Author Nina LaCour has published her latest novel, Watch Over Me, to follow in the trail of the Printz Award-winning We Are Okay. My love of LaCour's work actually began with 2012's The Disenchantments, and ever since then I have come to count on her insight, vivid settings, and emotional plot lines for a story that will take the reader on a journey, as well as entertain.
The Situation: Now that she is 18 years-old, Mila has aged out of the foster care system. But it is okay, as she has accepted an internship teaching children at a remote farm. Mila is used to being alone, and she is looking forward for a chance to start over, maybe even find that sense of "home" that has eluded her for the past few years. When she arrives, she is greeted with nothing but warm and welcoming faces. The other two interns, Liz and Billy, already have an easy relationship that makes Mila slightly envious, though she never quite feels unwelcome. It is when she meets her one student, nine year-old Lee, that Mila starts to feel a connection to someone, someone that makes her feel needed. As she embraces her role as Lee's teacher, and gets to know the inner workings of the farm, Mila begins to think that maybe this can be the home she has been looking for.
The Problem: Mila's new home is wonderful, but the ghosts that play out in the field at night are unsettling. She really wishes they had told her the place was haunted before she accepted the job, but ultimately, the ghosts are not harmful or mean...though one makes mean faces at Lee, and another one, the dancing girl, hurts Mila's eyes to look at. The other's know about the ghosts, some even play with them, but what they do not know is Mila's own haunting past. The stories she had hoped to put behind her are now creeping up again. She does not like talking about the fire that caused her mother to disappear, or the man that forced them to live in a house with no roof. But the memories are there, as are the dreams, and the ghosts are not helping. If Mila does not figure out how to handle her own past trauma, the memories of what she is trying to put behind her may ruin the new life she is attempting to build.
Genre, Themes, History: This is a young adult novel set in a remote location on the Northern California coast. The farm that Mila now lives is run by Terry and Julia, a couple that adopts foster children and hires young adults to help teach and take care of them, while also working the farm. Each child, as well as the interns, has their own traumatic story behind who they are and how they ended up with Terry and Julia. While some have been able to move past what they have been through, others are still haunted, much like how some are somewhat disturbed by the ghosts while others are not. The story explores the effects of trauma, what it means to truly survive, and what it means to choose to be a family, as opposed to simply sticking with the people you are born with. And while the ghosts are very much a part of the story, they are not the whole story.
My Verdict: I think what I love most about LaCour's writing are the settings, with the subtle and careful exploration of emotions coming in at a close second. With this book, the setting of the remote farm does not make a whole lot of sense, at least not to me, and yet it still took a firm place in my imagination and remained unmoved. It is isolated, somewhat on a cliff with waves crashing below, abundant with flowers, and often encased with fog. Then there are the characters that live on it, of which there are many...so many that it would be easy to lose track, but LaCour makes each one stand out, even the ones with which Mila does not have a lot of interaction. And then there are the ghosts. Ghost stories are tricky, but LaCour gives them enough of a presence to set them firmly in place, while not letting them be the whole story. The book is more about survival and finding a place than it is about being haunted. And LaCour handles it all with her usual delicate grace.
Favorite Moment: When it becomes clear that Lee is warming up to Mila as his new teacher.
Favorite Character: Terry and Julia are both warm, loving, trustworthy, and generous people.
Favorite Quote: "There was no going back. Never again would I sit next to Grammy at the piano, positioning my fingers as she had. Grandpa would never again turn up the volume. Never ask me to dance. All of that was over. This is what I had now."
Recommended Reading: LaCour's The Disenchantments remains my favorite of all of her books.
No comments:
Post a Comment