All We Know of Love, Nora Raleigh Baskin

Baskin, Nora Raleigh (2008).
All We Know of Love
London: Walker Book Ltd
978-1406315516

Natalie, almost sixteen, sneaks away form her Connecticut home and takes a bus to Florida, looking for a mother who abandoned her and her father when she was ten years old.
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Over four years ago, Natalie Gordon’s mother walked out mid-sentence and never returned. Three days ago, sixteen-year-old Natalie first began to wonder what her mother left unsaid. Natalie lies to her father, telling him she is going on a ski trip to Vermont. Instead, she purchases a bus ticket from Connecticut to Florida in the hopes of finding her mother; she wants to learn what her mother thought was so important about love. During her road trip, Natalie meets a variety of people who share their stories and experiences with love. In addition to finding her mother, Natalie struggles to resolve her obsessive and tumultuous relationship with her boyfriend, Adam, who doesn’t treat Natalie very well. To compound her struggle, Natalie may be pregnant. Anyone who has been infatuated or in love will empathize with Natalie’s obsessive need to check her cell phone for any voicemails from Adam. Ultimately, Natalie learns that she can shed the image of the unloved, abandoned girl. This coming-of-age story examines the meaning of love and the importance of giving love without giving oneself away. Assorted verses about love head each chapter; Baskin takes a well-known plot and constructs it so that it proves engaging—particularly to teen readers who have tried and/or may be trying to come to terms with their own understanding of love.

Mistik Lake, Martha Brooks

Brooks, Martha (2007).
Mistik Lake
New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux
9780374349851
Genre: Realistic fiction


After Odella’s mother leaves her and her sisters and their father in Manitoba to move to Iceland with another man, she then dies there, and the family finally learns some of the many secrets that have haunted them for two generations.
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Mistik Lake is full of secrets, or at least that’s how Brooks portrays the small town and its three generations of women. Odella is a teenager who hides her mother’s alcoholism while trying to explore her individuality; Sally, Odella’s mother, harbors a secret that haunts her to the point she must escape the town somehow and her extramarital affair affords her the opportunity; Gloria, Odella’s lesbian great aunt, keeps all of the family secrets in check-including her own. When Sally unexpectedly dies, Odella must grow up rather quickly; overwhelmed by her familial obligations, Sally attempt to escape her situation; she promptly loses her virginity to a meaningless boyfriend. When Odella falls in love with Jimmy, she begins to mature. While Brooks’ narrators draw readers into the love affair, Brooks creates an intriguing tension as she alternates others’ perspectives amid the love story. Readers learn that Sally was involved in a horrific accident on the Lake; everyone died in the accident except her. In addition, Sally was involved with another man prior to her husband; it seems the whole town has known this except Odella. (Guess what’s coming?) Gloria is the one member of Odella’s family who knows all of the secrets and has kept everything in order—but at the age of 70, Gloria finally comes out to Odella and her sisters, and it seems with time, all of the secrets come to light. Initially a little confusing as they weave back and forth through time from person to person, Brooks’ narrators have honest, true distinct voices which ultimately draw the reader into their story and lives. The pacing is episodic and yet absorbing, and the three divisions of the novel Winter, Spring and Summer reflect the tone and experiences of Odella’s life. A multi-layered love story which will appeal to those who enjoy realistic fiction.