What do you think?
Rate this book
The Earth is for Dancing
Sam is a fifteen-year-old drug orphan living with her custodial grandmother who is stricken with late-stage Alzheimer's. She struggles to fill the role of caregiver to her grandmother while keeping her little family a secret from the authorities who would send Gamma to a state facility and Sam to foster care. Just because her life isn't hard enough, there are still boys to have crushes on, essays to write for horrible English teachers, and a squad full of bullies to torment her on a daily basis.
258 pages, Kindle Edition
First published June 9, 2012
9 people want to read
About the author
Lorca Damon
12 books40 followersLorca is a teacher in a juvenile correctional facility, which is a tremendous influence on her writing. She writes the books that her students wish they could read.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 31, 2013
If you have read my reviews for any length of time, you will probably know that I tend to have a love-hate relationship with young adult books. Very rarely am I in the middle with this genre. Either I like it or I don't. My biggest complaints often include inappropriate language and situations and/or unrealistic romances.
I am happy to report that this book is a young adult book that does not have any of these issues. There is some "mild language," but I don't believe any of it will be truly problematic. There are no sex scenes, and realism is stressed within this book. You can't get more realistic than a grandmother with Alzheimer's being cared for by her teenage granddaughter. Add in some bullying and meddlesome adults, and I believe you have the main elements of the story.
I was completely engrossed in this story from start to finish, and I even found myself shedding a tear or two towards the end. There were a lot of surprises, and the ending was exactly what it should have been. You have to read the entire book to understand the title, and I believe readers of all ages can connect with this young adult book. I believe my perspective has changed on a few things, and I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys contemporary reads.
I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I was not financially compensated, and all opinions are 100 percent mine.
I am happy to report that this book is a young adult book that does not have any of these issues. There is some "mild language," but I don't believe any of it will be truly problematic. There are no sex scenes, and realism is stressed within this book. You can't get more realistic than a grandmother with Alzheimer's being cared for by her teenage granddaughter. Add in some bullying and meddlesome adults, and I believe you have the main elements of the story.
I was completely engrossed in this story from start to finish, and I even found myself shedding a tear or two towards the end. There were a lot of surprises, and the ending was exactly what it should have been. You have to read the entire book to understand the title, and I believe readers of all ages can connect with this young adult book. I believe my perspective has changed on a few things, and I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys contemporary reads.
I was sent a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. I was not financially compensated, and all opinions are 100 percent mine.
May 31, 2013
Sam is a 15 year old girl who's been taking care of her Alzheimer's stricken grandmother alone for the past five years. But don't you dare feel sorry for her--she wouldn't have it any other way. Sam would have a hard enough life with just this, but add on the pressures of being a teenager, getting bullied at school, and trying to stay under the radar so as not to be turned over to social services, and it seems Sam is climbing a pretty impossible mountain. When things start falling apart, Sam will find out that she's not as alone in the world as she thought...and sometimes it's OK to just be 15.
This book was a quick, heart-filling read, and it had a little of everything. Samantha is, understandably, incredibly mature for someone so young. Her grandmother was the one that raised her when her drug addict parents disappeared from her life, so Samantha feels that taking care of her is just the thing she needs to do. Sam has a very matter of fact attitude about everything, and while she's not smiley-happy all the time, she doesn't let herself stay on the negative side of things either. She just does what must be done, no questions asked and without even thinking of asking anyone for help.
Sam's been best friends with her neighbor, a boy also named Sam, for her whole life. It just never dawned on her that he could be a potential love interest--not that she ever though about love at all. But Other Sam is a great friend and the only one she has in the world, so naturally he becomes someone for her to lean on. Their romance didn't really get much development, it just kind of blossomed out of nowhere--which is often what happens with two people who were already friends to begin with.
This isn't an action filled page turner, but I read it fast anyway because I just loved Sam so much and I wanted to see how things turned out for her. She is a great character, and I was totally happy with the ending of this book. This author has a nice, easy to read writing style and I'd love to read more from her.
This book was a quick, heart-filling read, and it had a little of everything. Samantha is, understandably, incredibly mature for someone so young. Her grandmother was the one that raised her when her drug addict parents disappeared from her life, so Samantha feels that taking care of her is just the thing she needs to do. Sam has a very matter of fact attitude about everything, and while she's not smiley-happy all the time, she doesn't let herself stay on the negative side of things either. She just does what must be done, no questions asked and without even thinking of asking anyone for help.
Sam's been best friends with her neighbor, a boy also named Sam, for her whole life. It just never dawned on her that he could be a potential love interest--not that she ever though about love at all. But Other Sam is a great friend and the only one she has in the world, so naturally he becomes someone for her to lean on. Their romance didn't really get much development, it just kind of blossomed out of nowhere--which is often what happens with two people who were already friends to begin with.
