REVIEW For Say the Word

A big thank you goes out to author Jeaninne Garsee for sending this book out to me!!!



TITLE: Say the Word
AUTHOR: Jeannine Garsee
GENRE: YA
Rating: 3 Stars





I love reading YA books, especially if they deal with social issues that touch our YA today. Say the Word certainly qualifies as a "must" read for any young adult who is trying to find their way, especially if they are facing difficult or "unusual" family situations.

In Say the Word, we find out main character Shauna living with her dad. She has been abandoned 10 years ago by her mother (at least this is how Shauna sees it) who left her and her father to go and live with another woman and to start a whole new family with her.

This novel touches on two extremely difficult issues for anyone to deal with, much less a young girl who is trying to figure out who she is - being abandonned and discovering that your mother is a lesbian.

Shauna has been doing a good job of putting both of these in the back of her mind - untilt he day she gets a phone call from "the other woman". Shauna's mother is dying and does not have much time. Shauna decides to see her mother and from the first meeting between the "old" family and the "new" family you can feel the tension and all of the resentment and undealt with issues - they are surfacing quickly and sadly, they are about to become more complicated.

At the death of her mom, Shauna is forced to confront the "other family" and actually has to spend some time with the woman who "ruined" their family. You can feel the pull and tug that Shauna is going through, especially since she is not getting the support from her own father that she needs at this time. It is obvious that he has not come to grips with any of this either and that he is not helping Shauna through any of this.

I felt very deeply for Shauna and her confusion. While everyone is dealing with their own feelings about the situation (not to mention a somewhat confusing legal issue), she has definitely been left on her own.

Author Garsee does a wonderful job of conveying how confused and isolated everyone involved feels. She also deals with these issues in a very sensitive and non judgmental manner and I think this author explores a very important aspect of today's "blended" families.

While I know the subject matter is basically sad and depressing, this book also, unfortunately, left me feeling that way. This book is quite dark and there is very little upside - I was hoping for a break in the clouds, but it never came.