What I Carry

by Jennifer Longo

[Sam@WLABB]

One more year. Muir just had to keep her head down for one more year, and then, freedom. What Muir wasn't planning on was being placed with Francine, or meeting Kira, or finding Sean. Attachments were never part of the plan, and now she must decide what her next steps will be.



Seriously! My heart just kept exploding, over and over, as I read this beautiful book. And, then when I read Longo's note at the end of the book, I was a hot mess of happy tears. I believe you should just read this book so you can feel all the feels, but I am going to share some other reasons why I loved it so much.

1. John Muir - You may have noticed the interesting spelling of Muiriel's name. The spelling is a nod to the naturalist, John Muir. Muiriel was very dedicated to John Muir's teachings, and cited him often when explaining her own beliefs and lifestyle choices. I loved the way Longo wove Muir into this story. It was fascinating and enlightening.

2. Environmental Ethics - One of the things that Sean and Muiriel bonded over was their shared love of the environment. However, they had different idols, with very different philosophies. I enjoyed the arguments they got into, and loved how they challenged the established record and ideas of each naturalist. Between their discussions and getting to spend time at the wilderness camp, I learned a lot of new things.

3. The Foster Care System - Longo is personally acquainted with the foster care system having served as a foster parent, and included a lot of information about the system in this story. It was also easy to see, that she considered being a foster parent a special privilege, and it shows in this story. Her thoughts come through in the most wonderful ways via Francine, Muir's foster mother, while we learn a lot of the stigmas associated with being a foster child from Muir.

4. Found Family - I am trash for found family, and Muir lucked into a stupendous bunch of people. I already mentioned how Sean and Muir was tailor-made for each other, and how Francine was simply one of the best people ever! Then, there was Kira, who would become Muir's "person". I loved them all so much, and wait until you learn how Kira and Francine are linked. It's top-notch hankie sort of stuff. I found myself rooting for these three to break Muir, because I wanted her hard shell to crack. I wanted her to let people love her, to let people in, and I believed these were the right people for her.

5. Terry Johnson - Terry Johnson was Francine's dog, and I fell in love with him. First of all, he was always address by his full name, which never failed to make me smile. He also was a great source of joy for so many, especially Muir, and obviously, I fell in love with him too.

6. The Things She Carried - Muir had a bag of items she ferried from placement to placement. Many of the items were small, and represented significant memories. Throughout the story, Muir digs these items out of the bag, and flashes back on the memory it holds. These were very telling moments, and many cracked my heart in half. I thought it was a fantastic way to help me, the reader, connect with and understand Muir on a deeper level.

This was one of those books, which I feel I cannot fully explain my love for. All I know is that it made me so, so happy, and filled me with all sorts of joy. It was a such a beautiful story, and I just want everyone to experience it.

BLOG | INSTAGRAM |TWITTER | BLOGLOVIN | FRIEND ME ON GOODREADS