Okay, I guess it's time for me to finish up my thoughts on this book! But I guess it's a good sign that almost three months later, I can still remember a lot about the book and why I liked it. There are books I finish that I can't talk about three days later.
I liked this book a lot. I liked it enough to recommend it to several people and to pass the title on to one of the high school media specialists, in the hopes that they'll add it to their summer reading list. I know the first part of the book might cause eyebrows to raise, but I hope people who might do so read the whole book before they react to it one way or the other. My teen book discussion group is interested in reading it, so in a few months, I'll get to hear some feedback. (One of them is a girl I already recommended it to, and she helped convince the group it was worth reading.)
I love the sense of hope that this book gives. These two kids have had some rotten things happen to them, and you know it would be easy for them both to give up all hope. I love that he doesn't give up hope, and I love that not only does he help Chloe find the beauty in life, but that she is open to finding it. Yes, some might say this book is too simplistic, that it paints too rosy a picture. I don't care. I love the thought of somebody going through a really rough spot, finding this book, and finding some comfort and hope in it. And I think that that will happen. Catherine Ryan Hyde is paying it forward when she writes books like this.
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