This Side of Salvation - Jeri Smith-Ready

I think it's pretty obvious that this book has serious religious undertones going on, but that's not to say it's a book only for religious individuals. The larger themes of a family in turmoil, and of those who prey on the fragility of others, as well as the determination of a young man to keep his family and his life together, transcend the Christian underpinnings. 

 This Side of Salvation is not trying to convert, nor is it attempting to demonize religion, but rather religion is used as a catalyst to explore greater themes of faith, family, and a belief in something beyond this world. I actually love Smith-Ready's own words in her author's note:
The beliefs or lack thereof portrayed in this book belong to the characters, not the author. Those who comb these pages for a religious or anti-religious agenda will be left scratching their heads. It's just about this boy, y'know?
David's story begins with him arriving home, late at night, with his sister, only to discover his parents are missing, their clothes laid out on their bed, empty, as if they were raptured. Flashback to years earlier, when David's family is struck by the tragedy of his older brother's death. As his parents become more and more involved in various religious groups in an attempt to find meaning in their son's demise, David finds himself becoming very uncomfortable and worried about his father's mental state. 

 One day, in an attempt to keep his parents from bringing up his friend's sexual orientation over dinner, David brings up a new religious movement he came across online. His parents unexpectedly begin to subscribe to this new belief system, and begin to dismantle David's life, asking him to give up his friends, his school, baseball, his girlfriend... basically his entire future. As you might expect, this doesn't go over so well for David, but he's not ready to desert his religious beliefs entirely either.

 This is an intriguing novel, covering a lot of ground with a convincing narrative structure and voice. I did find the father's use of scripture to be a bit excessive at times, and this may be a deterrent for some non-religious readers. But within the overall structure, I think the scripture and religious content work well and drive the characters and conflicts throughout.

 Recommended

 (Note: This review is from an Advanced Reading Copy - Out April 1, 2014)

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Living - Matt De La Peña

Image
The Living  recently received an Honor from the Pura Belpré committee. The award recognizes of a work which best portrays the Latino cultural experience in a work of literature for children or youth. As I was at the awards announcements, and having known people who served on the committee in the past, I was intrigued. I had read the winning title and the other honor titles, and was impressed with the choices. So here's my review of The Living : The novel begins with Shy, a young guy working for a snazzy cruise line, offering water to people on the Lido Deck of the ship to combat the heat. Everything is going pretty well until an older gentleman comes out and starts spouting of weird, disconcerting phrases: "You have seen the face of evil."Shy doesn't quite know what to think, so he moves on to a couple of ladies on the other side of the deck. Just as he's handing them their water bottles, he sees movement out of the corner of his eye and realizes the old guy h...
Read more

The Music of What Happens - Bill Konigsberg

Image
Max: Chill. Sports. Video games. Gay and not a big deal, not to him, not to his mom, not to his buddies. And a secret: An encounter with an older kid that makes it hard to breathe, one that he doesn't want to think about, ever. Jordan: The opposite of chill. Poetry. His "wives" and the Chandler Mall. Never been kissed and searching for Mr. Right, who probably won't like him anyway. And a secret: A spiraling out of control mother, and the knowledge that he's the only one who can keep the family from falling apart. Over the course of one summer, two boys will have to face their biggest fears and decide what they're willing to risk -- to get the thing they want the most. This is a phenomenal book, in my humble opinion. There aren't too many books dealing with male sexual abuse, particularly in YA. Sex and sexuality are messy parts of young adulthood, but what this book does really well is discuss consent and the ways in which physical cues can be misinte...
Read more

Girls Like Us - Gail Giles

Image
I have now gone out and made sure that I have all of the books longlisted for the National Book Award. I read and reviewed a number of these previously, so now I have five left to read and review. This is one of those five (but would I expect anything less from the fabulous team at Candlewick?) Girls Like Us  is a unique novel in a number of respects, most notably in the fact that both protagonists are identified (and self-identified) as mentally disabled in some way. Biddy has a learning disability that she was born with, while Quincy is a young girl who is disabled due to the fact that her mother's boyfriend hit her in the head with a brick, disfiguring her and damaging her brain. Once the two girls graduate from school, they move into a house together, becoming caregivers for both each other and an older woman, Elizabeth. The two must rely on each other for comfort, knowledge, and emotional strength, and Elizabeth manages to help them along the way. While I had moments of wo...
Read more