Making a Story your Own

It's really funny, because I don't read romances very often, but because of a strange set of circumstances, I ended up reading two concurrently.  I just finished, and was amazed at some of the similar details.

In one book, a woman moves from a big city to a small town.  She's accompanied by her mother figure (a grandmother who pretty much raised her) and the nieces and nephews she's just adopted after her sister died.  She's very good at her job and ends up helping save the police force through elaborate outreach and community participation.  The house needs repairs, which the love interest is happy to do.  The love interest is also very good with the newly adopted children.  He happens to be the police chief.  

In the other, a woman moves from the big city to a small town.  She's accompanied by her mother figure (the foster mother who pretty much raised her) and the niece she has just adopted after her sister died.  She's very good at her job and ends up helping save the town through elaborate outreach and community participation.  The house needs repairs, which the love interest is happy to do.  The love interest is also very good with the newly adopted child.  The other main character's love interests happens to be the sheriff.   

And… in the first book, the main character is Daisy and one of her adopted daughters is Grace.  In the second book, the main character is Grace and her adopted daughter is Daisy.

Crazy!  

They were published close enough together that I don't see how this could be anything but total coincidence.  

But despite the similarities, these were very different books, so it just goes to show that you can make a premise (or even an entire story) your own. 

With the Fire on High, by Elizabeth Acevedo

 I enjoyed this a lot.

Most of the parts about race, identity, prejudice, etc. were eloquent and thought-provoking, especially when it came to Emoni's Puerto Rican background.

There wasn't a whole lot of plot conflict, and the solutions came a bit too easily, but that didn't bother me much because I was enjoying the good writing and the slice-of-life feel of the story.

Speaking of the writing itself, there were some very poetic and insightful lines here. I loved the Spanish and the words like "jawn," all woven in so well.  It was smooth, engaging writing that carried me happily along through the whole book.

I wish we'd seen more interaction with Emma, but I loved the interaction with 'Buela.  Malachi and Angelica seemed a bit too perfect, but sometimes I enjoy that.  Though Emoni could be judgy (did she ALWAYS have to call Leslie "pretty Leslie?"), I liked her, and enjoyed being in her head, hearing the way she thought about the world around her and her own self.  I also liked that she learned and grew. 

And I loved the cooking parts. 

Overall a nice, positive, multicultural YA book.

The Girl with the Louding Voice by Abi Daré

This book was really good—though quite dark.

Our main character, Adunni, speaks English only as a second language, and the book is written in her flawed—but beautiful—English.  As I was reading the first few pages, I thought, "This is going to be annoying if the whole book's like this."  But it wasn't annoying.  In fact, I grew to like it more and more.  It shows her lack of English and formal education while letting her intelligence and creativity shine through.  That takes some serious skill.    

The characters were interesting, a few quite complex.

The story was often heartbreaking but laced with bits of joy and hope. 

I'm interested to see what else Abi Daré writes.

Stars:  4.5