Girl In Shades by Allison Baggio – 379 pages
Sweetly funny and deeply perceptive, this novel follows eleven-year-old Maya Devine’s search for her mother, her father, and above all, herself, offering a fresh take on what it means to grow up and discover who you really are. Maya has always seen color around peopleβs bodies, and can sometimes even hear whatβs going on inside their heads. These insights make everyone a bit more interesting, but the one person she’ll never figure out is her mother. Marigold has never been like the other moms, but still, Maya sometimes feels like she is all she has.
When Marigold is diagnosed with cancer and vows to spend her final days in the tepee sheβs set up in the backyard, neighbors and strangers, believing the dying Marigold to be a prophet, camp out in front of the familyβs house. As her father grows ever more distant, Maya finds solace in the music of Corey Hart, but when Marigoldβs death leaves questions unanswered, she sets off to discover the truth about her family and identity.
I read so many books that are set in other countries (China, India, Germany) that it was a welcome change to read something that takes place in Canada. Maya is a young, spiritually gifted protagonist who is the odd girl out. This book starts with current day and weaves through time back and forth to understand the who, whats, whys of the plot and characters. I felt a lot of tenderness towards Maya but really disliked her mother, father and grandmother. My favorite character besides Maya was her auntβs roommate Buffy, the blind photographer! Through a journal and lots of moving around, Maya comes to terms with the hand sheβs been dealt and discovers who she really is. Her ability to hear peopleβs thoughts and see their true aura is a definitive reason of why she can survive and deal with her own reality. This book was moving, often dark and hurriedly triumphant in the end.
Every day I clean the Winchestersβ beautiful house top to bottom. I collect their daughter from school. And I cook a delicious meal for the whole family before heading up to eat alone in my tiny room on the top floor. I try to ignore how Nina makes a... read more