Spring 2019, Wild Readers 5 discussion

I was really impressed with this book. The writing was very good and it was so sad in many ways--I think the book is largely about how the title is NOT a philosophy of living or way to hold relationships that can work.

Magdalie survives the earthquake of Haiti. And I learned about the earthquake in the news, like many of us probably did, but the magnitude of the disaster wasn't very tangible to me until I read this book--can you imagine what would happen here, in California or the Pacific Northwest, if such a huge earthquake hit? The extent of the loss? Well, I could, after reading this book.

I think what really got me more than any other element was the way Magdalie knew herself so well and respected herself. Instead of falling right into a relationship, she thinks of what she's been through and reflects on her own fragility and her own feelings--because they matter. She protects herself. I liked this a lot--I thought she was a great role model for teenagers.

And this book is definitely for middle schoolers and up--not elementary students. (Right? Anyone who's read it feel free to weigh in.) Not because of the losses--children have to deal with and be resilient to loss and violence every day--but because of some of the mature themes and sexual content.

I was also really struck by Magdalie's ending--Wagner had Magdalie write her own. This was tragic and beautiful and for me illustrated the futility of the meaning of the title--in a way that captured the elusive and temporary nature of... well, just about everything.

I'm also seeing a plot move in a lot of YA novels about nonwhite characters--a journey to their culture of origin. In Becoming Naomi Leon, it was a journey to Oaxaca; in this novel, it was a journey from the urban center of Port-au-Prince to a tiny village in the mountains. I love this way that writers use setting to mean so much. Great read.