Monday, December 14, 2015

We Never Asked for Wings

We Never Asked for Wings
by Vanessa Diffenbaugh


Genre: Fiction

Synopsis: For fourteen years, Letty Espinosa has worked three jobs around San Francisco to make ends meet while her mother raised her children-Alex, fifteen, and Luna, just six-in their tiny apartment on forgotten spit of wetlands near the bay.  But now Letty's parents are returning to Mexico, and Letty must step up and become a mother for the first time in her life.

Navigating this new terrain is challenging for Letty, especially as Luna desperately misses her grandparents and Alex, who is falling in love with a classmate, is unwilling to give his mother a chance.  Letty comes up with a plan to help the family escape the dangerous neighborhood and heartbreaking injustice that have marked their lives, but one wrong move could jeopardize everything she's worked for and her family's fragile hopes for the future.

Review:  This book begins with some very questionable parenting which made me feel very uneasy about the book.  I wanted to shake some sense into Letty.  Even once Letty came home, she needed a huge dose of reality.  I know that her transformation was the point of the book but I found it very hard to understand Letty's motivations and struggled to connect with her through the beginning.  With that being said, I still did enjoy the book very much.  Watching Alex grow up, make mistakes and be a teenager was compelling and a heart wrenching story.  Alex was such a genuine boy who wanted acceptance and love.  He did what he thought best and had to learn about consequences.  I loved reading how everyone came together to help and how relationships grew and blossomed throughout the story.

Rating: 4 stars

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