Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok

Girl in Translation is a story about a young Chinese girl and her mother who come to the United States in the hope of making a better life for themselves. Eleven year old Kimberly Chang and her mother are brought to American by Kimberly's Aunt Paula and Uncle Bob. Although promised to be taken care of, they are taken advantage of and abused by Paula who is jealous and angry at her younger sister, Kimberly's mother. They are given an apartment in a vermin-filled, abandoned building without heat. Kimberly and her mother are forced to work in Aunt Paula's Chinatown garment factory in order to pay off their debt to her for the cost of their airfare and Ma's medical treatment.

Although Kimberly's Ma is resigned to her fate of grinding poverty and hardship, Kimberly recognizes that she has it within herself to better her life. She knows she was a top student in China and that this will be the key to a new life in America. But Kimberly soon finds herself leading a double life: one that hides the terrible hardship of their lives while trying to appear as normal as possible at school. She is a brilliant student during the school day but hides the fact that after school she works long hours in a sweatshop and lives in terrible poverty without proper clothing or food. Kimberly also has difficulty in adapting to a culture she doesn't understand. In order to hide her life from her peers, she allows no one to get close to her. The only exception is Annette who befriends her and throughout middle and high school respects Kimberly's need for distance. In the end, as the girls mature, Annette proves to be a true friend to Kimberly.

Like all young girls her age though, Kimberly must deal with the pressures of growing up. From the first time she works in the garment factory, Kimberly likes Matt Wu, a young sweatshop worker who is her age. But Matt is different from Kimberly. He is not as ambitious and he is content with what he has in life. Their friendship gradually develops into complicated love at a time when they are starting to drift apart. Matt becomes involved with another Chinese immigrant whose views on life are more similar to his. Kimberly struggles to cope with her feelings of a first love tainted by jealousy. When something very unplanned happens between Kimberly and Matt, something that threatens to destroy her chances to achieve her dreams, she must make a difficult choice. This choice will affect both her and Matt forever.

This novel is wonderful. Kimberly is a realistic character and her plight is so desperate that it is impossible not to develop a deep sympathy for her. As a reader, we see her grow from a frightened, disoriented 11 year old to a responsible, strong teen who is capable of making good decisions. Along the way she struggles with her developing love for Matt and his attraction to another girl, Vivian who is more suited to him. Kimberly must also navigate the social minefield of high school as well as her aunt's growing jealousy of Kimberly's academic achievements.

The jacket cover for Girl in Translation states "In time, Kim learns to tanslate not just her language but herself back and forth between the two worlds she straddles." And that she does in a most remarkable way.

I highly recommend this book and can't wait to read Jean Kwok's next offering. She is a fresh new YA author who holds great promise.

Book Details:
Girl in Translation by Jean Kwok
Riverhead Books (Penguin) 2010
293 pp.

living on impulse by cara haycak

This was one book whose cover appealed to me instantly (maybe it was the rhinestone encrusted shoe on the front). The other attraction was the theme of a troubled teen who resorts to shoplifting to be the likable person she dreams of.
Mia Morrow is an impulsive person. She sees an item in a store and she takes it - on impulse. She's done it before. It's easy and thrilling. And in fact, that is exactly what Mia does in early April in the department store on the Commons. But this time things go down differently. When she is caught shoplifting, the head of store security and her mother agree that Mia must pay the cost of the shoes - a whopping $300. But getting caught shoplifting is just the tip of Mia's troubles. She has to resist the urge to join a local gang. She doesn't know her father and this causes her considerable distress. Mia spends time wondering if this person or another might be him. She loses her two friends at school, fails an exam and must deal with trouble at home between her beloved Grandpa Andy and her single mom, Constance.Mia wants to do better but she just doesn't know how.
When Mia discovers a job opening at the nearby college she sees this as her ticket to paying off her debt to the department store and perhaps to a new direction in her life. Will she continue acting on impulse or start thinking about what she might do?
Although Mia initially lies in the job interview she does come clean about herself and lands the job. Gradually we see Mia reform herself and develop into a more likable, responsible person. Instead, it is now her mother who crashes and burns, returning to drinking and losing her job. When her mother disappears for several days Mia must turn to someone unexpected for help. This person, a past boyfriend of her mother comes through for her and her mother and helps them both deal with the past.
Overall, the story was mostly believable but I felt that Haycak simply tried to do too much in this novel. I think simply focusing on Mia's problems would have been enough. Adding the mother's troubles to the story simply seemed to take it over the top for me. 
This would have also allowed the author to explore some of Mia's issues more in depth, especially those relating to her absent father.
When Mia calls the police to report her mother missing she is told to drop a picture off at the local police station. I would expect that a 15 year old minor who reports a parent missing and is living alone would very likely receive a visit from police and most definitely end up in foster care. I really don't see why this situation was even needed in the novel. It seemed like it was thrown in for dramatic purposes but was simply too unrealistic.

