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Butter
Anne Panning’s fiction has been described as warm and original by Publishers Weekly, intelligent and humorous by the Boston Globe, graceful and wry by Booklist, and infectious and enchanting by the New York Times. In fact, Panning’s last collection of short stories, Super America, was a New York Times Book Review Editor’s Choice. Enter this exciting new novel, the best work yet from a writer whose astute observations of American life are as honest as they are engaging.
Butter is a coming of age tale set against the backdrop of small-town Minnesota during the 1970s and told from the perspective of an eleven-year-old girl, Iris, who learns from her parents that she is adopted. The story of Iris’s childhood is at first beguiling and innocent: hers is a world filled with bell-bottoms and Barbie dolls, Shrinky Dinks and Shaun Cassidy records, TV dinners and trips to grandma’s. But as her parents’ marriage starts to unravel, Iris grows more and more observant of disintegration all around her, and the simple cadences of her story quickly attain an unnerving tension as she wavers precariously between girlhood and adolescence. In the end, Iris’s story represents a profound meditation on growing up estranged in small town America—on being an outsider in a world increasingly averse to them. Passionate, lyrical, and disquieting, this intensely moving novel is a rich exploration of a crucial theme in American literature that will confirm Anne Panning’s place as a major figure in the world of contemporary fiction.
Butter is a coming of age tale set against the backdrop of small-town Minnesota during the 1970s and told from the perspective of an eleven-year-old girl, Iris, who learns from her parents that she is adopted. The story of Iris’s childhood is at first beguiling and innocent: hers is a world filled with bell-bottoms and Barbie dolls, Shrinky Dinks and Shaun Cassidy records, TV dinners and trips to grandma’s. But as her parents’ marriage starts to unravel, Iris grows more and more observant of disintegration all around her, and the simple cadences of her story quickly attain an unnerving tension as she wavers precariously between girlhood and adolescence. In the end, Iris’s story represents a profound meditation on growing up estranged in small town America—on being an outsider in a world increasingly averse to them. Passionate, lyrical, and disquieting, this intensely moving novel is a rich exploration of a crucial theme in American literature that will confirm Anne Panning’s place as a major figure in the world of contemporary fiction.
226 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2012
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
April 21, 2013
Found this at the library and had no idea what it was, but gave it a try. I'm glad I did. I loved it! This is the story of an 11- to 12-year-old girl in a small town in Minnesota. I could so much relate to her! The description of the little town sounds so much like where I grew up! Her father owns a creamery. My sister, cousins and I used to play at the creamery in the small town where our grandma lived. (They let us stick our bare fingers into the butter vats!) She always feels like she's not quite good enough.. like maybe her parents don't even like her. I always felt that, too, and still work to overcome that misconception. Later in the story something happens to her that happened to my best friend.
All in all, it's a very readable and interesting, loveable story about a girl's coming of age. I read some other reviews that criticize this book for its "abrupt ending." I did not feel it was abrupt; it was just a true-to-life ending that doesn't always tie things up with a pretty bow.
I thought it was a great book and very well written. I read it in two sittings.
All in all, it's a very readable and interesting, loveable story about a girl's coming of age. I read some other reviews that criticize this book for its "abrupt ending." I did not feel it was abrupt; it was just a true-to-life ending that doesn't always tie things up with a pretty bow.
I thought it was a great book and very well written. I read it in two sittings.
February 23, 2013
I think the author wrote half a book. This was a nice introduction to some great characters, threw in a surprise at the end and that was it. I understand letting people want more, but there was NO resolution with anyone! Mom's book, the teacher, DeeDee's "incident", Adam's background...all hanging. This bothered me.
June 19, 2013
Just one of the reasons I enjoyed reading author Anne Panning’s novel “Butter”: She gets the details right. Set in small-town Minnesota in the 1970s, Panning’s novel is a love note to little towns growing up – or dying – amidst the corn fields of a different time. The coming-of-age story is about Iris, an 11-year-old whose parents’ marriage is disintegrating. You will fall in love with Iris even if you don’t love the story, described by the book jacket and some reviewers as “disquieting.”
Iris’ father runs a creamery, and Panning writes about full-fat milk products with beauty and reverence, thus the title “Butter.” Like his marriage, Iris’ father’s creamery is losing traction as convenience stores with names like “Stop & Go” gain popularity.
