"On Monday, after band rehearsal and intramurals, when Molly got home from school, her mother was sitting at the kitchen table going through the day's mail."The abstract is hidden because it may contain spoilers. If you would like to read the full summary, simply use your cursor to highlight the next few lines and it will magically appear.
Abstract: Eighth-grader Molly's ability to throw a knuckleball earns her a spot on the baseball team, which not only helps her feel connected to her recently deceased father, who loved baseball, it helps in other aspects of her life, as well.
Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf; 177 pages
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7 comments:
Probably my favorite aspect of this book is Cochrane's clever facility with words and ideas -- the chapter entitled a "Heartbreaking Dream of Toast" -- Molly's mother living on the "Planet of Inexplicable Exasperation" and the concept of softball being "baseball translated into some foreign language." I appreciate the way memories of Molly's father are woven into every aspect of her life particularly in the chapter "Geography Lesson" without a heavy hand --but clearly as part of the process of learning to live with the loss of a parent.
This was a book was was anxious to read and found it enjoyable. I also liked the cleaver way that Cochrane worked in images and memories. I also liked the characters and the way the different themes worked their way throughout the story. I thought the best part of the story was the last sentence though.
Molly's grief, determination, confusion and loneliness at the death of her father are so real and beautifully drawn. For me, this is a new favorite.
This book has a lot going for it. The author did a marvelous job developing Molly's character as she works through her loss and comes to many different realizations, both about herself and others. One of my favorites.
While I did enjoy the book, I was blown away by the ending. For Molly to realize that people aren't perfect and make mistakes, including her father, was a fabulous way to end this book. Based on the ending alone, I would put it as a contender...it teaches a valuable lesson.
I really liked the way Cochrane had a lot of Molly's memories of her dad in the book. Also, the characters seemed really real to me. You could feel the characters' emotion, Molly's fierce determination, her despair over her father, her love for the game she plays. It made her more real to the reader. I thought the way Molly overcame the loss of her father, by playing baseball and making friends, was a great way to end the book.
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