We see Mia develop as a character through the novel. By the end of the novel Mia is much more likable character. Although she still does things that are wrong, she is beginning to think her way through and see how her actions affect others. She also begins to set goals for herself.

The Gardener by S.A. Bodeen

Mason is a high school sophomore who hopes to study biology at Stanford someday. His biology teacher, Mr. Hogan, encourages Mason to apply to TroDyn's summer science program. TroDyn is a huge research company located in Mason's hometown of Melby Falls and they pay the bills for just about everything in the town. Mason knows his mother doesn't want him to become involved with TroDyn but he just can't figure out exactly why. That is until he learns about her connection to TroDyn. When Mason attempts to confront  his mother at the TroDyn funded nursing home where she works,  he makes a remarkable but disturbing discovery about the patients she cares for. And it is his developing love for one of those patients that leads Mason to risk everything to try to help this beautiful girl. Even if this means confronting a terrifying person known as The Gardener at TroDyn. The Gardener explores issues that deal with bioethics and human experimentation. Most of the science mentioned in The Gardener is flawed. The overpopulation vs food production scenario has essentially been disproven. Paul Erlich's The Population Bomb has been proven to be a monumental flop since most of the Western world is now facing a demographic implosion and many developing countries such as China face the prospect of gender imbalance and not enough workers to support a drastically aging population.The Gardener considers the degree to which scientists might go to save mankind should such a scenario play out.
 
Despite this, The Gardener is a suspenseful science fiction that blends a little of mystery and romance too. Mason is a heroic character who is willing to risk everything to save Laila. We are left struggling to understand just what is wrong with her and Mason's loyalty to her only deepens the reader's affection for him. The novel weaves it's way to a satisfying conclusion.


Book Details:
The Gardener by S. A. Bodeen
Feiwel and Friends  2010
240pp

Three Rivers Rising by Jame Richards

Three Rivers Rising is a historical novel written in free verse set against the backdrop of the Johnstown Flood of 1889.

The novel opens in the summer of 1888. Sixteen-year-old Celestia's father Bertram visits South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club on Lake Conemaugh for the possibility of business deals. Her mother Mildred comes for the socials and the gossip. Celestia's sister, nineteen-year-old Estrella is engaged to her beau, Charles who is in Pittsburg learning the family business. But Estrella is enjoying herself, meeting some of the more appealing boys of the clubhouse, like Frederick.

Celestia meets sixteen-year-old Peter who is the hired help. Peter's father works digging up coal for the Cambria Iron Works and he is not keen for Peter to work at the South Fork Club. He tells his son that the rich people's money will not save their dam from breaking but Peter knows everyone laughs off that possibility because the dam always holds. The South Fork Reservoir, called Lake Conemaugh by the wealthy owners, was formed by the placing of a seventy-foot earthen dam across a creek. The lake. which is stocked with fish, is surrounded on one side by "fancy-trim houses" and a large clubhouse. Peter offers to work on the line down in the coal mine after his father tells him that being around the wealthy will give him "ideas". But his father tells Peter it's better he works above ground in the sun and fresh air but he warns his son not "to develop a taste for things" he cannot have.

