My blog is going to be a little bit different today. I have been thinking what I could write since I’ve been slacking on my interviews and book reviews. But lately {since the Printz, Newbery and BBYA’s were announced} I’ve been having trouble reading. The only books I’ve actually been able to even look at have been my mom’s manuscripts . . . so I guess that’s not even a book.
Last year I read Mom’s manuscript Glimpse {formally known as A Glimpse is All I Can Stand, a name I must admit I still like better.} about six times. Every time I read it, it got better. More emotional.
A few nights ago I finally read the ARC of the novel.
There is a big difference between reading a book off of a computer screen and reading sitting in your bed, under your covers, crying into your pillow.
After all the books I read last year, and the two I read this year, I have to say, Glimpse is by far my favorite.
The book is written in verse, which I’m not normally a fan of. But the writing in this is different. It’s not like Impulse or Crank, where when you read it you’re confused where the emotion is. It’s like reading I Am the Cheese, or Living Dead Girl for the first time. Glimpse is practically crying with emotion.
The main character, Hope, is dealing with a lot of hard stuff. Her sister has just tried to commit suicide and has been put into the nuthouse. Hope has nightmares that are almost real, her mother is a hooker and a cheat. Hope only has one friend to turn to, but feels guilty and confused about her sister, Lizzie.
The relationship between Hope and Lizzie are so real. How Mom made me feel something for these girls, with such little use of words, amazes me. The writing is beautiful and beyond poetic. Every single time I read page 422, I tear up.
I don’t want to give anything away about this novel because, well, it doesn’t even come out until June of this year. But I will say the thing about the story that gets to me the most is, it’s very closely based on my mom’s childhood. Once you know that it really changes the way you read the book.
If it were up to me, Glimpse would win every single award possible, it’d be made into a movie, theme park {lol} and printed in every single language. So if ANYONE gets a chance to snag an ARC of Glimpse, take it! Because you will NOT be disappointed. I’ll end with a little bit of the book.
Out behind the house,
in a field
where only one cow lives,
Momma tells me
to throw the dead cats.
It’s six days since
Lizzie’s gone,
though it seems a forever,
and now this.
They’re kittens, really.
A momma cat wandered up
had them here,
then one day
just didn’t come back.
A momma don’t often
leave her babies,
Momma said to me and
Lizzie
when this happened.
Now, these babies?
They cry out to me before they die,
One by one.
the whole
litter almost gone.
I use an old rake
to pick the dead cats up
and sling their weight
far from me.
It is hot,
last days of May hot,
the air so heavy
breathing
is like drinking
just about.
don’t
think
about
any
of
it.
All at once
I am mad at Liz!
White-hot
mad!
Why did you do it?
I yell at her,
clenching my fists
so tight
and looking toward where the bodies
are hidden
in the high grasses
on the far
side of the
fence.
Why did you
try to leave me,
Liz?
I’m on my knees,
shovel
beside me.
All these babies
dying
and I don’t know why.
Just like with
My Lizzie.
I don’t know
why.
Throwing Up Words 