This isn't an action filled page turner, but I read it fast anyway because I just loved Sam so much and I wanted to see how things turned out for her. She is a great character, and I was totally happy with the ending of this book. This author has a nice, easy to read writing style and I'd love to read more from her.
July 11, 2013
I received this book free from the author in exchange for an honest review.
OH MY GOD!! This is seriously one of the saddest books that I have ever read. I bawled through the last half of the book. I actually had to stop reading because the tears were blurring my vision so badly. I think that this book will really hit home for most readers because it deals with bullying and also Alzheimer's Disease. I think that most people have had experience with one or both of these issues or know someone who has. But this book was not just a tear jerker, it was a book that was filled with surprises both good and bad. Lorca Damon did liven the mood with humorous parts as well. If she continues to write books as beautiful as this one, she has gained a new fan/ stalker.
What can I say about Sam, other then she is the most selfless character that I have ever read about. Her story is both heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. I work with the elderly so I know where she is coming from and can relate to her. She is just the perfect granddaughter and she has so much patience. Sam is just an amazing character all together. I am happy that everything for the most part worked out.
If you are a fan of contemporaries, then this is a book for you. I will definitely read more books by Lorca Damon because anyone who writes a story this moving is great in my books!
OH MY GOD!! This is seriously one of the saddest books that I have ever read. I bawled through the last half of the book. I actually had to stop reading because the tears were blurring my vision so badly. I think that this book will really hit home for most readers because it deals with bullying and also Alzheimer's Disease. I think that most people have had experience with one or both of these issues or know someone who has. But this book was not just a tear jerker, it was a book that was filled with surprises both good and bad. Lorca Damon did liven the mood with humorous parts as well. If she continues to write books as beautiful as this one, she has gained a new fan/ stalker.
What can I say about Sam, other then she is the most selfless character that I have ever read about. Her story is both heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. I work with the elderly so I know where she is coming from and can relate to her. She is just the perfect granddaughter and she has so much patience. Sam is just an amazing character all together. I am happy that everything for the most part worked out.
If you are a fan of contemporaries, then this is a book for you. I will definitely read more books by Lorca Damon because anyone who writes a story this moving is great in my books!
May 22, 2013
A beautiful story, I have tears in my eyes. There are a couple of errors but nothing to take away from the actual idea. As I said in an update this isn't a plot driven story. So bear that in mind when you pick it up.
July 20, 2014
As I've stated in other reviews, I'm just now starting to read e-books, and they don't come with the oh-so-helpful back cover or jacket copy so I can know something about what I'm going to read. And, quite frankly, I'm too lazy to hop on amazon or another book site and find out. So, other than knowing this was YA, I had no idea what to expect.
Fifteen-year-old Sam was abandoned by her druggie mother when she was two, and her father is in jail for murder, so she's been raised by her grandmother. A grandmother who is now suffering from Alzheimer's. A grandmother who she takes care of herself, as well as a house and bills and groceries and everything that needs doing.
She goes to school only because she doesn't want a truant officer to come by and put her in foster care and her grandmother in a home. She's bullied there, and terribly, and has a teacher who makes her life even more difficult, but she does her best to stay unnoticed, do her homework, and get through each school day until she can go home and check on her grandmother and care for her.
Poor Sam has one friend, a boy named Sam (who she calls "Other Sam"; at first I thought "Other Sam" might have been a figment of her imagination, but he's actually real). To protect herself and her grandmother, she's basically shut Other Sam out, only talking to him on the bus or at school.
Although it made me cry, I absolutely love this book and its realistic look at family, bullying, and growing up... and how appearances can be deceiving. 4.5 stars.
Note: I received a free e-copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
Fifteen-year-old Sam was abandoned by her druggie mother when she was two, and her father is in jail for murder, so she's been raised by her grandmother. A grandmother who is now suffering from Alzheimer's. A grandmother who she takes care of herself, as well as a house and bills and groceries and everything that needs doing.
She goes to school only because she doesn't want a truant officer to come by and put her in foster care and her grandmother in a home. She's bullied there, and terribly, and has a teacher who makes her life even more difficult, but she does her best to stay unnoticed, do her homework, and get through each school day until she can go home and check on her grandmother and care for her.
Poor Sam has one friend, a boy named Sam (who she calls "Other Sam"; at first I thought "Other Sam" might have been a figment of her imagination, but he's actually real). To protect herself and her grandmother, she's basically shut Other Sam out, only talking to him on the bus or at school.
Although it made me cry, I absolutely love this book and its realistic look at family, bullying, and growing up... and how appearances can be deceiving. 4.5 stars.
Note: I received a free e-copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews