Fantasy

In this futuristic adventure, sixteen-year-old Molly McClure lives with her family in a self-sufficient farming community on an island in Canada. When a truncated message comes from a hospital saying that Molly’s grandmother may have died, her family decides to try to reconcile with the estranged grandfather, a doctor, and bring him back to the island to help Molly’s mother, who is soon to give birth. But travel is extremely difficult — the government has taken control of the oil supply, and traveling by car is out of the question — and the borders between America and Canada are not easy to cross legally. Before long, Molly finds herself on a boat, a train, a plane, and then another train, headed for the United States. Along the way, she manages to set off an alarm at the border, get thrown out of a women’s washroom, is conned out of her money, loses her shoes, and sneaks onto a bus. Once she reaches her grandparents’ house, the misadventures continue.

For some reason, I found much of the story to be unbelievable — sending Molly off alone to fetch her grandfather, her insistence on bringing her fiddle on a two-week trip, the various situations that she finds herself in, the importance of Molly’s sister’s wedding. Even though I really disliked Susan Beth Pfeffer’s Miranda in “Life as We Knew It,” her story is much more believable and realistic. Not a big fan of this novel. ( )

3 1/2 stars ( )

I don't know if it's because I read debuts with an extreme amount of doubt, or if the first chapters of debut are just generally weak, but I've had a hard time getting into all three of the debuts I've read so far this year (Guardian of the Dead, Restoring Harmony, and I'm a little ways into Birthmarked). I didn't get into Restoring Harmony until about page 100. I was turned off by the plot, I was frustrated with the MC, and I was depressed by her grandparents' situation.
But all of these worries went away around page 100. I decided the plot was much more engaging when I wasn't filled with hopelessness about it. I realized that Molly was rather endearing, I liked her optimism, and just because she was naive didn't mean she was stupid; she's very clever and resourceful, in fact. I also realized that her grandparents' situation is VERY similar to my own grandparents, and I was just dragging my own angst into it. YAY for books teaching you about yourself!

I'm sorry if this review is a bit rambling, but I just wanted to present my initial problems with the book, and how I overcame them. After I overcame them, it was a VERY enjoyable book!
Like I implied, I really enjoyed Molly's resourcefulness. She wasn't going to let anything get her down, not her semi-homeless, penniless situation, or the Portland mafia, or her grouchy neighbor (who, of course, turns out not to be quite so grouchy).
I enjoyed all of the characters, even the unpleasant ones: Spill and Molly were of course my favorites, but I really liked one of the secondary mafia guys as well, and her grandparents, and her family in BC, and Aunt Lili. Oh, Aunt Lili, you clever lady.
The plot wasn't epic or particularly clever, but it was paced well and I DID care about it because I cared about the characters.
I LOVED THE SETTING. I was born in Gresham and lived there for several years so realizing that the book was set in Gresham and Portland made me so happy! The MAX made me happy! Seeing Portland in the future made me happy! Even though it's a rather melancholy future-it was still very interesting AND very realistic. ( )

I don't know if it's because I read debuts with an extreme amount of doubt, or if the first chapters of debut are just generally weak, but I've had a hard time getting into all three of the debuts I've read so far this year (Guardian of the Dead, Restoring Harmony, and I'm a little ways into Birthmarked). I didn't get into Restoring Harmony until about page 100. I was turned off by the plot, I was frustrated with the MC, and I was depressed by her grandparents' situation.
But all of these worries went away around page 100. I decided the plot was much more engaging when I wasn't filled with hopelessness about it. I realized that Molly was rather endearing, I liked her optimism, and just because she was naive didn't mean she was stupid; she's very clever and resourceful, in fact. I also realized that her grandparents' situation is VERY similar to my own grandparents, and I was just dragging my own angst into it. YAY for books teaching you about yourself!

I'm sorry if this review is a bit rambling, but I just wanted to present my initial problems with the book, and how I overcame them. After I overcame them, it was a VERY enjoyable book!
Like I implied, I really enjoyed Molly's resourcefulness. She wasn't going to let anything get her down, not her semi-homeless, penniless situation, or the Portland mafia, or her grouchy neighbor (who, of course, turns out not to be quite so grouchy).
I enjoyed all of the characters, even the unpleasant ones: Spill and Molly were of course my favorites, but I really liked one of the secondary mafia guys as well, and her grandparents, and her family in BC, and Aunt Lili. Oh, Aunt Lili, you clever lady.
The plot wasn't epic or particularly clever, but it was paced well and I DID care about it because I cared about the characters.
I LOVED THE SETTING. I was born in Gresham and lived there for several years so realizing that the book was set in Gresham and Portland made me so happy! The MAX made me happy! Seeing Portland in the future made me happy! Even though it's a rather melancholy future-it was still very interesting AND very realistic. ( )