Review: That Birds Would Sing by Joanna Franklin Bell

Summary:

Things are not always what they seem… and for April Jones, reflecting on her adolescence, deception and truth can feel horribly the same.

When an unexpected obituary in her home town newspaper brings on a flood of memories, April recalls the freshman year that changed her forever, describing the beginning of high school as "a trip across an ocean that would take four years to cross, where there was no option to turn around. If you wanted out, you had to drown."

There was Jasmine, the unknown beauty with the terrible secret, and Alec, a dangerously fearless boy tangled in forbidden knowledge. There was a special student, wounded and naïve, whose scattershot development had outpaced her intellect, and a complicated, brilliant teacher with a fateful Achilles heel. April battles herself to make sense of their journeys and her own, remembering the world that once fell apart around them all as they struggled to grow up. She distills her memories into the very elements that make her heartbreaking recollections so turbulent and their brutal impressions so lasting.

April's dissection of her coming-of-age journey is a laid-bare tableau of society's rigid expectations that are increasingly at odds with the spectrum of ways adolescents change, grow, fall, fail and triumph… and the secrets with potential to destroy those lives in an instant.

Publication Date: April 22, 2015

That Birds Would Sing was an unexpected gem of a book! This is probably one of the best coming of age novels I’ve read in a long time. Bell is a talented writer and there were so many quotes that I loved while reading that I had a hard time narrowing down my favorites.

April was a good choice as a narrator. She’s the “mousey” girl who is always on the outskirts in her school. She’s a watcher and has the ability to zero in on her classmates’ flaws as well as their hidden gifts. The characters circling April were all developed well and I found myself drawn into the small and big dramas of high school.

Bell covers a lot of heavy topics over the course of her novel. Her writing is very raw and I’ll be honest some of the stuff was very difficult to read about. I had to almost take a mental breather and remind myself that these were fictional characters in order to keep my heart from breaking. She touches on topics like bullying, special education, sex roles, teen drug and alcohol use, and violence against women. One particular quote that touched me was “a few girls whispered rape, but didn’t shout it.” The book was filled with poignant insights and a lot of the quotes I couldn’t get out of my head.

This book will appeal most to reads of literary fiction and coming of age stories. Bell is a talented and perceptive author and I can’t wait to read more of her works.

Rating: 5/5 Stars

Review: Take a Load Off, Mona Jamborski by Joanna Franklin Bell

Summary:

From an award-winning author comes a novel about a 528-pound recluse. Meet Mona Jamborski, who hasn’t left her home in years and is slowly eating herself to death, with one foot in her past memories and another foot in her grave. Mona sees no future for herself until one day, someone knocks on her door and unwittingly leads her into a life-changing decision. Take a Load Off, Mona Jamborski is a book filled with the wonders and heartbreaks of human relationships.

Publication Date: August 26, 2014

When I read the blurb for Take a Load Off, Mona Jamborski, I was leery. I read mostly romance novels and when I step out of my comfort zone, I tend to be let down. Luckily, that wasn’t the case here. The novel was beautifully written and thought provoking!

On the outside, Mona doesn’t sound like a character I would have much in common with. She’s trapped not only inside of her own head, but inside her apartment as well. Her scale has toppled over the 500-pound mark and her shame about her weight has led her to avoid interacting with people.

The author did a superb job on Mona’s characterization. Mona is complex and her overeating has nothing to do with food. She is emotionally damaged and doesn’t know how to move past her own fears. The author draws on Mona’s past and present experiences to draw a complete picture of how Mona came to this turning point in her life.

Although there is a lot of emotional depth to the story, I found a lot of humor as well. Between getting choked up over Mona’s solitary confinement, I also found myself laughing at her observations of human behavior.

The book is short, but I felt the length was perfect for Mona’s story. A fabulous must read!

Rating: 5/5 Stars