Angela Johnson is my new favorite writer. First Part Last was even better than Heaven. The voice of Bobby, the teen-aged father, was so real. I loved how she went back and forth between the time periods: Then - before Feather was born and Now - having and taking care of Feather. I thought the book would be spoiled because I knew he kept the baby, but it wasn't. We follow Bobby as he learns to take care of, and be responsible for, his baby girl. We also listen to him reminiscing about the months before Feather was born. Bobby and Nia had decided to give up the baby and were just trying to make it through. They were still going to school and hanging out with friends. If they could just make it through these nine months, everything would be ok, because they were intent on doing the right thing. As Bobby tells the story of Feather's first few months, although he is extremely tired and at wit's end, you hear his love for her in his "voice". Every time he has to get up in the middle of the night, change a diaper, go to the sitter, falls asleep in class, etc., the love is there. "I want to cry. I want to cry a lot these days, and sometimes I do, and this makes me crazy." You feel for him and Feather. Can hardly wait to get to Sweet, Hereafter!
Title of book(s) read since last update:
Rapunzel's Revenge by Shannon Hale
The First Part Last by Angela Johnson
Hotlanta by Denene Millner - 80/272
Number of books read since you started: 5
Pages read since last update:357 pg Running total of pages read since you started:
687 pgs plus 15 min audio
Amount of time spent reading since last update:3 hrs 10 min Running total of time spent reading since you started: 7 hrs
Mini-challenges completed:1
Other participants you’ve visited:
Nomad Reader
Wow! Ok, you know how people talk about quiet books? I use that term myself, but today, I really know what it means. Heaven is like sitting around talking to a friend: you guys are on the porchdecksidewalkcouch and just chillin' and talkin'. That's what reading this book is like. Marley is enjoying her life. She has a good one. She has two great friends, Shoogy and Bobby, a little brother, Butchy and her parents love her. This she knows. She's spending this summer, almost fourteen, hanging out doing the things she's always done, including going to the Ma's store and sending money to her Uncle Jack. They've been "talking" since she was two, so even though he's not there, they know so much about each other. Then a letter comes, not from Uncle Jack, but someone she doesn't know. And it changes everything. But does everything really have to change? "...the past doesn't always make sense of the present." This book is filled with the kind of sly humor you use at meetings when the bossteacherminister is just going on and you are whispering to friend rather than paying strict attention. It's also filled with the idea of what makes you a family. It was great. I can't wait to read the next two!
Title of book(s) read since last update:
Here Comes The Garbage Barge by Jonah Winter
Heaven by Angela Johnson
Number of books read since you started: 3
Pages read since last update:170 plus audio Running total of pages read since you started: 330
Amount of time spent reading since last update:1hr 43 min plus 15m audio Running total of time spent reading since you started: 3hr 50 min
Mini-challenges completed:none
Other participants you’ve visited:
Presenting Lenore
Bookworming in the 21st Century
The Frappy Report
1330V
Fizzy Thoughts
