Amanda, Liz, Dan, and Diana Welch never did lead an ordinary life. Their mother, Ann Williams, was an actress who appeared on several soap operas. Their father, Bob, was a successful businessman who was able to finance a comfortable life for the family. Then every started to fall apart. Their father was killed in an automobile accident; subsequent investigations revealed that his company was in rough financial shape and there were many, many creditors. There was even a rumor that he had been assassinated. That same year, their mom was diagnosed with cancer; she died shortly after. Amanda, the oldest, was only 19 at the time. Now orphans, the children scattered: Amanda to college, Liz to Europe, Dan to boarding school, and Diana to a new family (who tried to erase all connections to her 'previous' family). It would be several years before they all came together again.
Told in alternating and sometimes conflicting voices, the kids are all right. This is their individual story but it's also a story of a family at a point in their lives where they're not sure how to be a family anymore. Some points are happy, some are very sad, some are infuriating, some are funny. This is a book that could have a lot of crossover appeal between teen and adult audiences.
Find it at IndieBound.
Read it with:
If the Witness Lied by Caroline B. Cooney
A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
No comments:
Post a Comment