Like the small town in which it's set, the story doesn’t stretch too far. There are no vampires or doomsday scenarios, but Panning successfully captures the warmth of family and the sorrow of losing it. Anyone who enjoys fiction would love it, but especially readers who know anything about small towns, Minnesota or the '70s.
Iris’ father runs a creamery, and Panning writes about full-fat milk products with beauty and reverence, thus the title “Butter.” Like his marriage, Iris’ father’s creamery is losing traction as convenience stores with names like “Stop & Go” gain popularity.
Like the small town in which it's set, the story doesn’t stretch too far. There are no vampires or doomsday scenarios, but Panning successfully captures the warmth of family and the sorrow of losing it. Anyone who enjoys fiction would love it, but especially readers who know anything about small towns, Minnesota or the '70s.
April 8, 2013
Things I liked about this book:
1. The way that it flowed made me not want to put it down. I read it in two sittings.
2. The characters were well developed, except for the newly adopted brother, but the lack of development was probably on purpose.
3. It's a coming of age story in a non stable family, different from other coming of age books that I've read.
4. The author showed with detail what it was really like to be that age in the 70s. I felt like she was using examples of my life (combs that stuck out of the back pocket, listening to You Light Up My Life, Shaun Cassidy, the turtlenecks with little pictures on them, the Nike shoes that everyone wanted, eating dreamsicles, and soooo many more).
5. Butter... I wanted to go to the creamery in the story.
Things I didn't like about this book:
1. The ending! The book ended mid story and left so many things hanging.
2. The quick unraveling of the main character's life and how SAD it was.
3. The mom's behavior drove me batty.
1. The way that it flowed made me not want to put it down. I read it in two sittings.
2. The characters were well developed, except for the newly adopted brother, but the lack of development was probably on purpose.
3. It's a coming of age story in a non stable family, different from other coming of age books that I've read.
4. The author showed with detail what it was really like to be that age in the 70s. I felt like she was using examples of my life (combs that stuck out of the back pocket, listening to You Light Up My Life, Shaun Cassidy, the turtlenecks with little pictures on them, the Nike shoes that everyone wanted, eating dreamsicles, and soooo many more).
5. Butter... I wanted to go to the creamery in the story.
Things I didn't like about this book:
1. The ending! The book ended mid story and left so many things hanging.
2. The quick unraveling of the main character's life and how SAD it was.
3. The mom's behavior drove me batty.
June 10, 2013
Anne Panning’s novel is a softer, gentler coming of age story, but it is also well-written and evocative. Set in a small town in Minnesota in the 1970s, the details of Iris’s life remind me of my own tween and teen years because of some of the popular culture references. Fortunately, I didn’t have to deal with the lack of family stability that she encounters. While the book is sad at times, there is a hopefulness that runs through the narrative, and the main character is brighter and stronger than she realizes.
July 6, 2013
A must-read for those growing up in Southern Minnesota in the 70's simply for the spot-on descriptions of small town culture and "fashion". I loved the County Seat reference--I too loved those cranberry cords! You'll love the young protagonist, Iris--well done!
July 19, 2019
Here's another book about difficult mother-daughter relationships -- I'm on a string of three. This one was more palatable (Yes -- "Butter"), partly because it is told entirely from a young girl's point of view. The whole story takes place in about a year's time, when Iris is 11-12 years old. The author has a gift for getting inside a young girl's mind. My only criticism is that I kept feeling that it was taking place in the 1950s or 60s instead of the 70s, although maybe that's because the setting was a very small town, which is outside of my experience. I was also struck by a scene in which Iris is standing on a chair to help her grandmother wipe the dishes. At 11 years old?
May 14, 2014
Critiquing this book forces me to confront one of my most inveterate literary pet peeves -- I can’t accept the whole premise behind any book written in the first person by a child narrator. It’s hard to buy the notion that any significant literary product is the work of such a youthful mind. In the real world, eleven year olds just don’t write books. I know and truly regret that this bias excludes me from fully appreciating a significant body of literature, beginning with The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn and including To Kill a Mockingbird, right up to Catcher in the Rye. In every case, even when the thoughts and feelings of the protagonists seem like legitimate expressions of a young person, I cannot help but feel the contrivance of an adult writing from a juvenile mindset. It may well be one of the greatest novels in the history of American literature, but, seriously, the real Huck Finn was a goober who would not have written the book bearing his name.
