The Sky Always Hears Me: And the Hills Don't Mind

Morgan is dying to get out of her small hometown of Central Nowhere, Nebraska. Things with her boyfriend of two years, Derek, have long since hit a rut. She has a hopeless crush on Rob, her co-worker at the local grocery store. Her father and stepmother are always fighting, and on top of all that, her neighbor and classmate, Tessa, kissed her one night over the summer…and Morgan kissed her back.

To escape from her romantic problems, Morgan likes to borrow her grandmother’s car and drive to the empty hills to scream. For a long time, her grandmother has been the only person in the family Morgan can talk to. But when tragedy strikes, and a devastating secret is revealed, Morgan must learn that forgiveness is the first step to show more acceptance and happiness in all aspects of her life.

THE SKY ALWAYS HEARS ME is utterly incredible. It’s saucy and hilarious, twisted and touching. I can’t get enough of Morgan’s story and Kirstin’s writing.

Never before have I come across a protagonist like Morgan. Her snark and wit reminds me of Jessica Darling from Megan McCafferty’s hit series (which I love), but her conciseness of speech and thought reflects more of Courtney Summers’ characters (another author whose writing I love). Her voice had me constantly cracking up on the inside, a healthy relief from her borderline melodramatic life, which kept my countenance, if not my inner mental state, somber.

Kirstin Cronn-Mills skillfully develops her characters so that all of them are three-dimensional. All too often the choice that the protagonist should make is too easy for readers to spot early on, but that doesn’t happen in this book. Yes, Morgan is bombarded with dozens of issues, but readers can clearly see why a resolution is not at all simple. There are many different ways—all equally legitimate—that Morgan could have played out her life, and also satisfying is the realistic ending: one that speaks of hope, but also does not play off of unrealistic dreams of eternal love or easy paths to happiness.

This book is not without a bit of melodrama, of course. Any one of those issues mentioned about in my summary is enough to provide several hundred pages of fodder for a good YA novel. To have them all in the span of 250 or so pages is perhaps overkill. However, things start straightening themselves out in the second half, and by the end of the book I was satisfied with how everything was resolved. Throwing a bunch of issues into the main character’s life is a rather amateurish move, but Kirstin navigates Morgan’s way out of the overwhelming problems with the ease of a much more established writer. Overall, it’s an admirable narration and plotting job.

THE SKY ALWAYS HEARS ME is one of those books that a lot of people will like, but a few will really get. I think I am one of those people who get it and absolutely love it. Morgan’s irreverence and Kirstin’s writing style made a long-lasting impression on me. Even if the book doesn’t end up speaking to you the way it did to me, you’ll still be satisfied with this intelligent, snarky, and deeply satisfying book. Well done, Kirstin. Well done. show less

With wit, warmth and dark humor, Kirstin Cronn-Mills weaves a powerful story in The Sky Always Hears Me: And The Hills Don’t Mind. Narrator Morgan is an intelligent teen who dreams of writing the Great American Novel, like many of us, but gets by on penning cryptic “fortunes” on Post-Its, napkins and register tape — anything she can find, basically, and leaving them strewn about like edicts from a higher power. When life gets too overwhelming, Morgan escapes to visit her grandmother, Elsie, and borrows her car to go and vent her frustrations in the wide-open hills of Nebraska.

Morgan carries The Sky Always Hears Me, letting us into her private world as she grapples with issues as large as sexuality, abuse and a stifling sense of show more being sequestered in a tiny place she’s long outgrown. Though the “I have to get out of this God forsakin’ town!” trope is definitely nothing new in fiction, Morgan was a fresh character with whom I could relate — someone whose dream is to write and do something more, but can’t immediately find the tools to do so.

While the book centers largely around the three love interests in the story, creating a complicated romantic triangle, it’s also about family dynamics and the long reach of grief. Morgan’s mother died when she and Martin were small, leaving them alone with a distant father and one guilty, saddened grandmother. Elsie, Morgan’s grandma, has done everything she can to provide a loving female role model for her granddaughter — but that hasn’t necessarily been enough.

Interspersed with Cronn-Mills’ narrative are snippets of fortunes from Chinese restaurants all over the world, collected by Elsie when she was a traveling concert pianist. In addition to penning her own, Morgan takes these fortunes to heart — and I liked the way we were introduced to each chapter with another quote or piece of advice. It provided credence to the sense that anything can change at any time — and that, for better or worse, we can all shape our destinies. And Morgan can shape hers.

In addition to being entertaining and very readable, The Sky Always Hears Me does an admirable job of exploring teen sexuality. As a young woman, Morgan isn’t expected to have everything figured out — and the path towards discovery can be messy. Central Nowhere is a small town, of course, and few are accepting of the idea of gay or lesbian people in their community. Fear and disapproval of an “immoral” lifestyle permeate Morgan and Tessa’s high school. I liked that Cronn-Mills didn’t take the easy way out, showing Morgan’s “repulsion” at being kissed by Tessa and failing to stick up for her friend. Instead, the author let her characters work out their feelings on their own terms.