Johnstown sits where the Stony River and the Little Conemaugh River meet. Above the town the South Fork Creek joins the river, after it fills the reservoir. As a result, Johnstown often floods in the spring due to the rains. The people worry about the dam holding but since it has always held they joke often about it. Celestia encounters Peter who has his fishing pole, as she sits on the banks of the creek reading. They begin meeting day after day, Celestia reading while Peter fishes. One day Celestia gives Peter her book but he reveals that he is able to read as his mother, Anna was a schoolteacher who had travelled much. Their friendship blossoms quickly into a forbidden attraction. Peter continues to meet Celestia in the woods near the clubhouse. Because they are from very different social classes, they have to pretend they do not know one other when their paths cross on the boardwalk. Peter would be quickly dismissed if he was suspected of fraternizing with the wealthy clubhouse patrons and especially with a young girl. 

Celestia is undeterred by Peter's reluctance. Her sister, Estrella suspects something because of Celestia's flushed cheeks and happiness. Celestia reveals to her sister that she is interested in a boy who works at the clubhouse while Estrella seems to have her own love interest. When Peter shows up outside her bedroom window, Estrella tells her where Celestia can find a window to slip outside. This leaves Celestia to wonder just what Estrella has been up to.

However, Celestia's meetings with Peter are discovered by Louise Godwin who sees them swimming in the lake. This upsets Celestia's mother who tells her that being with a "some boy" who is not like them could ruin their position in society. When her father returns from Pittsburg he insists that Celestia stay away from "the hired boy"  and informs her that she will accompany her aunt Mimsy in Europe until she enters finishing school in Switzerland. Celestia tells her father she will not obey him but as she's packing she wonders about her choice. What will she lose by leaving and what will she lose by staying? However, Celestia seems to have made her choice as she gives Peter little keepsakes to remember her by. She is haunted by her choice.

But worse is to come. After packing, and seeing her mother and Aunt Mimsy in turmoil, Celestia learns from Estrella that she has been "ruined" by a man, who now will not marry her. Their father can do nothing to protect her or their family because this man is more powerful. Celestia overhears her parents speaking about what has happened and learns that Estrella is expecting and that the man involved is Grayson. When she learns from Peter that the servants at the clubhouse already know of Estrella's situation, Celestia pretends to have the fever in an effort to prevent the truth from spreading to the other wealthy patrons. This forces the wealthy to flee the clubhouse to avoid what they believe is "the fever".

After spending a year in Switzerland at the Institut Villa Mont Choisi, during which Celestia manages to correspond with Peter, she learns that she is to be married to Andrew Forrester upon returning to the United States. However, Celestia is determined to make her own life and be with Peter. She does not want to marry Andrew whom she doesn't love. Upon arriving at Johnstown, Celestia immediately leaves to find Peter in Johnstown. The spring of 1889 is wet, with the rivers wild with all the recent rain. She finds Peter and his terminally ill father in their rundown home. Her decision to leave the South Fork clubhouse is a fateful one that will set in motion a change of heart amidst the tragedy of Johnstown.

Discussion

Three Rivers Rising is a historical fiction novel about the historic Johnstown flood of 1889 which took the lives of  over two thousand people. 

Johnstown which was founded in 1800 was notable for its steel and iron mill, the Cambria Iron Works and its coal mines which supplied the steel industry, as well as for its railway. The town was situated where the Little Conemaugh and Stoneycreek rivers met. By the 1880's the town had a population of over thirty thousand people. The town was prone to flooding for several reasons: the two rivers were part of an extensive drainage basin of the Allegheny plateau and the rivers had been narrowed by the use of slag (as waste product from the production of steel) to create more land for the town.

Above the town, an earthen dam, the South Fork Dam, had been constructed in the 1830s to the 1850s to supply water to a canal system to transport goods and materials. However with the arrival of the Pennsylvania Railway the canal system fell into disuse. The Railway sold the dam and the reservoir to a private group with the reservoir being converted into a resort lake for use by the wealthy.  The earthen dam was lowered by three feet and the culverts in the dam used to manage the reservoir water were removed. This meant there was no way to lower the water level in the reservoir, now called Lake Conemaugh during periods of heavy rain. A club house for the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club was built and many wealthy industrialists including Andrew Carnegie frequented the resort.

