A Psalm For Lost Girls

by Katherine Bayerl

"Determined to protect her sister Tess's memory, Callie da Costa sets out to prove Tess wasn't really a saint and finds herself pulled into a kidnapping investigation"--

• ISBN13: 9780399545252
• Publish Date: 14 March 2017
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Out of Print: 5 August 2021
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Vintage
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 368
• Language: English

Reviews

[girlinthepages]

If you follow my reviews at all, you know I'm fascinated by YA books that incorporate the theme of religion into them. As a Religious Studies major in college (think of it as "comparative world religion" rather than theology) I was fascinated by studying different customs, rituals, rites of passage, etc. So when I read the synopsis for A Psalm for Lost Girls I was hooked. Focusing on the events AFTER the death of the protagonists sister (Tess) who was thought to be a miracle worker, it follows a town's trek to have the sister canonized as a Catholic saint (which can only be done after death) and her sister's quest to prove she isn't one.

At first, protagonist Callie was abrasive and not very likeable- and why would she be, when she's trying to prevent one of the greatest honors of the Catholic church upon her sister? Yet what's eventually revealed is all the ways in which the attention of being a modern day miracle worker was harmful to Tess, the stress of which may have led to her untimely death. I really enjoyed the deeper questions that the narrative poses in this story, such as who really "owns" someone? Do they belong to their family, to their community, to themselves, to all of the above? Does becoming a saint take away a person's humanity in a way and strips their loved ones of their claim on their memory? There's no clear cut answer revealed to any of these questions, but I appreciated that protagonist Callie had to grapple with them in their own way.

A Psalm for Lost Girls is told in a two part narrative, primarily narrated by Callie but broken up with chapters here and there from Tess' journal from the months leading up to her death. While the journal largely proves help solve the "mystery" that Callie is dealing with (who kidnapped their neighbor), I was much more interested in Tess' struggle with being a modern day miracle worker. How she struggled with the voice she heard and wavered between thinking she was truly gifted vs. thinking she may be suffering from a mental illness, and being denied access to medical care due to her family's own stigmas. How being such a venerated member of the church community meant she by default had to abide by "Virgin Mary" standards of not dating, dressing modestly, not being confrontational, etc. and how these expectations slowly crept up and were wordlessly imposed on her. How members of the community were so sure she was gifted until there was one situation she could not help solve and so many were quick to turn on her or even blame her. Tess' journal entries ultimately outline a life that ended with stress, self doubt and even rejection, paralleling the often unfortunate lives and deaths of actual canonized Catholic saints (but in a modern setting).

While I really enjoyed all of the deeper themes in the novel and the alternating timeline of Tess and Callie's journey coming together, I wasn't expecting the present day parts to focus so much on the mystery of finding a kidnapper, and that's where the book lost steam for me. I found myself bored by the "investigating" that Callie and her sort-of love interest Danny partake in, and Callie's actions are often impulsive and unbelievable. I also really could have done without the romance.

Overall: In terms of plot and pacing, A Psalm for Lost Girls didn't bring anything new to the table for a YA novel. However, if you're interested in books that ask thought provoking questions and present intriguing themes around cultural and social issues in modern day society, it's worth the read. It's also worth noting that it might be the first YA book I've read that features a Portuguese-American family and I enjoyed see glimpses into Callie and Tess' cultural background, even if just peripherally.This review was originally posted on Girl in the Pages

[readingwithwrin]

3.5 stars
"The voice is telling me not to be afraid, reminding me that even in the worst moments, when nothing makes sense and doubt and worry make everything bleak, there is still love in my life."

This was one of my most anticipated reads for 2017!

A combination of sainthood, small town desperation, kidnapping and mental illness made this a really quick read for me.

"That was how it was with us. Back and forth. You built me up one day, I did the same for you the next. We fell asleep talking woke up talking, filled the moments between with laughter... and when the voice appeared and your life began to spin out of shape, I was there to help you restore order. Or I tried to anyway"

Callie lost her sister Tess a few months back and is still reeling from it due to her mom pushing for her sister who was hearing a voice into a saint. Not to mention that Tess was the one that kept Callie and their mom from constantly batting it out, means that now they don't really get along at all.
The real sainthood possibilities become even more prominent when Ana a six year old girl who has been missing for six months shows up at one of the Shrines set up to honor Tess.
This of course makes the sainthood possibility really explode with the media and the church as well. As more and more people claim it is a miracle and that Tess was responsible for me Callie becomes more determined to prove that her sister isn't a saint.

"What's wrong with me? Miracles are supposed to be good things. Miracles make people happy. A little girl survived something horrible. I should be happy for her, for her grandmother, for all of us. For you, Tess. Instead I feel like I've been gutted all over again, my chest torn wide."

Callie enlists the help of Danny and together that start trying to find clues to point to what happened. And hopefully for it to show that Callie was no saint. Callie and Danny make a pretty good team. Danny is kind of the misunderstood guy to everyone else but Callie and Tess and we get to see him really change and start to work towards a future. As for Callie she is rather mean at times and really just needs to step back and consider others a little more. We do see her change as well though thankfully.

"You do seem a little stressed?"
"Stressed you think I seem stressed?"
"If the only person who ever loved you was dead and being pimped out by our mother and the entire medical establishment was lining up to support her. DON'T YOU THINK YOU"D BE STRESSED TO?"

Told from three different main perspectives of Callie, Tess and Ana making this book really feel like you were right there with Callie trying to figure out what happened.

Overall this book was a really quick read for me. It was interesting to see how the whole town was reacting to the possibility of one of their own becoming a saint and how they reacted to it in what I believe to be a rather normal way. Some were all for it while others didn't believe it, which tends to happen to people who get "famous" and are from small towns. Also the modern day saint hood process was interesting to me, and how some of the higher ups in the church were reacting to it.

Ultimately though this book did feel more like it was about finding closure for Callie, her mom and Danny than figuring out a mystery. Which is completely okay and is still an important thing to read because of how it shows that they all dealt with grief differently. I was just personally expecting more of a mystery about finding out who took Ana and her story I guess.


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