SWON Libraries

By Zu Vincent (Fiction)

$17.95 (Hardback), 230 pages

Publisher: Boyds Mills Press (2008)

ISBN: 9781932425703

Grades: 3, 4, 5

Use: Recreation

Format: Chapter

Genres: Coming of Age, Family, Realistic

Literary Merit: Excellent

Characterization: Excellent

Summary:

The reader is drawn into the life of a young girl as she grows from age 3 to age 12 while dealing with an alcoholic father, an angry older brother, and a mother who is incapable of facing reality. As Cassie grows she learns to handle these issues while coping with the guilt she feels at loving her stepfather and working to hang onto the love she has for her biological father. Tragedy forces Cassie to grow up too soon and become a parent to her mother while mending fences with her biological father and older brother.

Evaluation:

Zu Vincent does a wonderful job of taking the reader into the mind of a child handling the divorce and remarriage of her mother. Vincent delicately handles the emotions children feel as they experience life changes and learn to look at their parents through the telescope of reality. This extraordinary work of realistic fiction should be shared wth any child experiencing the divorce and/or remarriage of a parent.