Therefore, it was with a guarded sense of willingness that I abandoned myself to the concept that Butter by Anne Panning is indeed the work of a precocious eleven year old, Iris Kauffman. The author succeeds in capturing what I at least think I recall as being a child’s observations and impressions. Like the following:
“We went to the drug store in the mall to pick up her prescriptions, which were given out in tiny white paper bags, stapled at the top. I liked to hold the crunchy little packages, which seemed like they held great secrets inside.”
Or…
“[Adam] had devoured his cereal, but left lots of soggy flakes at the bottom that looked like wet, pulled off scabs.”
Most of all, young Iris’s angst, guilt, confusion, and sense of helplessness over the collapse of her domestic life are honest, heartfelt, and appropriately immature. Every rite of passage looks backward as much as forward, and in Iris’s case, her ambivalence about the future is rooted in the feeling that things were better in the past, and they seem to be trending toward the worse the older she gets. Likewise, Iris’ conflicted sense of self is exacerbated by the onset of unwanted change in her conservative, unprepared, small-town environment. Iris has intense feelings that she does not know how to process. In some ways, though, that serves her, for she is able to hold onto at least a glimmer of hope in her lack of resolution. Perhaps, in the future, she’ll better know what to do…
Everything about this book feels real and sincere, except, alas, the idea that Iris wrote it. That’s the catch with first person child narratives, though. They can’t be told believably, without asking you to suspend your disbelief.
Therefore, it was with a guarded sense of willingness that I abandoned myself to the concept that Butter by Anne Panning is indeed the work of a precocious eleven year old, Iris Kauffman. The author succeeds in capturing what I at least think I recall as being a child’s observations and impressions. Like the following:
“We went to the drug store in the mall to pick up her prescriptions, which were given out in tiny white paper bags, stapled at the top. I liked to hold the crunchy little packages, which seemed like they held great secrets inside.”
Or…
“[Adam] had devoured his cereal, but left lots of soggy flakes at the bottom that looked like wet, pulled off scabs.”
Most of all, young Iris’s angst, guilt, confusion, and sense of helplessness over the collapse of her domestic life are honest, heartfelt, and appropriately immature. Every rite of passage looks backward as much as forward, and in Iris’s case, her ambivalence about the future is rooted in the feeling that things were better in the past, and they seem to be trending toward the worse the older she gets. Likewise, Iris’ conflicted sense of self is exacerbated by the onset of unwanted change in her conservative, unprepared, small-town environment. Iris has intense feelings that she does not know how to process. In some ways, though, that serves her, for she is able to hold onto at least a glimmer of hope in her lack of resolution. Perhaps, in the future, she’ll better know what to do…
Everything about this book feels real and sincere, except, alas, the idea that Iris wrote it. That’s the catch with first person child narratives, though. They can’t be told believably, without asking you to suspend your disbelief.
December 14, 2012
Iris is a happy 11-year old member of a small family, but it's obvious that her small world is in danger of unraveling. She becomes aware of one unsettling fact after another, and then things really begin to fall apart. Her new brother, Adam, clearly brought on board to increase the family's happiness, does anything but. Her mother is deeply unhappy, and her father is struggling to save his beloved creamery business. Iris is struggling herself with the loss of her best friend and trials of being on the social fringe. The bright spots in her life ... her grandmother, cousins and new teacher ... cannot compensate for the increasing turmoil in her life.
This is a good coming-of-age novel. Iris has an authentic voice; there are things she knows and understands and things she does not. The novel is a period piece too, with lots of references to foods and fads of the 70s. Those of a certain age will recognize a lot, but it's not necessary to be that age to love Iris and feel her family's pain.
This is a good coming-of-age novel. Iris has an authentic voice; there are things she knows and understands and things she does not. The novel is a period piece too, with lots of references to foods and fads of the 70s. Those of a certain age will recognize a lot, but it's not necessary to be that age to love Iris and feel her family's pain.
November 4, 2013
Butter by Anne Panning is our November 2013 book club selection. Iris, an 11-year-old girl narrates her life growing up in small-town Minnesota during the 1970's. Iris is adopted by parents who have their own problems. Her dad owns a creamery, but sees the trend towards chain and department stores taking over family-owned businesses. Her mother is in her own world...typing a book? They adopt a boy named Adam after Iris' mother has a second miscarriage. After her parents split up, Iris suffers from neglect. The ending is abrupt and the reader has to decide if Iris survives her sad childhood and becomes a functioning adult.
There are lots of unanswered questions in this book, however, Iris narrates with such poignancy that my heart reached out to her and to all the children who live through split-up home with parents who put their feelings before their children. All the 1970 references brought back lots of memories of growing up in a small town in Minnesota. My mother NEVER used margarine! My dad NEVER drank skim milk!
