Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Everything is Fine. by Ann Dee Ellis


This is a nice young adult novel. Short and fast, I picked it up from the library around 3 and had it finished by 8, without neglecting any of my motherly and wifely duties. So it might take 1-2 hours to read.


Mazzy is the main character (yes, I do take issues with her name.) I think she's 12. Maybe younger. She is at home during the summer with her mom who is basically catatonic in bed, depressed. Sound exciting?


The story is sad, but not hopeless. I think what I liked best was the writing style. Simple pages, too short to be called chapters. It reads like a girl's diary, kind of poetic, but not forced. I didn't love the way every 10 pages or so another hint comes out to explain the tragic event that lead up to the crisis the family is in. I felt like it was a game to withhold it until the very end. BUT, I liked the ending, even if it was a little quick. Just a couple more pages would have helped. But it is on the happy side.


I recommend it, but probably only give it 3 out of 5 stars. If you're a sucker for Young Adult fiction like I am, it's worth picking up. Plus, Ann Dee Ellis is a Mormon mom, and this is a way better book than so many I've read. So support her!

2 comments:

kim said...

kam, i love your blog! i always get such great ideas on fun reads and really, you amaze me w/the amounts you read despite being totally busy w/everything else going on in your life!

Hayley's Comment said...

PS I'm obsessed with the book you lent me. THe potatoe pie literary club or something....It is SO well written, funny, poignant. It made me think about the war in a different light as well. I don't want it to end but it will be done by the weekend. sad for me. good thing you gave me one more book.