School story with a twist, with fun but flawed characters.
Plot
Twelve year old Bess learns to thrive again after a sledding accident takes her sight. She makes new friends at the Perkins School for the Blind and deals with old friends’ reactions in between narrating her diary to her identical twin during the Great Depression.
Morality
On the plus side, loyalty to friends and family is upheld. Bess's family do their best by her. Bess goes out of her way to help a girl from school, nursing her and convincing her family to take her in when she is sick.
On the down side, students regularly bend and break the school's rules, grudges are held, and girls steal personal belongings from and speak of doing harm to a particularly disliked teacher. Theft of school money also occurs, but is not condoned.
Spiritual Content
Bess’s family regularly attends church. There is mandatory chapel at school. The services are more scheduled events and opportunities to see others socially than they are anything with a long-term impact on characters’ lives, and their content is not explored.
Violence
Bess remembers and dreams about the accident central to her story. A girl tells a morbid story about old burial practices. A student jokes about killing a strict teacher. Another student said he “blew out his eyes playing with firecrackers.” On a couple of occasions, students hurt themselves running into things. The Brennan family worries about a celebrity’s kidnapped child of whom they hear in the news. A school play is set during wartime.
Drug and Alcohol Content
None that I found.
Sexual Content
One of Bess’s classmates says that the school administration doesn’t like the boys and girls interacting because they are worried blind students will marry and have blind kids. Bess talks of wanting to be married and have a family one day, although she thinks that in general boys are “problematic.”
Crude or Profane Language or Content
Bess’s uncle says “something about rotting in hell” to the boy responsible for her accident.
Conclusion
This was a fairly interesting read. It has a main character who seemed well-rounded and who generally tries to do the right thing, and who has to deal with circumstances which I would never personally wish to face. It made me think about what it might be like not to be able to see — to lose something I take for granted, and also to rely more closely on sound and touch for my daily interactions. In spite of the catalyst of the story being tragic, and in spite of being set during a time when money and jobs were very scarce, this is not a depressing story. It’s a slice of life from someone who is not exactly like me, but who is like anyone I could meet in my own time, talking to me as if I was there to listen. If you are looking for a moderately thoughtful, realistic fiction, you might enjoy this book.
This review is brought to you by Lily A..
