Book
Facing the sun
Record details
- ISBN: 9781534406049 (hardcover)
-
Physical Description:
406 pages ; 21 cm
print - Edition: First edition.
- Publisher: New York : Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers, [2020]
- Copyright: ©2020
Content descriptions
| Target Audience Note: | Ages 14 up. |
Search for related items by subject
| Subject: | Friendship -- Fiction Real estate development -- Fiction Families -- Caribbean Area -- Fiction Caribbean Area -- Fiction |
| Genre: | Young adult fiction. |
Available copies
- 1 of 1 copy available at South Central Regional Library.
Holds
- 0 current holds with 1 total copy.
Show Only Available Copies
| Location | Call Number / Copy Notes | Barcode | Shelving Location | Holdable? | Status | Due Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Winkler Library | YA F Mat (Text) | 35864002628111 | Young Adult | Volume hold | Available | - |
- Booklist Reviews : Booklist Reviews 2020 September #1
In her latest, Mather (Learning to Breathe, 2018) peels away at the layers in a friendship. Readers meet Eve, Faith, KeeKee, and Nia in the Caribbean, where all they've ever known is about to be torn down to make room for a hotel. Meanwhile, each is encountering explosive life events that force a coming-of-age. Through alternating narrative perspectives, Mather explores how the girls' actions impact themselves, each other, and their community. Meanwhile, themes of integrity, loss, duty, and loyalty flow through each of the girls' narratives like rivers to the ocean, and the story remains grounded in its strong sense of setting. Fans of Jessica Spotswood's The Last Summer of the Garrett Girls (2018) will appreciate the carousel of viewpoints, while fans of Alice Hoffman's Aquamarine (2001) will see similarities in another story with action driven by community changes and highlighting the pressure to keep the magic of friendship strong. Grades 9-12. Copyright 2020 Booklist Reviews. - Kirkus Reviews : Kirkus Reviews 2020 June #2
Can four friends weather the storms of friendship? KeeKee, Nia, Faith, and Eve want to save the beautiful Bahamian beach they've grown up on from developers who want to build a hotel, blocking local families' access. However, saving the beach is complicated. Faith's father works for Parliament and supports the development. Nia's mother is a local journalist who writes about protests against the hotel. KeeKee's father is an architect working on the new hotel. Eve's father's beachfront church is a pillar in the community. To top it all off, KeeKee's three friends harbor a crush on her brother, Toons. Each girl also has her own personal problems. Nia struggles to gain freedom from her overbearing mother and wants to know who her father is. Faith must be a caretaker for her mother, who struggles with debilitating dementia. Eve parents her younger brothers and sisters when her dad falls ill. And, KeeKee's whole world is rocked when she learns the truth about one of her parents. When a suspicious and devastating fire reduces the ch urch to ashes, the girls must navigate friendship as their world changes. The author skillfully portrays tensions between maintaining community control and flavor against economic expansion. The protagonists have varied talents and interests, exhibit creativity and drive, and offer nuanced insights into the diversity of black communities outside the U.S. A heartwarming and sincere journey following four girls as they mature into their friendship. (Fiction. 14-18) Copyright Kirkus 2020 Kirkus/BPI Communications. All rights reserved. - School Library Journal Reviews : SLJ Reviews 2020 July
Copyright 2020 School Library Journal.Gr 8 Upâ Pinder Street, on the Caribbean island of Nassau, is changing. A hotel just bought up the last stretch of beach where the locals could go to relax. But it's not just the hotel that is changing in the neighborhood; old friendships are put to the test while new ones are forged. This book is told through the perspective of four girls on the island, each with a secret. Eve is the pastor's daughter and the oldest of five kids who takes care of her whole family; KeeKee is a poet with an estranged father; Faith is a dancer in love with a boy who belongs to someone else; Nia longs to get away from her overprotective single mother. When these four girls come together, they realize their friendships make them stronger. Since each chapter is told from one of their perspectives, it takes a while to get to know them, and the ending is a little anticlimactic. But Mather has a very conversational, engaging writing style, making this feel like a quick read even though it clocks in at over 400 pages.VERDICT An enjoyable friendship novel about change, acceptance, and being honest with each other. A great addition to libraries where books like Ann Brashares' "Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants" series is popular.âKristin Joy Anderson, Lewis Univ., Romeoville, IL - Voice of Youth Advocates Reviews : VOYA Reviews 2020 June
Life is changing on Pinder Street, and Kee Kee, Nia, Faith, and Eve, four friends who have grown up together, are not ready. Their quiet little street in Nassau, Bahamas, is being looked at for proposed development by a hotel. The girls are also growing up and growing apart. Kee Kee, whose parents do not live together, wants to enter a writing contest and go to a girl's camp for the summer. She helps her mom, who gives everything to help others. Nia and her mother struggle to survive without the dad she never knew. Faith takes care of her mom, who has mental health issues, because her councilman dad is always too busy to be home. Faith is also having mutual strong feelings for Toons, Kee Kee's brother who his dating Eve, whose father is the pastor of the church where the proposed hotel will be built. Eve has four younger siblings to take care of, and her parents are keeping a secret about her father's health. While they know the hotel will bring much-needed jobs to their area, the girls must work through their problems before coming together to do what is best for their little street. The characters in Facing the Sun are realistic and show the everyday life of this small Bahamas neighborhood. Their stories interweave in a beautiful narrative. At times, due to the alternating viewpoints, it is a bit confusing, but the entanglement adds to the compelling stories. The writing is smooth and the story flows. There is love, heartbreak, pain, and surprise as the girls discover that growing up means things must change. Readers who like realistic, slice-of-life stories will enjoy this book.âElizabeth Nebeker. 4Q 4P J S Copyright 2020 Voya Reviews.