There are lots of unanswered questions in this book, however, Iris narrates with such poignancy that my heart reached out to her and to all the children who live through split-up home with parents who put their feelings before their children. All the 1970 references brought back lots of memories of growing up in a small town in Minnesota. My mother NEVER used margarine! My dad NEVER drank skim milk!
March 14, 2015
This is a story set in a small town in Minnesota circa 1970s, told in the voice of a pre-teen. Panning does an excellent job of maintaining the voice and knowledge of life for the protagonist’s age level. Though I tired of over-description, the nostalgic walk through the times made for a fun read. The content of the story, however, was not so easy.
At the beginning of the story, eleven-year-old Iris learns she is adopted. Her mother experiences two miscarriages, her parents adopt a troubled twelve-year-old boy and the warm, comfortable home she has known falls apart. Iris becomes stigmatized because of her mother’s unacceptable social behavior and her father’s creamery business dives because of the changing times.
It’s a tough, simply told story, that sometimes read more like YA fiction. There’s an audience for this, but it wasn’t my cup of tea. Quick read of a book I had laying around the house.
At the beginning of the story, eleven-year-old Iris learns she is adopted. Her mother experiences two miscarriages, her parents adopt a troubled twelve-year-old boy and the warm, comfortable home she has known falls apart. Iris becomes stigmatized because of her mother’s unacceptable social behavior and her father’s creamery business dives because of the changing times.
It’s a tough, simply told story, that sometimes read more like YA fiction. There’s an audience for this, but it wasn’t my cup of tea. Quick read of a book I had laying around the house.
September 8, 2013
I picked up this book because I thought it was the one made into a movie with Jennifer Garner...now I'm not so sure.
It's very well written but I kept waiting for something to really happen. Sadly, it left me hanging and...well, wanting something to happen.
It's very well written but I kept waiting for something to really happen. Sadly, it left me hanging and...well, wanting something to happen.
February 28, 2017
I enjoyed this book, but I do agree with one reviewer who said the author wrote half a book. I don't need everything tied up in a neat bow at the end, but almost every conflict was left hanging. I was 14 and living in a very small town in North Dakota in 1977, so I could relate to Iris and her descriptions of life in the fictional town of Wishbone (I notice the author grew up in Arlington, MN, so perhaps she based Wishbone on that town). Some of the slang seemed more early 1980s than late 1970s to me, but hey, maybe Minnesota was ahead of ND. I also enjoyed the references to Mankato, as I live 25 miles from there now and worked there for many years.
Panning nailed the voice of a bright 11-year-old girl, but it sometimes got a little frustrating to not have much insight into the other characters' motivations, especially the mother's. I understand that losing two children to miscarriage probably changed her, but it seemed so drastic from who she was at the beginning. Adopting Adam and then basically abandoning both kids at the end without having much insight into her viewpoint was difficult to understand. I can see where the father felt driven to suicide, but to do it in the home where Iris was sure to find him also seemed very out of character.
When I finished the book, I thought perhaps Panning intends to write a sequel. If she did, I would read it--Iris deserves more of a story.
Panning nailed the voice of a bright 11-year-old girl, but it sometimes got a little frustrating to not have much insight into the other characters' motivations, especially the mother's. I understand that losing two children to miscarriage probably changed her, but it seemed so drastic from who she was at the beginning. Adopting Adam and then basically abandoning both kids at the end without having much insight into her viewpoint was difficult to understand. I can see where the father felt driven to suicide, but to do it in the home where Iris was sure to find him also seemed very out of character.
When I finished the book, I thought perhaps Panning intends to write a sequel. If she did, I would read it--Iris deserves more of a story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 24, 2022
I picked up Butter because it was written by a college professor at my alma mater. She wasn't teaching there when I got my English/Creative Writing degree, but I try to support my local hometown authors. Butter is the coming of age story of Iris, a teenage girl living in a 1970s small town. The story takes place in Minnesota, but it could really have taken place in a lot of small towns in the 70s. Not a lot of action takes place throughout the novel; it's more of a "year in the life of..." story. But the author does an amazing job of character development and making us care about Iris and the situations she goes through and feelings she experiences.
