First Chapter: Cygnet by Season Butler

 

 First Chapter/First paragraph/Tuesday Intros is hosted by Yvonne@ Socrates Book Reviews. Post the first paragraph (or 2) of a book you are reading or plan to read soon.

Cygnet

Cygnet by Season Butler, June 25, 2018, Harper

A 17-year-old young woman comes of age in a community of the elderly, rejecting the promise of youth, on an isolated island off New Hampshire

First paragraph:

I open my eyes to the churning of the waves outside. It doesn't rest, so I don't sleep well either. I really should be used to it by now. At least it's sunny. I try to use the thought to power my move out of bed and into my clothes and off to Mrs. Tyburn's house for work. To be honest, I preferred it last week when it rained every day. Rain in big wet slaps, the kind of rain you only get on islands, out to sea. On dark mornings there's a reason why it's hard to get up, an actual weight in the air to to fight, something real to run from, to hide your face from.... 

 Would you read on?

Bells for Eli by Susan Beckham Zurenda

Bells for Eli

by Susan Beckham Zurenda

March 2, 2020

Bells for Eli is a Coming of Age story.

Bells for Eli is a lyrical exploration of the relationship between cousins drawn together through tragedy. First cousins Ellison Winfield and Adeline Green are meant to grow up happily and innocently across the street from one another amid the supposed wholesome values of small-town Green Branch, South Carolina, in the 1960s and 70s.  

But Eli's tragic accident changes the trajectory of their lives and of those connected to them. Shunned and even tortured by his peers for his disfigurement and frailty, Eli struggles for acceptance in childhood as Delia passionately defends him...  

(Two) young people to unite to guard each other in a world where love, hope, and connectedness ultimately triumph. (publisher)

Memes: Mailbox Monday and  The Sunday Post 

Sunday Salon: Inside Out and Back Again, a verse novel by Thanhha Lai

A novel in verse, Inside Out and Back Again, a coming-of-age debut work by Thanhha Lai is available as an ebook, paperback, or hardcover, and was published 2011 by HarperCollins. 

Book description: Inside Out and Back Again is a New York Times bestseller, a Newbery Honor Book, and a winner of the National Book Award! Inspired by the author's childhood experience of fleeing Vietnam after the Fall of Saigon and immigrating to Alabama, this coming-of-age debut novel told in verse has been celebrated for its touching child's-eye view of family and immigration.

My comments: I followed this young girl's impressions of her home in Vietnam before having to flee with her family when the North invaded the South at the end of the war. She loved papaya and planted her own tree, watching the formation and growth of the tiny papaya fruits that she eventually had to leave behind. 

We follow her on the boat heading for Thailand, her family's rescue, her relocation to and settlement in Alabama with the help of the local people, and finally her school days enduring bullying and teasing, and her rescue and protection by her older brothers from the mean kids. 

There is humor and pathos in the account, and the voice of a young girl comes through clear and strong in this relatively short and easy to read novel in verse.

I can see why it has won awards. It's for those who read poetry and even for those who do not.  

My rating: 5
Source: ebook bought for my Kindle

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The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon: My Current Read

A book I have admired online and on other bloggers' pages is now on my desk, and is my current read. I really enjoy books about youngsters trying to solve mysteries involving the adults around them and observing and commenting on everyone around them.

The Trouble with Goats and Sheep by Joanna Cannon, published July 12, 2016 by Scribner.
England, 1976. Part coming-of-age story, part mystery, The Trouble with Goats and Sheep is a quirky and charming debut about a community in need of absolution and two girls learning what it means to belong. (publisher)

About the author: Joanna Cannon graduated from Leicester Medical School and worked as a hospital doctor, before specialising in psychiatry. She lives in the Peak District with her family and her dog. The Trouble With Goats and Sheep is her first novel.

I am thoroughly loving the novel. The two young protagonists, Gracie and Tillie, are not as precocious as Flavia de Luce, another young fictional sleuth, being much more realistic but equally enjoyable characters.