Several days of heavy rainfall filled Lake Conemaugh to the point that it was almost cresting the top of the lowered earthen dam. Elias Unger, President of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club and who was in a farmhouse adjacent to the dam, saw that situation at the dam was dangerous. Unger and his men were unsuccessful in dealing with the rising water and word was sent by telegraph warning Johnstown of the situation. Meanwhile in Johnstown, the torrential rain had flooded the town with water rising to almost ten feet in the streets.

The South Fork Dam breached sometime around 2:50PM, a wall of water racing first to the town of South Fork where most were able to scramble up the hills to safety. As the floodwaters raced the fourteen miles downstream towards Johnstown, it picked up debris including parts of houses, trees and animals. The flood gained strength after slamming into and destroying the Conemaugh Viaduct, stripping the soil down to the bedrock at the town of Mineral Point. The floodwaters reached Johnstown fifty-seven minutes after the dam breach, sweeping over two thousand two hundred people to their deaths.

The novel begins with the narratives of two young people from very different social classes: Peter whose father works in the local coal mine and who works at the clubhouse, and wealthy Celestia Whitcomb who, along with her parents and older sister, is a guest at the clubhouse. Gradually the narrative expands to include seventeen-year-old Maura, wife of Joseph who conducts the one of the many trains that run on the Pennsylvania Railway line through the Johnstown area. Maura is mother to three young children and is expecting another baby. There is also Kate, a widow whose husband Early drowned shortly after their marriage. Kate went by the name of Kitty, but as she struggles to deal with her loss, becomes a nurse who happens to be near Johnstown when the disaster happens. Bertram Whitcomb, Celestia's father is also included in the last half of the novel, and it is his narrative that offers descriptions of the massive destruction by the floodwaters.

The novel employs the forbidden love trope of a wealthy girl/boy falling for the poor boy/girl from the wrong social class.  Celeste's father is a wealthy businessman while Peter's father is a coal miner. In late 19th century society, such a match would be forbidden. The social repercussions would be so great that it's unlikely either would follow through on their feelings. Once Celestia's relationship with Peter is discovered her mother tells her,
"Your actions could not only tear us

from our place in society

but rip this family apart,

person from person."

The novel highlights the stigma and double standard placed on women in society especially during the Victorian era. Celestia's older sister Estrella has become involved with a man, named Grayson a wealthy industrialist with a reputation for "ruining" women. She is now pregnant and unmarried - that is, "ruined". To save their family and her father's business, Estrella must be shunned by her family and quietly and quickly sent away. Aunt Mimsy tells Celestia,
"And if she is properly disowned...?'

Damage to the family is... tolerable.'

Mimsy grimaces. 'But Estrella will be lost to us forever.

The limb will be sacrificed

to save the tree, you see.'

It is Estrella who must bear the consequences while the man is allowed to continue his predatory ways. Estrella is forced to leave her family under the pretence of some excuse - a vacation or illness, never to return, her name never mentioned, her existence blotted out. 

When Celestia makes the choice to leave her family and be with Peter, her father disowns her as well, even though she has done nothing dishonorable except to love someone from another social class. Upon discovering that Celestia has left, Whitcomb removes her picture from the double frame that once also held Estrella's portrait, rips it up and prepares to leave the clubhouse. But the breaching of the dam and the resulting tragedy changes Celestia's father. During his frantic search for her, as he helped parents try to find the bodies of their childrren, Whitcomb's perspective on his daughter's situation changes. After discovering Celestia ill with typhoid and being cared for by Peter,he tells him,

" 'What would any of those parents give

to have their child back?

Would they trade obedience?

Money?

Power?

The good opinion of friends?...

So much senseless loss...

how could anyone

choose

to lose someone he loves?' "

The novel ends happily with Celestia recovering at the family home in Pittsburg, Peter at her side, and the recovery of Estrella who their Aunt Mimsy has managed to secure a good marriage, along with her new husband and her baby. Celestia's parents are much changed, her mother working to help the survivors and no longer consumed by their status in society, and her father open to having his daughters at home.

While Three Rivers Rising does capture the essence of the Johnstown flood, according to the author it is not a book about the flood disaster. It is a story set against the backdrop of the catastrophe, incorporating a few characters and events that really did happen. The novel's main source of tension is whether or not Peter and Celestia will survive the flood and what happens afterwards if they do.

