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The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott
Kelly O’Connor McNees
Putnam
April 2010
336 pp

Here is the blurb from the publisher:

Deftly mixing fact and fiction, Kelly O’Connor McNees imagines a love affair that would threaten Louisa’s writing career-and inspire the story of Jo and Laurie in Little Women. Stuck in small-town New Hampshire in 1855, Louisa finds herself torn between a love that takes her by surprise and her dream of independence as a writer in Boston. The choice she must make comes with a steep price that she will pay for the rest of her life.

The Short of It:

The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott has all of the charm of Little Women. The strong family dynamic is present as well as the promise of true love. A well-told story that’s a pleasure to read.

The Rest of It:

In 1855, the Alcott family moved to Walpole, New Hampshire. Not much is known about the real-life Alcotts but McNees chooses this time period to tell the tale of young Louisa. Strong-willed and stubborn, she has a strong sense of family and an even stronger sense of pride. Determined to be a serious writer, she has no time for romance but when she meets Joseph Singer, she can’t quite explain the feelings that she has for him. Is it possible for a woman to have a career and a relationship without losing her sense of self?

I feel that it’s important to note that I have not read Little Women in its entirety. I started it ages ago and loved every bit of it, but then got sidetracked and never picked it up again. If my memory serves me, I got through about half of it, but it was enough for me to fall in love with the characters. I felt the same way about The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott. Although parts of it do include a bit of historical fact, it is a fictional tale of the family that inspired Little Women and I feel that it had the same feel as the classic that we’ve all come to love.

I know there are some hardcore fans of Little Women who’ll dig deep to find fault with this book, but there’s really no need for it. As I was reading, I could tell that McNees adores the classic as much as the next reader (if not more) and the care she takes to breathe life into Louisa is genuine and well thought out. I adored Louisa and all of her sisters and although her parents proved to be frustrating at times, especially her father, I could literally see them upon the page.

The other part that I enjoyed quite a bit were all the literary references. I could easily see Louisa sitting in her room, reading Dickens. This is the type of book that book lovers love. It reads well, it includes characters that we already love, and it makes the classic even more appealing.

I do not feel that you need to read Little Women prior to reading TLSOLMA, but after reading this book, I now feel that I must finish Little Women.

Source: Sent to me by the publisher via Trish over at Hey Lady! Whatcha Readin’? for her April discussion of the book.

Mockingbird
By Kathryn Erskine
Penguin Young Readers
April 2010
224pp

Here’s the blurb from the publisher:

In Caitlin’s world, everything is black or white. Things are good or bad. Anything in between is confusing. That’s the stuff Caitlin’s older brother, Devon, has always explained. But now Devon’s dead and Dad is no help at all. Caitlin wants to get over it, but as an eleven-year-old girl with Asperger’s, she doesn’t know how. When she reads the definition of closure, she realizes that is what she needs. In her search for it, Caitlin discovers that not everything is black and white—the world is full of colors—messy and beautiful.

The Short of It:

Mockingbird is at once heartbreaking, sad and hopeful. It takes you by the hand, leads you down the path of love and loss and never lets you go.

The Rest of It:

Mockingbird is a special, little book. After Caitlin’s older brother Devon is killed in a school shooting, Caitlin and her father struggle to make it through their grief but they are constantly reminded of Devon and can’t seem to find closure. If that isn’t difficult enough, Caitlin suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome so what she sees is often black or white and nothing in between. What makes this story so special is that it’s told from Caitlin’s point of view. This means that when she feels overly anxious about loud noises or finds herself unable to read someone’s expression, we hear or see it from her perspective.

When I first picked this book up, I found it a tad hard to follow. Caitlin’s thought patterns are a bit jumbled and it takes a little bit of time to find the rhythm in her words, but when you do, you can’t help but feel her pain. She loved her brother. He was the only one in the family that “got” her. He anticipated her needs and without him around, she is forced to reassess how she communicates with others.

Here is a quote from page 21 which is where she wants to enter Devon’s room even though she’s been told not to:

I wish I could go in and say Devon, I’m hungry, and he’d grin and his dimples would show and he’d say, You and me both, and we’d go find Dad and order a pizza because it’s Thursday and we’d eat warm drippy extra cheese pizza in front of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy.

The other thing to note, is that all the dialogue is italicized. I got used to it and it did not detract from the story at all. Seeing things from Caitlin’s point of view was an incredibly powerful experience. This book is geared towards young adults but I think anyone reading it will be drawn to Caitlin. In one sense she is terribly complex but at the core, she is like any other eleven-year-old. She wants to be understood, she wants to fit in and she yearns for friends like any other kid her age.

Mockingbird is a quick but important read and if you’re wondering if there is a connection between this book and To Kill a Mockingbird, there is, but you’ll have to read the book to find out what it is.

Mockingbird comes out on April 15th but you can pre-order it now.

Source: This ARC was sent to me by the publisher via Shelf Awareness.

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