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NOT NOTHING — Review

rosihollinbeck

Thought for the Day:

“I shall live badly if I do not write, and I shall write badly if I do not live.”
~ Francoise Sagan ~

Gifts for My Writer Friends:

Backstory is something we all need to deal with, but how? Too much and we bury our story in it. Too little and we leave our readers stymied. HERE is a great post from Barbara Linn Probst writing for Writer Unboxed with a Tough-Love Approach to Backstory.

Editing tips are always welcome. HERE Nathan Bransford has a post entitled Find and Delete These Phrases from Your Novel.

Sometimes a little warning is a good thing. HERE Tim Weed writing for Writer’s Digest tells us What Is Dramatic Irony: And How to Use It to Create Page-Turning Fiction. Great examples.

The fires in southern California are so frightening. I heard today the areas burned are roughly twice the size of Manhattan. I can hardly imagine that. The photos of the devastation are horrendous, and the speed of the fires’ growth is astonishing. I recently heard from an old friend who used to live in Hollywood, and she mentioned she had moved into her mother’s home after her mother had passed. I don’t know exactly where that house is, but I know it is in the LA area. I have messaged her, but I haven’t heard back yet. I am very anxious. My other friends and family in the area have checked in as okay, and that is a relief, but I sure hope I hear from my friend soon.

I don’t often talk about adult fiction here, but I just read something so good, that I have to pass along the information. When I attended my high school reunion last year, I reconnected with the valedictorian of our class, Christina Baldwin, who has made her living writing non-fiction and training writers in the art of creative non-fiction and memoir writing. But she made the move to fiction recently and wrote a historical novel based on her family. It is The Beekeeper’s Question: Love and Honey, War and Reckoning: A Novel of WWII. If you are a fan of historical fiction, I promise you will love this book. The writing is simply gorgeous and her research shines through on every page. And isn’t that a beautiful cover?

Last week I promised a gently-read ARC of ONE BIG OPEN SKY by Lesa Cline-Ransome to one of you. This week’s winner is Natalie Aguirre. Congratulations, Natalie! I will get your book out to you soon. If you don’t know Natalie, you really should. She has an extraordinary blog with lots of great agent interviews, author interviews, giveaways, and other great content. You can check it out HERE. If you are a writer, you really need to subscribe to Natalie’s blog.

I had seen a review somewhere of NOT NOTHING by Gayle Forman, and it sounded intriguing. When I saw it pop up on the review list, I requested it right away. I hadn’t read any other books by Forman, but I will be trying to add some to my reading time after reading this one. It’s such an extraordinary book. Here is my review.

Alex, 12, is having a rough time. His dad is not around, his mother has serious mental health issues, and Alex, who did something very bad, has been sent to live with an aunt and uncle who clearly don’t want him. To top it off, his social worker assigns Alex to “volunteer” at a senior living center, and he has to take orders from Maya-Jade, a bossy girl his age. A stomach bug puts the center into lockdown, and Alex delivers meals to seniors in their rooms. 107-year-old Josey, a holocaust survivor, who hasn’t spoken in years, speaks to Alex. Thus begins an odd but life-changing friendship. Alex finds working with the seniors and with Maya-Jade is something he likes, but then his bad act comes knocking on his door.

Gayle Forman
Photo credit Laina Caravani

Author Gayle Forman has written a real page-turner of a novel with a bit of history, mystery, and a lot of heart. The point of view is a little confusing at first, but that’s part of the mystery. The story belongs to two characters, and that’s unusual, but Forman weaves their stories tightly together into a marvelous tapestry. This deserves readership far beyond the targeted middle-grade readers. Don’t miss it.

Please don’t forget to check for other Marvelous Middle-Grade Monday posts at Greg Pattridge’s blog HERE.

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Published by rosihollinbeck

28 thoughts on “NOT NOTHING — Review”

  1. Pingback: Marvelous Middle Grade Monday for 1/13/25 | Always in the Middle…

  4. I enjoy this type of inter-generational story. The characters sound like they are ones you won’t forget. Thanks also for the links. I enjoyed them all and always learn something new. Happy MMGM!

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  5. I haven’t read this one yet, but it does sound interesting, will need to check and see if it is at the library. Thanks for sharing. Happy MMGM

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  6. This book looks so good I just picked it up. Stangely, it won’t come until sometime in February. If it is as good as it sounds, I may read it to my group at assisted living.

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      1. Good to know. By the way, I just finished reading Wild Wave, the book I won in one of your drawings by Rodman Philbrick. Pretty good story. I gave it 4 out of 5 stars. We had a tsunami warning a little over a month ago, following a 7.0 earthquake in our area. The warning system did not work, but the word got out on social media.

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  10. These both sound like wonderful books. As usual, thanks for the writing tips. I’m a Nathan Bransford fan, and I loved Tim Weed’s example of dramatic irony.

    I hope your friend is safe. I have relatives in Southern LA, but they are in San Diego, and so far out of the horrendous fire path.

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  13. Not Nothing sounds really good, and it sounds like it is very cleverly written, I must watch out for it. Thanks so much for the links and both book recommendations! I hope your friend is okay and fingers crossed you will hear from her soon!

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