Monday, April 5, 2010

Freshly-Brewed Monday Book Recommendation !


Love, Aubrey by Suzanne LaFleur





I just have to warn you from the get-go, this book is sad. Sad, sad, sad. But I beg you, give it a chance. The writing is so beautiful, Aubrey's voice is so sweet and ultimately, it is a book of hope, resiliency and triumph.




Amazon has a good summary that doesn't give anything important away so I'll start with that: Something terrible has happened. 11 yr old Aubrey is on her own. She's determined to hide away, and take care of herself because facing the the truth is too much to bear. But will the love of her Grandma and the letters she writes to her family help Aubrey to see that even though she has lost everything not all is lost?

Suzanne LaFleur writes about loss and grief brilliantly. I was reduced to tears more than a few times and I'm not sappy like that. The shattered innocence of Aubrey really takes your breath away and even though its so sad (I mentioned that right?), it feels so authentic you want to keep reading to see how this precious little girl fares. I've heard a few people say this book is more of a YA, I really don't get that at all. Aubrey is 11 and LaFleur has written her perfectly there. There are no issues or storylines that would take this into a YA subject matter, it all feels very middle grade to me. I think because it is, let's all say it together now, sad- some people may think it is more suited to an older audience. I disagree. I know a few fourth grade girls who would appreciate and enjoy this book.

**if you are considering this as an audio book, I know someone who both read it and listened to it on a trip with their children, she thought the "audio book Aubrey" had an overly-depressed tone to her voice that took away from the writing. I haven't heard the audio book, but I can imagine that would be annoying. Aubrey is a resilient optimistic girl by nature who was thrown into awful circumstances, I don't think the tone of her voice would bring you down. She's not that girl.

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