I’ve had to put Larklight aside in favor of the teen book club book, Sand Dollar Summer by Kimberly K. Jones.  There are two sessions of the teen book group that will be meeting simultaneously on Tuesday, one for ninth through twelth graders (facilitated by Lisa), and the other for sixth through eighth graders (facilitated by me).  I chose this book, a bit quickly, and based mostly on its cover, which is really cute.  After this meeting, the group will be choosing their own books (with guidance, of course, so that all books chosen are age-appropriate), which is the way it should be.

So what about Sand Dollar Summer?  Initially, it didn’t impress me.  Rather self-consciously written at the start, with the twelve-year-old protagonist frequently commenting on how she hates when adults do _________ (fill in the blank, she uses that phrase a lot, too much).  But it gets better, and by the half-way point the book has grown on me.  The voice of Lise, the protagonist, grows more authentic as the plot progresses, and her mother is beautifully flawed, as many mothers are.  Suffering, introspective, yet loving, Lise’s mom experiences a life-changing automobile accident that is, in turn, changing Lise’s life and outlook on life.

Had I read this book as a middle school student, I would have loved it.  Especially if I had read this summery, ocean-based tale in the middle of winter: Jones’s descriptions of sand ingrained in your hair and sand crunching in your toothpaste are vivid and evocative.  Hopefully the girls in the book group will also like this book…I’ll post an update on their reactions to the book later in the week.