Dancing in the Rain by Lynn Joseph 4/5
Twelve year-old Elizabeth is no normal girl. With an imagination that makes room for mermaids and magic in everyday life, she lives every moment to the fullest. Yet her joyful world crumbles around her when two planes bring down the Twin Towers and tear her family apart. Thousands of miles away, yet still touched by this tragedy, Elizabeth is swimming in a sea of loss. She finally finds hope when she meets her kindred spirit in 8 year-old Brandt and his 13 year-old brother, Jared.
Brandt and Jared, two boys as different as Oreo and milk and just as inseparable, arrive on the island to escape the mushroom of sorrow that bloomed above their lives in the wake of the tragedy. Elizabeth shows them a new way to look at the world and they help her to laugh again. But can Elizabeth and Brandt help their families see that when life brings showers of sadness, it’s okay to dance in the rain?
Thanks to Blue Moon Publishing and Netgalley for giving me a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
Review:
This book is written from a child’s POV, and focusses on two Dominican Republican families dealing with the aftermath of 9/11.
The prose is beautiful, and Joseph captures the children’s voices wonderfully. This book is for older children and teens, and delicately explores loss, grief, healing, and the horrors of terrorism, but also how strong a child can be, and how with love we can overcome great tragedy. This novel transcends age easily, making it accessible for all readers.
Being a parent, I found some of the scenes a little heartbreaking, and seeing the mothers struggles through the eyes of a child produced a range of emotions in me- pity, love, even anger at how the women were missing what’s right in front of them, but the ending was handled beautifully and simplistically.
With the current climate as it is, this book is extremely important for young people, and has been executed tastefully and with love. A well written, important story that deals with hard issues sensitively.
The opinions expressed here are those of K.J.Chapman and no other parties.
All books reviewed on this blog have been read by K.J.Chapman
K.J.Chapman has not been paid for this review.
Writerly Bookish Stuff 
Now there’s a book that sounds like it would make me cry a lot! Would you recommend it to emotionally unstable people? 🙂
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It was beautifully and simplistically written. The fact that it was written from the innocent view point of a child showed another aspect to the grief.
I would recommend.
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