Get Up Tim

by Sally Weigel

[lovelybookshelf]

Originally posted on my blog, A Lovely Bookshelf on the Wall:

It's no secret that so far, I've adored every one of the CCLaP titles I've read. The stories in Sally Weigel's Get Up Tim are an interesting mix of edgy and sweet, real and magical. They are fantastic character studies, as the synopsis suggests, but for some reason the collection as a whole wasn't quite as memorable for me.

My favorite stories were "Growth Spurts" and "The Land of What If," thanks to how brilliantly Weigel handled the child perspectives. During Bout of Books 10 I mentioned that the magical realism in "Growth Spurts" reminded me of Aimee Bender's The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake... the trees, the wood, the furniture. Without giving anything away, I thought there is an interesting parallel between Maria in "Get Up Tim" and Joseph at the end of Lemon Cake. I was also touched by the perspective of the homeless character in "Flower Punk."

For me, these three stories were the gems, but I wanted more. If Sally Weigel ever writes a full-length novel incorporating magical realism, an element which really sparkled in Get Up Tim, I'll be first in line for it.

3 1/2 stars.

I received a copy of this book as a gift from the publisher; a review was neither requested nor expected...but I review the books I read, so here we are!