The endnotes of the novel contain a chronology on the South Fork Dam and provide readers with selection of fiction and nonfiction books on the Johnstown Flood.

Book Details:

Three Rivers Rising by Jame Richards
New York: Alfred A. Knopf      2010
293 pp.

The Deadly Sister by Eliot Schrefer

I had great expectations for The Deadly Sister and I have to say that overall, Eliot Schrefer has crafted an ingenious murder mystery for young teens.
Abby Goodwin was always the one to protect younger sister, Maya. She'd protected her bullies, from their parents when Maya broke curfew, stole money or did drugs. But this time, things are so much more complicated. When Abby discovers Maya's boyfriend/tutor, Jefferson Andrews dead during her Saturday morning run, she knows she has her work cut out for her.
Told in 18 year old Abby's voice, the reader follows along as Abby attempts to piece together what happened that fatal night. From the beginning Abby makes the assumption that Maya is the killer and therefore in need of her protection. But this murder mystery is full of twists and turns and Schrefer had me considering everyone as a possible suspect until well into the book. For reasons I won't divulge (so as not to reveal the plot), the ending therefore, wasn't a complete surprise but did offer a creepy twist.
I did feel that the storyline was somewhat unrealistic, given the current state of practice of forensic science. I felt that ending was unbelievable simply because Jefferson Andrews murder was a violent crime. It would have been expected that some form of evidence would have been left at the murder scene and in other areas such as Jefferson's car, that would have directed police ultimately to the true killer. Nevertheless, this was an entertaining book, one that most will find difficult to put down.
Book Details:
The Deadly Sister by Eliot Schrefer
Scholastic Press: New York 2010
310 pp.

The Never Came Back by Caroline B. Cooney

Cathy Ferris was in her second week of summer school when things began to unravel. All because Tommy Petrak believes Cathy is really Murielle Lyman, the long lost daughter of Cade and Rory Lyman. The Lyman's fled overseas 5 years previously to avoid charges of embezzling millions of dollars of their clients money. So certain is Tommy, that he confronts Cathy in the cafeteria during lunch and in front of all the summer students. Within minutes, most of the 60 students at Greenwich Summer School are googling the Lyman name on their Blackberrys and cell phones and comparing pictures of past Murielle and present day Cathy. They never came back is in two voices, that of 15 year old Cathy Ferris and also of 10 year old Murielle Lyman. Murielle's story is one of a confused, innocent 10 year old who loses everything because of her parents greed. Questioned tirelessly by FBI agents, she begins to vomit due to the stress and is eventually placed in a foster home. Cathy's story eventually reveals to the readers, quite early on, that she is in fact, Murielle. She began to use her second name of Catherine when she was moved to a second foster home. Although the reader knows that Murielle and Cathy are the same, the characters in the story do not. It turns out that Cathy deliberately enrolled in the high school in her childhood hometown of Norwalk to see her cousin Tommy Petrak. But she never anticipated the situation she now finds herself in. The FBI reappear, this time hoping to use Cathy's resemblance to Murielle to entrop her parents. Cathy must deal with issues of guilt, loyalty, justice and greed. The choice Cathy/Murielle must make at the end of the book is sure to spark discussion both for and against.
I did enjoy the book but found the means the author used to bring Cathy back in touch with her parents simplistic and unrealistic. I also felt the book would have been much more exciting if the reader had been kept in suspense about whether or not Cathy was Murielle. Nevertheless, the idea for the book was a good one. I just didn't like the way the author developed it. I highly recommend this novel. It's a quick good read for teens.

Book Details:

They never came back by Caroline B. Cooney
Delacorte Press 2010
200 pp.

Shark Girl by Kelly Bingham

Shark Girl is novel about a teenager who survives a shark attack and her struggle to reclaim her life.

The novel opens with fifteen-year-old Jane Arrowood experiencing phantom sensations of her missing right hand. She remembers that "on that day" her mother and her brother Michael headed to the beach with Jane having packed her sketch book in her beachbag.

In a news report it is reveals that on June 22, Jane was attacked at Point Dume State Beach in shallow water by a shark. Her brother saved her life by tying a tourquinet on her arm. She was rushed to UCLA hospital where her right arm was amputated. Dr. Andrew Kim tells reporters that she is lucky to be alive and is in a coma due to blood loss.

