email.  She was very gracious and admitted that the ending of The Pact is her only writing regret; she had ended the book as she'd expected her audience wanted rather than the way it should have.  Of course, it was a lesson learned and she has devoted herself to writing the way her characters truly are and not what she, the actual writer of the words, feels the story should go.

I so greatly admire that, especially her honesty!  Not to mention the fact that a published author wrote to ME!!!!!  And she does answer her own emails!  She does NOT have an assistant!  Call me naive; I don't care.  I believe her!

I've gone on to read many of her books--not all, especially not her early ones, but definitely all of them in the past 5 years.  My favorite Jodi Picoult book is My Sister's Keeper.  If you saw the movie, you truly missed out on what made the book worthy of being made into a movie.  The ending is a real surprise rather than the expected ending of the movie and the movie ending is definitely a disappointment.  Of course, I don't like the ending of the book, either, but that's because I didn't WANT that to happen, but it's the "right" ending....the movie ending isn't.

Yeah, I'm leaving it at that!  I hope you all go out and get a copy of the book and READ IT!!!!

Anyway, Sing You Home is Jodi Picoult's book that came out earlier this month--I got it within two days of its release!  I would have had it sooner, but the day I was going to get it, my battery died on me, making me late to go pick up Samuel!

Anyway, this particular book will always hold a special place in my heart because in the very first chapter, Max and Zoe suffer a stillbirth; they lost their sweet Daniel at 28 weeks while I lost my precious James Isaac at full term, 38 weeks.  Like me, they had also been through 2 miscarriages, as well.  I felt as if Jodi was telling MY story.  Of course, I didn't go through IVF to get pregnant any of the times I was ever pregnant, but any story of child loss creates a connection that only those who have been through it TRULY understand.  I was devastated for Max and Zoe and I knew that if their marriage survived, it would be a continuous uphill battle.  I've dealt with that part myself, as well.

But Max doesn't want to continue watching Zoe go through everything she has to go through in order to just get pregnant, so when she says she's ready to start the treatments again, he ends the marriage.  It is expected, but still sad.  Both deal with not only the loss of their child but also the loss of their marriage in tragic ways and suffer greatly.

It isn't too long when Zoe is pulled out of a pool (is she trying to drown herself or not?  you read it and see what you think) by a casual acquaintance, Vanessa.  The two women quickly become the best of friends and, yes, they're soon lovers.  They get married and decide to have a baby....one of the embryos still frozen from Zoe's last IVF treatment cycle.  This is where the "fun" begins.

From there, the story truly become a 3-ring circus.  I'd like to say that not all Christians are the way Christians are portrayed in Sing You Home.  Granted, I have to admit that Jodi is portraying Christians in the stereotypical light that they (I should say we) have become.  It's so very sad.  But again, not every Christian is a hypocrite to the degree that the Christians in this story are portrayed.  Of course, the worst is the lawyer who claims to be a believer, yet who obviously wants this case for what it can do for his career and to make him more visible in the public eye.  I truly am disgusted by Wade Preston and wanted him punched in the face by SOMEONE!!!  He never asks for what Max wants or really cares about Max.  (In case I forgot to say it, Wade Preston is Max's laywer.)  By the time the lawsuit is filed, it's completely out of Max's hands.  He honestly doesn't even have a choice in the matter of whether or not it continues.  It's so disgusting.

Liddy, Max's sister-in-law, is my favorite character in the story and, I think, the most misunderstood.  She is seen/portrayed as the "perfect" Christian.  The woman who has waited for marriage to have sex.  The woman who has been a Christian all of her life.  The woman who prays all the time.  The woman who has a "perfect" life with a "perfect" rich husband.  But yet, Liddy, like Zoe, has several miscarriages (5 if I am remembering correctly) and is having fertility problems as well.  All Liddy wants, like Zoe, is to be a Mom.  Yet, Zoe hates Liddy and everything Liddy stands for.  At one point in the story, Zoe refuses to have anything to Liddy because, as Zoe says, they have nothing in common.

I was so saddened to see that what Zoe was craving from others--acceptance for who she is and what she wants in life, she is unwilling, unable to give to Liddy.  Rather than embracing Liddy as "sisters who have shared grief in child loss," Zoe lashes out at Liddy and completely makes the Liddy the "bad guy."

Yet, Liddy, like Zoe, is just trying to do her best in this crazy, mixed-up world and to be the best person she can be.  She has sins in her life, just as she says Zoe does--of course, Zoe's sin is for the anyone to see who's willing to see (according to Liddy's beliefs as a Christian, now--keep that in mind)--that she's gay and in a gay marriage--while Liddy's sin is secret and locked behind a hurting, very scared heart.  (If you want to know Liddy's sin, you just have to read the book!)  Zoe is brave enough to follow through with what she wants and what she wants is Vanessa.  Liddy hides and pretends that all is well in her world, yet everything she's ever known, loved, or believed in is crashing down around her.

I love both Liddy and Zoe in this story.  I desperately wanted Zoe and Liddy to be friends.  I could see even early on that these two women could be soul mates...if only Liddy could love Zoe unconditionally and if only Zoe could see that Christians aren't perfect!!!!

The trial between Max and Zoe for the embryos is the main focus of the book and takes up more than half of the book overall--at least 200 pages +.  But to me, the REAL story is between Liddy and Zoe.  I hungrily ate up the pages, looking and hoping at any moment for these two women to fall into each others' arms--not as lesbian lovers--but as women who have shared more than either one realizes because each is so wrapped up in her own world--of hurts, pain, and suffering.

Yes, Sing You Home has as a central focus the theme of homosexuality.  Yes, it's an issue that is dealt with and covered in more ways than I thought possible.  I'm not sure that there's a real answer to the problem of lack of tolerance for gays and lesbians, but this story certainly shares both sides of the story in a way that gets the reader thinking--in good, and hopefully, very productive ways.

But the homosexuality issue/theme is, to me, more in the background of the story.  This is a story about finding the one thing that every single human being craves with every fiber of our being....love and acceptance for who we are where we are in any given moment of time.

Sing You Home is beautifully written and an absolute must-read.  You will probably focus on details and issues different from mine, but that's just awesome!  I know that I focused on Liddy and Zoe because both women have been through similar experiences to what I have been through.  As a result, I wanted throughout the book for all 3 of us to be the very best of friends.  As far as I'm concerned, I was successful in achieving that goal.......