Reviewed by Olivia
Rating: High Two 1/2
Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of The Thing About Jellyfish, Fish in a Tree, and the Honest Truth.
Synopsis (from Amazon):
Everyone says that middle school is awful, but Trent knows nothing could be worse than the year he had in fifth grade, when a freak accident on Cedar Lake left one kid dead, and Trent with a brain full of terrible thoughts he can't get rid of. Trent’s pretty positive the entire disaster was his fault, so for him middle school feels like a fresh start, a chance to prove to everyone that he's not the horrible screw-up they seem to think he is.
If only Trent could make that fresh start happen.
It isn’t until Trent gets caught up in the whirlwind that is Fallon Little—the girl with the mysterious scar across her face—that things begin to change. Because fresh starts aren’t always easy. Even in baseball, when a fly ball gets lost in the sun, you have to remember to shift your position to find it.
Rating: High Two 1/2
Who I'd Recommend to: Fans of The Thing About Jellyfish, Fish in a Tree, and the Honest Truth.
Synopsis (from Amazon):
Everyone says that middle school is awful, but Trent knows nothing could be worse than the year he had in fifth grade, when a freak accident on Cedar Lake left one kid dead, and Trent with a brain full of terrible thoughts he can't get rid of. Trent’s pretty positive the entire disaster was his fault, so for him middle school feels like a fresh start, a chance to prove to everyone that he's not the horrible screw-up they seem to think he is.
If only Trent could make that fresh start happen.
It isn’t until Trent gets caught up in the whirlwind that is Fallon Little—the girl with the mysterious scar across her face—that things begin to change. Because fresh starts aren’t always easy. Even in baseball, when a fly ball gets lost in the sun, you have to remember to shift your position to find it.
Thoughts: [another Sweet Sixteen book, by the way. I’ll have to remember to add a Category for that :)]. The first book people started actually, thoroughly talking about at our school was Lost in the Sun. “It’s SO sad!” my classmates would say. “It’s such an amazing, sweet story!” “I cried!” some kids would even announce. Lost in the Sun seemed all the rage, I thought, so I felt like I should pick it up and see what all the buzz was about.
Lost in the Sun was sad. I didn’t cry, though. I was hoping I would cry. Fish in a Tree, of all things, made me cry, so I was surprised that I didn’t shed at least one tear in this book. When I thought about it, I realized the story didn’t feel that special, or different, to me. I honestly sometimes forgot about the trauma Trent, the main character, had gone through (abusive father, divorced parents, accidentally killing a boy with a hockey puck in a freak accident). This book felt like just another realistic fiction about going through Middle School to me - a heavy one, nonetheless, but still a pretty generic one. I realized that this was because it wasn’t impactful or deep or heart wrenching - at least to me. I didn’t really connect with it, and the writing felt slow. I did actually like Fallon Little, who ends up being Trent’s sort-of friend, but her story didn’t really feel that important, even though it ended up being the “climax,” if there even was one. That was another problem. THERE WAS NO CLIMAX! The book just went on and on, almost like a personal narrative of every second of your life, without any ups or downs.
Now, don’t get me wrong, none of these things make the book bad. I just didn’t like it as much as I thought I would. In fact, it pretty much just came down to having high expectations, and being disappointed. I would still recommend it, but I think it might appeal a little more to boys, versus The Thing About Jellyfish, which is a similar story, except with a female protagonist.
Lost in the Sun was sad. I didn’t cry, though. I was hoping I would cry. Fish in a Tree, of all things, made me cry, so I was surprised that I didn’t shed at least one tear in this book. When I thought about it, I realized the story didn’t feel that special, or different, to me. I honestly sometimes forgot about the trauma Trent, the main character, had gone through (abusive father, divorced parents, accidentally killing a boy with a hockey puck in a freak accident). This book felt like just another realistic fiction about going through Middle School to me - a heavy one, nonetheless, but still a pretty generic one. I realized that this was because it wasn’t impactful or deep or heart wrenching - at least to me. I didn’t really connect with it, and the writing felt slow. I did actually like Fallon Little, who ends up being Trent’s sort-of friend, but her story didn’t really feel that important, even though it ended up being the “climax,” if there even was one. That was another problem. THERE WAS NO CLIMAX! The book just went on and on, almost like a personal narrative of every second of your life, without any ups or downs.
Now, don’t get me wrong, none of these things make the book bad. I just didn’t like it as much as I thought I would. In fact, it pretty much just came down to having high expectations, and being disappointed. I would still recommend it, but I think it might appeal a little more to boys, versus The Thing About Jellyfish, which is a similar story, except with a female protagonist.
