Book: Searching for Sky
Author: Jillian Cantor
Pages: 288
Age Range: 12 and up
I picked up Searching for Sky to skim the first few pages, and couldn't put it down. It's not that it's action filled, but more that the premise and the narrator are irresistible. Fifteen-year-old Sky has lived for as long as she can remember (since she was 2) on a tiny Pacific island. She was raised by her mother, Petal, and her mother's partner, Helmut, along with Helmut's son, River. Since her mother and Helmut died a year earlier, Sky and River have lived alone on the island. Though they worry a little bit about survival, they are happy, and just starting to perhaps have grown-up feelings for one another. Everything changes when a boat arrives one day, and takes the two frightened teens to California. Back to a world that they didn't even really know existed.
There are mysteries in Searching for Sky, as Sky seeks to understand what led Petal and Helmut to the island in the first place. She struggles to reconcile her own memories with the things that other people tell her are true, and begins to realize that not everything was as she thought. She is separated from River, and wants desperately to find him. These issues kept me turning the pages, wanting to understand. Wanting Sky to understand. Wanting to know what would happen to Sky and to River. But the remarkable part of Searching for Sky actually lies in Sky's reaction to the more mundane details. It's fascinating to watch as someone who has never seen civilization tries to understand things like money, lipstick, and the Internet.
I thought that Cantor did a fine job of keeping Sky in character (frequently baffled), even as certain things become more clear to the reader. This is a book that could only have been written in first person present perspective. This aspect of the book reminded me a bit of reading far-future dystopias, in which the characters come across artifacts of our current civilization, and struggle to understand them. Sky struggles to understand just about everything, right down to how to use a toilet (or "Bathroom Tree" as she calls it). For example, one of the first people Sky sees is apparently wearing sunglasses. She says:
"His eyes are hidden by small black shells, and I don't like that I can't see them, that I don't know what color they are." (Page 26)
Sometimes her reactions are humorous:
""Now, come on into the kitchen," she's saying. I follow her into a large open space with a lot of square wood boxes everywhere. "Have a seat at the table." She points to a large, round wood, and I begin to climb up on it. "No, no. On a chair," she says, pulling on another, smaller wood and showing me how she wants me to sit on it." (Page 92)
Sometimes they are profound:
"I think it disappoints her that I refuse to watch the television box with her after dinner. But the few times I've sat there with her, all I've seen are pretend faraway people talking to each other about things that have nothing to do with me. I don't understand why she's interested in them if they're not even here, if they're not even real." (Page 119)
Sky is a strong character, even though her lack of basic knowledge makes her feel foolish and vulnerable at times. I think that teen readers will find her as compelling as I did. Despite the female narrator, I have every reason to believe that teen boys would find this book intriguing, too. In fact, I'm going to put it on the small stack of books that I recommend to my husband. (The previous book I gave him was Matt de la Pena's The Living). I highly recommend Searching for Sky for teens and adults.
Publisher: Bloomsbury USA Children's Books (@BWkids)
Publication Date: May 13, 2014
Source of Book: Review copy from the publisher
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A few weeks ago, Jillian Cantor, a novelist and friend, mentioned Ilie Ruby and her new book
The Salt God's Daughter to me in a Facebook message. It was, Jillian said, one of the best books she'd read in a very long time, and she was rooting for it. And so when Ilie herself wrote and offered me an early look at the book, I of course said yes.
I'm so happy that I did.
Readers of this blog know that I am a gigantic fan of Marilynne Robinson and
Housekeeping—its vivid attention to place and details, its evocation of lonesomeness and ache in two sisters who lose their mother too soon. With its lush and outrageously unexpected particulars (about the sea and sea lions, about the artificial waterfalls that disguise man-made drilling platforms, about all varieties of moons, about bougainvillea blooms, about the old hotel that becomes a home and salve), Ilie's book put me in a
Housekeeping state of mind, as did her wonderful Ruthie, whose story this primarily is. Ruthie is one of two sisters. She and Dolly lose their mother—mercurial, poetic, forever vanishing—precipitously. They are shuffled here to there, and in the process they grow wild. They will be hurt, especially Ruthie, by the savage greed of others.
And then Ruthie meets the love of her life.
Ruthie's man is not like regular men, however. He spends a lot of time at sea. His textures are slightly different, and so are his eyes, and when Ruthie becomes pregnant with his child, the slight strangeness that has permeated these pages morphs into something tangibly odd, deliberately magical. Enough so that those who one day meet Ruthie's daughter, Naida, begin to call her Frog Witch.
The Salt God's Daughter is ripe with tides and moons, the smell of ocean, the lingering sensation of pink petals and blue nights. It's luxuriant writing, thoughtful, pleasingly moody, rustled through with wind. Yet, no matter how surreal the story becomes, it offers real places, true landscapes, every day truth. I share my favorite paragraph:
A good death could make everyone feel better about your life. When Saul Green died, Mrs. Green tied a light blue ribbon around the thin green trunk of the Sentry Palm in the courtyard. Those who passed by it would recognize the symbol of gift, a sign that reminded you to notice the gifts all around you, mostly the ones that faded into the landscape of your life. Mr. Green considered himself exceptionally lucky and he told his wife every day. This, she said, was the mark of a good marriage—when both partners considered themselves lucky because of the other. But more, when they acted on the gratitude they felt This had nothing to do with giving presents. This had everything to do with the gift of awareness. If you could do this, your partner would always feel as if your life together was a gift.
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers (November 2, 2010)
Paperback 288 pages
Book from Publisher
From Goodreads. What if the reality you thought you knew was nothing but a fantasy?
Jennifer Levenworth has a great, big, pounding headache. It could be because her husband, a judge, is indicted on bribery charges, leaving her unsure about everything in her marriage. Or it could be caused by the media, who are relentlessly covering the story. Or because the friends Jennifer thought she knew and trusted have turned their backs on her in her greatest hour of need.
And then the dreams begin…
And while Jennifer sleeps, she swears she can see—and hear -- her friends' and family’s most private moments. Soon Jennifer realizes she is actually learning the truth about their lives, leading her to also question everything she thought she knew about herself. But when the dreams start to reveal a startling reality, can Jennifer find the strength to ultimately transform her life?
Review
THE TRANSFORMATION OF THINGS, by Jillian Cantor, is a interesting story that explores the idea that things are not always as they seem. The relationships that Jennifer has with her husband, family, and friends are tested as she discovers their secrets through her dreams.
I did enjoy this book as a whole but I have to say it wasn't my favorite. It was an interesting concept but I found myself getting bored in the middle. I did not connect with Jennifer the way I wanted to. For example, the relationship between her and Will was strange in that she always wanted to be closer to him but when given the opportunity nothing happened.
I did like the dream sequences where the point of view of the characters changed and I was able to get a closer look into the inner lives of Jennifer's husband, friends, and family. The last 1/4 of the book was actually pretty great and it definitely made the book "worth it" for me. The unexpected twist was very creative and really brought together what Jennifer was dreaming about.
Overall, I did like this book and I would recommend reading it for those who are looking for a good contemporary fiction with a little mystery sprinkled in.
For more info, check out Jillian Cantor's
website
I read Ilie's first book and thought it was wonderful so I'm not surprised you loved this.
What a wonderful review! I will add this book to my list!
I'm adding this to my list.