When Jane awakens from the coma after ten days, she learns that her right arm has been amputated above the elbow. Michael tells her that the attack was video taped by some guy on the beach and that it has been repeatedly played on television.

Jane's life revolves around her art and she wonders what happens now. Her mother, who teacher English at USC is with her and her grandparents are arriving soon. When her friends begin calling to see if they can visit, Jane's mother suggests they wait a few more days. Meanwhile, Jane receives not only letters, but many flowers and plenty of teddy bears, which she calls "pity bears". While Jane doesn't want any of this her mother encourages her to try to appreciate people's efforts. 

Jane misses her father who died when she was three-years-old of cancer. For twelve years she hasn't had a dad but right now she wishes she had a hug from him. Jane is assigned a therapist named Mel who tells her that it is fine to grieve the loss of her right arm. Although Jane's mother seems very optimistic, Jane does not feel that way. When her best friend Rachel visits, Jane tells her that she's tired of telling them "it's okay".  Jane tells Dr. Kim about the dreams she has of her arm being snapped off by an alligator or a dog and he explains that it is the brain attempting to reason out the phantom pain she is experiencing.

In the hosptial Jane has a team of specialists: a doctor, occupational therapist, rehab coordinator, psychologist, and physiotherapist. Each day is filled with a struggle: her friends visiting but the feeling of belonging to their group is missing, wondering what her life will be like, wishing she had died. She is tired of people telling her how strong and brave she is and wishes people would just say "Jane, you are a mess."

Eventually though, the time comes for Jane to go home from the  hospital. Not only is she now physically and mentally changed, but her life is forever altered. What does this mean for her? for her future? 

Discussion

Shark Girl is a realistic fiction novel that focuses on the inner journey a young teen girl undertakes after she suffers a life-altering injury. Fifteen-year-old Jane Arrowood was attacked by a shark and has had her right arm amputated. The attack is recounted in both newspaper articles which are written in prose and flashbacks by Jane in free verse, as well as letters written to her by people concerned for her or having suffered amputation. The novel is divided into three parts.

Author Kelly Bingham traces Jane's inner journey as she works her way through grieving the loss of her arm and her changed life. The newspaper articles portray the reporting of the accident and reveal that Jane is a prize-winning artist who attends Mountain Ridge High School. She has won state art competitions and won the top prize at the West Coast Wings Competition. They tell the reader what Jane has lost - the ability to do art, which up to this point in her life, has defined her. The free verse offers Jane's thoughts as she struggles to heal psychologically from her injury and deal with the changes in her life, while the letters offer examples of how others view these tragedies from the outside. 

In the hospital Jane receives much help in the form of occupational, physical and mental therapy. It's unfortunate that the occupational therapy was never focused on, because when Jane returns home it seems that she is unable to do anything. Having lost her dominant hand, she would need extensive and ongoing occupational therapy, something that doesn't appear to be happening. The same can be said of her mental therapy which appears to end once she leaves the hospital. 

While in the hospital, Jane struggles with what has happened. Her therapist Mel tells her to consider the "big picture", that 

"You could have died.

Instead, you are here. You have time to find out why.

You have your whole life to discover

and rebuild."

On days that feel like "canyon days" where she wishes she had died, Mel tells her to look at the smaller picture, sometimes one day, or one hour, or one minute.

As expected, once she returns home Jane's struggles only intensify as she faces the reality of her life. She blames herself  "If you had helped that lady. The one with the tray of  hot dogs..." she would have missed the shark. Later on she feels anger at Michael for saving her. Jane refers to herself as "Shark Girl".  At home Jane struggles: although she can dress herself, she doesn't cook,  doesn't help with chores around the house, refuses an invitation to meet her friends, and won't attend a support group. Ashamed of her missing limb, Jane wears a heavy sweater in the heat while walking Mabel. She refuses to enter the grocery store and instead attempts to stay in the hot car while her mother shops. However, the extreme heat forces Jane into the store where she feels everyone is staring at her. For Jane,

"Missing an arm is like wearing a coat,

a really big, hot, ugly coat

that I can't take off.

