Search - Child of My Heart

This is a very sweet and well written book. The main character,15 year old, Theresa, seems to have the deep wisdom of an old soul. Her uncanny ability to relate to children and animals enables her to draw her shy, fragile cousin, Daisy to emerge from her shell and enjoy the most special summer of her life.

***SPOILER*** I wanted to finish the book because I wanted to see the ending but I did not like it at all. If you are an animal lover, you will need to skip over the detailed 3 or 4 pages about a cat getting hit by a car and in detail every article of clothing its blood was on. Also, The 15 year old was constantly groped by grown men who she was a babysitter for and this continued the entire book. She did not tell her father or hull off and slap him. The girls' days were very repetitive. Quick book to read

Wonderous. A gorgeous novel about a young woman coming of age on Long Island.

This book was recommended to me via FABIL, and it was a dud. I think it must have been recommended b/c I like ann patchett's writing. Alice McDermott is an Ann Patchett wannabe. The story was distractingly unrealistic, full of awkward metaphors and odd descriptions. I gave it 1.5 stars because it has a racy subplot that involves the unrealistically sweet and capable 15 year old protagonist seducing an elderly, world famous painter (with rotting teeth). When near-miss statuatory rape is the highlight of a book, you know it's time to move on.
The senseless, gruesome deaths of numerous scruffy little animals provide a not particularly subtle foil to the main plot line.