During the novel, Iris' adoptive parents split up soon after they adopt a teenage boy, Adam. Her best friend deserts her for a popular clique in school. Her father's creamery is steadily going downhill, creating financial woes. Finally, her mother moves Iris and Adam out of the house Iris grew up in to move into a small apartment. And then she starts dating other men other than Iris' father. Poor Iris. And then things get worse from there (no spoilers!), but Iris is a strong girl and copes as each disappointment comes along.
While the story may not be everyone's cup of tea because not a lot happens throughout the novel, I loved Panning's writing style. It was easy to read and she had a good balance of descriptive text and dialogue. She captured each character's voice and mannerisms, and gave us a window into the world of this 1970s small town and its inhabitants.
During the novel, Iris' adoptive parents split up soon after they adopt a teenage boy, Adam. Her best friend deserts her for a popular clique in school. Her father's creamery is steadily going downhill, creating financial woes. Finally, her mother moves Iris and Adam out of the house Iris grew up in to move into a small apartment. And then she starts dating other men other than Iris' father. Poor Iris. And then things get worse from there (no spoilers!), but Iris is a strong girl and copes as each disappointment comes along.
While the story may not be everyone's cup of tea because not a lot happens throughout the novel, I loved Panning's writing style. It was easy to read and she had a good balance of descriptive text and dialogue. She captured each character's voice and mannerisms, and gave us a window into the world of this 1970s small town and its inhabitants.
December 18, 2020
This book was written by a school classmate of mine. So much of what I read brought me back to growing up in my home town even though the setting is in the fictional town of Wishbone instead of the real town Arlington. I could relate to much of the story including growing up in a small town where everyone knows your business, the clicky groups of friends in school (I was in the farm girl group) and loving Shaun Cassidy and Debbie Boone and playing cassette tapes of their music.
The actual story twists real life with fiction and I spent much of my time reading and wondering what had truly happened and what had not. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and wish there was a sequel to find out what happened to Iris after her mother ran off.
The actual story twists real life with fiction and I spent much of my time reading and wondering what had truly happened and what had not. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and wish there was a sequel to find out what happened to Iris after her mother ran off.
December 26, 2023
I thoroughly enjoyed this read. Iris is so deeply relatable and likable. I found myself thinking about her between reads, as animatedly as I might about a character from a beloved TV show or movie. This reminded me in many ways of Are You There God? It’s Me, Margaret. Anne captures the preteen angst and emotional complexity so beautifully. There were moments that made my heart ache and moments that made me laugh out loud. A couch that smelled like shrimp?! The whole thing is so alive and so expertly crafted. Highly recommend.
August 2, 2017
Not as cheery as a bright yellow cover may lead you to believe. Hence never judge a book by it. Anyhoo...the writer really draws you in and creats a world that is detailed yet not long windedly so. Im terrible at skipping paragraphs in books that go on and on but that isnt the case with this book. I didnt love the story so much because well its sad. Totally a preference thing. But i enjoyed it none that less.
August 3, 2017
Wasn't at all what I expected from a book with this title. in her acknowledgement the author credits her family with the knowledge she received in the making of butter, creameries, etc. But the book is actually a very sad story of a 12 year old girl living in a dysfunctional family, and has little to do with butter at all. I was looking forward to a delightful read, and was extremely disappointed. Would not recommend.
July 16, 2019
A coming of age book about a young adopted girl who lives in Minnesota. She has a dysfunctional mother, a father lost in abandonment and depression, and an adopted brother who is clearly off the tracks. Anne Panning treats this "mess" with compassion and love. I don't get to read enough coming of age stories about young women. I really liked it.
March 10, 2021
I wanted to read this book because of the setting in small town Minnesota. While the author certainly captured the essence of both the time and place, the book was just so sad. I found myself feeling depressed during much of the book. And just when you think it couldn't get any sadder... it does! While I still found the book worth a read, it's definitely not one you want to read for a pick-me-up.
September 5, 2018
I liked but didn’t love the book, mostly because I didn’t know what any character really wanted, beyond “to belong,” or “to heal.” Books with stakes that are non-specific tend to leave me a little cold. But the Minnesota-in-the-70s was a fun peek into my wife’s world.
February 26, 2019
Boring.
Read
November 17, 2020Marie’s pick
January 8, 2025
I read this entire book in one sitting. Beautifully written, captivating and filled with all the little details that add up to a wonderfully expressed story.
July 3, 2014
I have the disappointing tendency to lose momentum with a book--maybe the kids are really busy for a week, or our social calendar is full, or I'm working a lot--and then I have trouble picking it back up. Even books that I genuinely feel interested in. I refused to do that with this book. I didn't want to fill its reading time with other things, only to add it to my growing "abandoned" list.