Ever.

it's all people see."

Folding laundry, taking out the garbage, are a struggle, but when Michael forces her to mow the lawn, Jane feels relief and grateful that he's treated her like "...old plain Jane". But it takes months for Jane to recover her desire to live life as she once did. When Jane returns to school in September she struggles with how others view her and the comments she overhears about her accident and her body. During this time, Jane returns to working on her art, attempting to teach her left hand to do what her right could do so well. She doesn't tell anyone except Justin about this.

"This thing is private,

very private, 

and no one needs to stand witness

with a stopwatch or a progress chart.

No one needs to say the wrong thing."

It isn't until the following March during a rainstorm that Jane, who used to cook most her family's meals, struggles to make scrambled eggs and toast.
"The eggs are overcooked.

The toast is a buttered murder victim.

But I'm proud, really proud,

like I just had a baby or something..."
Jane announces her accomplishment to their dog Mabel, noting,

"And the next time will be easier, I think.

And the next time, and the next time."

This point marks a significant change in how Jane thinks about her life. When she forgets to wash the dishes afterwards and her mother offers, Jane begins to realize that her mother will not always be there to help, in college or any other time. She volunteers at the hospital where she was taken after the shark bite, orders special items to help her with meal preparation and even more importantly Jane begins to see possibilites in her future. While talking with Max Shannon, Jane tells him that nursing and other options look "interesting" and she is shocked at this change in her thinking.

"So much looks interesting?

Wow.

Just a few months ago,

my radar was EMPTY.

So it's true, then?

Time makes a difference?"

But during this time, Jane still struggles with the "what if?": if she hadn't been swimming that day, if the shark had been somewhere else that day, if she had stayed home that day.... In this way, Bingham demonstrates that Jane's healing isn't a linear process, but one that occurs in steps with much struggle, regression and progress, making the portrayal feel realistic.

It takes time but eventually Jane does reclaim her life, offering readers a positive conclusion and an important reminder that the past cannot be changed but that the future is what we make of it, regardless of what has happened.  She bakes her specialty lemon bars for her mother, finds her stump that was "once alien, is returning to be a part of me." makes up with Angie, and gives Justin her first drawing - that of his beloved dog, Spot. 

Sharing Jane's journey is Justin,  a ten-year-old boy who lost his leg and was in the hospital during the same time period. Justin's innocence and forthright way of dealing with loss gradually open Jane to the possibilites open to her. When he learns that she is an artist and asks her to draw him a picture, Jane refuses telling him she can't use her other arm because it isn't her "good one". 

"Justin looks down. "Both my legs were good.

But now I only have one, so it's the good one.

Isn't that the way with your arm?"

Later on Justin asks Jane if she "hated everybody" because she looks like she does. He reminds her she just has to love her family including him! When Justin calls, Jane realizes that he isn't focused on his artificial limb because he's too busy living his life. In contrast, Jane hates her artificial arm which she has christened "Chuck".  She has "playdates" with Justin, who encourages her to work at her drawing and who models what recovery from a life-altering accident looks like: he plays baseball, wants to play soccer and doesn't see the limitations that Janes sees.  Eventually, as Jane reclaims her life and begins to heal, she lets Justin go, to live his own life, just as she must live hers.

Bingham has crafted realistic characters in Jane's mother and Janes friends: they are not perfect and like Jane are struggling to deal with what has happened and how to help Jane. They don't always do the right thing but their intentions are well meaning. The best example of this is Jane's friend Angie, who has her own issues with her body, but attempts to help Jane in ways that seem pushy and misguided.

There is a reference to Bethany Hamilton (not specifically named) who lost her left arm while surfing in Hawai'i to a shark in 2003. Twenty-six days after her ordeal, Hamilton was back out surfing - a remarkable feat to be sure, but one that most people would not be up to. Like Bethany Hamilton, the fictitious Jane Arrowood demonstrates resiliency, grit and determination.

Despite the heavy topic, Kelly Bingham has succeeded in crafting a novel that doesn't overwhelm but offers readers a chance to consider how they might help friends or family who suffer life-altering injuries.

Book Details:

Shark Girl by Kelly Bingham
Candlewick Press       2007
276pp