Fans of quirky young adult fiction featuring memorable, dimensional characters would enjoy Kirstin Cronn-Mills’ debut novel — and I know this isn’t one I’ll soon forget. At just over 270 pages, too, it’s easily devoured in an afternoon or two. show less

Morgan lives in Central Nowhere, Nebraska. When life's too much for her, she drives out into the hills and screams her troubles into the sky. This year, her junior year, she's got a lot to think about. Her alcoholic dad verbally abuses her and her brothers. She's got a major crush on a gorgeous guy she works with (despite the fact that she's in a long-term relationship with a football player). Oh, yeah, and her next-door neighbor Tessa kissed her a couple nights ago. And she thinks she liked it.

I really, really liked this book. Morgan's voice fulled me in from the very beginning. She has a dry wit and a very dark humor that was startling and interesting. The novel is about gray areas and I loved that there were no easy answers. Highly show more recommended.

Read more on my blog:
http://abbylibrarian.blogspot.com/2010/01/book-review-sky-always-hears-me-and.ht... show less

Thanks to Cronn-Mills’s beautiful writing style, this book is a quick read that I had a hard time putting down. Morgan’s narrative voice is witty and contemplative and irreverent all at once, and her story really pulled me in from the start. She is up against a lot in this book, but her sense of humor kept the tone from becoming crushingly serious. I particularly enjoyed the interjection of the fortunes she writes in response to what is going on around her. (After a surprising encounter in the back room of the grocery store with co-worker Rob: “Be careful of hotties searching for toothpicks.”)
With the exception of Morgan’s friend Jessica, who comes across as flat (though the fact that she’s shallow may be all that’s show more relevant to the story), the characters are wonderfully fleshed out, their imperfections blending with their strengths to create an array of complex characters. Morgan herself is a beautifully flawed main character, stubborn and immature but searching for her identity in a world she wants to escape. When she is forced to grapple with the unexpected, in school, in love, and in her family, she seems at odds with herself as well, always fighting what she’s feeling in the moment with how she wants to be in the future.
At its core this book is about the journey of self-discovery, which can be dirty and clumsy and full of unanswered questions. I’m sure there are people who would avoid this book due to the topic of homosexuality as addressed in the book’s summary, but in reality that seemed like such a non-issue in the story. The bigger subject is the idea that there are a lot of confusing things in life, and a person has to wrestle with these things to figure out who s/he really is. This book left me hopeful that Morgan would be strong enough to be true to herself. show less

If you love quirky reads then this is a book you should check out. I knew this novel would be interesting just by reading the chapter headings--they're all fortune writings collected from various restaurants. Morgan is an unconventional girl, and we journey with her through a year of her life that includes a chaotic relationship with her parents and grandmother, along with her complicated love life as she deals with falling for her coworker while already having a boyfriend (and we mustn't forget to mention the kiss with Tessa). To say Morgan's love life is complicated is an understatement.

One of my favorite relationships that I loved reading in this book was between Morgan and her grandmother. Through this relationship, the reader sees show more how despite troubles with family, we can retain unconditional love for one another.

Morgan can be an insightful character, and at times, it's almost surprising and certain passages can take you off guard, such as when she compares her life to a disco ball: "Can you be sixteen and write a memoir? I want to write one called My Life as a Disco Ball. Everything reflects off you and you're removed from the fray, up near the ceiling, twirling away" (47).

While this book does delve into some serious topics, it also funny, as in there were moments where I actually laughed out loud. I also loved the writing style. There wasn't an abundance of detail that dulled the book, and I liked the short chapters as if we were getting little snippets into Morgan's life. The book also comes with surprises as Morgan has to deal with hidden secrets. As you keep reading, you realize everything is not as it seems.

I did have a problem with Morgan and her lack of maturity (I often wanted to scream at her), and it is evident that she is a very flawed character. Most of the characters in this story are very flawed, but that's also what makes it interesting and real. It made the novel more believable as if these people could actually exist. Overall, it was a quick and entertaining read and at times, thought provoking, too. show less

Fantastic voice from the narrator, and a plot feature that hasn't been done to death - a heterosexual girl questions her sexuality. I haven't seen any books before where the main character actually thinks about being straight instead of just assuming he or she is,

A cute story about Morgan, a high school girl who lives out in the middle of "Central Nowhere" in Nebraska. She's a typical teen who has lots of friends, a boyfriend, and excels in school. She has a favorite spot that visits frequently, that she calls The Hill. It is where she goes when she wants to scream out her frustrations, whatever they may be. She also enjoys writing fortunes on Post It Notes and leaving them random places for others to find.
The story covers her relationship with her grandmother, in which some family secrets are revealed that throws Morgan into tailspin. Partner that with her break-up with her long-time boyfriend, kisses from a girl who adores her and a new relationship with a guy that she works with at the show more grocery store, and you have one FANTASTIC novel that is just begging to be read! Loved it! show less