So that, I suppose, is a plus for the book, but I have to admit that it is a very slow story. It's captivating in a slice-of-life way; I grew up in the 70s/80s and so much of the story and setting are familiar and nostalgic to me. And Panning is good with words, it's a pleasure to read her nicely crafted sentences. But the story needs more developments. It feels one-dimensional, a bit flat. And the characters are quietly built in a gray area of reader sympathy; I had trouble deciding if I felt an affinity for any of them, because I found it hard to figure out their motivation and intention.
It's an emotive novel, but most of the time I couldn't link the emotions it evoked to events or characters; it felt like story development, character development, setting, and language craft were all disparate elements, and the story never really came together for me.
So that, I suppose, is a plus for the book, but I have to admit that it is a very slow story. It's captivating in a slice-of-life way; I grew up in the 70s/80s and so much of the story and setting are familiar and nostalgic to me. And Panning is good with words, it's a pleasure to read her nicely crafted sentences. But the story needs more developments. It feels one-dimensional, a bit flat. And the characters are quietly built in a gray area of reader sympathy; I had trouble deciding if I felt an affinity for any of them, because I found it hard to figure out their motivation and intention.
It's an emotive novel, but most of the time I couldn't link the emotions it evoked to events or characters; it felt like story development, character development, setting, and language craft were all disparate elements, and the story never really came together for me.
March 21, 2016
"It's small-town Minnesota in the 1970s, and 11-year-old Iris' family is collapsing. At first, life is stable: her father runs the town creamery, her mother works from home, and she has all the trappings befitting a relatively privileged child of the decade, including her very own Barbie Beauty Shop. But when her parents tell her she's adopted, and then adopt a troubled older boy (following two miscarriages), her idyllic world cracks apart. Before long, Iris is shuffled between her separated parents and is forced to endure embarrassing gossip about her mother's new boyfriends."
I personally would have liked to read more about this family's complex dynamics and less about shrinky-dinks and Debby Boone, but very entertaining, especially for this small-town Midwestern girl.
I personally would have liked to read more about this family's complex dynamics and less about shrinky-dinks and Debby Boone, but very entertaining, especially for this small-town Midwestern girl.
October 17, 2015
I loved this coming of age story told in first person from the vantage point of 11/12-year-old Iris. It's set in the early 1970's in Wishbone, Minnesota, a fictional town near Mankato. Panning perfectly nails the preteen perspective, the shifting landscape of the 1970's and small-town Midwest America. Excellent writing! Many reviews have complained about the ending. I couldn't decide whether it was brilliant or if Panning didn't know quite how to end the story. I've concluded it was brilliant because it allows the reader to continue Iris's story in the imagination.
I've just ordered one of Panning's short story collections from the library.
I've just ordered one of Panning's short story collections from the library.
April 25, 2013
I enjoyed reading this book very much. And I have to say the cover is stunning.
The writing is beautiful and the main character drawn in loving detail. The author was perfectly inside the head of her preteen protagonist, as she struggles to come of age in a difficult, complicated family. Be forewarned: Parts of it are sad and wrenching though, not an easy read. Panning leaves us with bothersome questions about how anyone manages to grow up whole, but we root for this girl all the way through and for the adults in her life who offer her hope and comfort.
The writing is beautiful and the main character drawn in loving detail. The author was perfectly inside the head of her preteen protagonist, as she struggles to come of age in a difficult, complicated family. Be forewarned: Parts of it are sad and wrenching though, not an easy read. Panning leaves us with bothersome questions about how anyone manages to grow up whole, but we root for this girl all the way through and for the adults in her life who offer her hope and comfort.
May 26, 2013
I was captivated by this story told by a young girl as she struggles through early adolescence in a small town during the 1970s, dealing with her parents' separation, her father's loss of his business, as well as the usual difficulties with friends, siblings, and school. I couldn't help but care deeply for Iris, the narrator, as she goes through some very painful experiences, as well as a few (too few) happy ones. And I cried at the end, something I haven't done while reading a book for a long time.
March 31, 2013
This starts out light and airy. A young girl growing up in a small town in the 70s. The author has captured the era perfectly, down to the goody comb in every girl's back pocket. It gets darker and darker with each chapter, until its tragic, but seemingly unavoidable ending in which her parents separate, her adopted brother molests her cousin, her father kills himself, and her mother leaves her to live with her grandmother. A quick, but depressing read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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