A New Hope for A Flood Survival
Title: The Minnow
Author: Diana Sweeney
Publisher: Text Publishing
Publication Date: May 28th 2014
Page Numbers: 256 pages
Blurb:
Tom survived a devastating flood that claimed the lives of her sister and parents. Now she lives with Bill in his old shed by the lake. But it’s time to move out—Tom is pregnant with Bill’s baby.
Jonah lets her move in with him. Mrs Peck gives her the Fishmaster Super Series tackle box. Nana is full of gentle good advice and useful sayings.
And in her longing for what is lost, Tom talks to fish: Oscar the carp in the pet shop, little Sarah catfish who might be her sister, an unhelpful turtle in a tank at the maternity ward. And the minnow.
The Minnow is a moving and powerful coming of age story with a whimsical element that belies the heartbreaking truth of grief and loss. Tom is a character you will never forget.
What I Thought:
Well, what should I say. As an award winner book, I know that this book has 'something'. Maybe the basic idea. The way Tom continued her life after losing her family and her pregnancy in the age of fifthteen, I believe it gave the reader a 'thing'. But the story itself went anticlimax for me. Until the end of the book (at least in this copy that I received), I still didn't know what did Bill do until the cops looked for him and also when Tom's mom sounded waiting for Tom to be awaked. What did actually happened? I was afraid that I probably missed some clues, but I realized I didn't want to re-opened it to searched one by one.
Another complaint for me, who's actually Tom's baby name? 'The Minnow'? Why did on earth you name a little girl 'Minnow' with the? I just didn't get it. Or maybe, this book is not for me, even though I love the basic idea.
Opening Lines
I think Bill is in love with Mrs Peck,’ I confide to an undersized blue swimmer crab that has become all tangled up in my line.