In this debut novel, a high school girl faces the pain, shame, and uncertainty that come with sexual abuse. With the passing of her mother, Kate Franklin's life unravels at the seams as she loses the only emotional mooring in her family. Her dad shuts down completely, and her brother enlists in the army. Things start looking better when her dad is hired to coach at Beacon Prep, home of one of the best basketball teams in the state. In a blog of prose and poetry, Kate chronicles her new world dating a basketball player, being caught up in a world of idolatry and entitlement, and discovering the perks the inner circle enjoys. Then Kate's fragile life shatters once again when one of her boyfriend's teammates assaults her at a party. Although she knows she should speak out, her dad's vehemently against it and so, like a canary sent into a mine to test toxicity levels and protect miners, Kate alone breathes the poisonous secrets to protect her dad and the team. The once welcoming community has betrayed Kate, her family is disintegrating, and she's on her own to grapple with whether to stay quiet or speak out and expose a town's hero and destroy her father's career.
Canary, is one of those contemporary stand alone young adult novels, that was powerful in such a way that it drug my emotions all of the place. Written in a mixture of prose and verse, it is one of those novels where the story beneath the telling, has a way of getting up underneath your skin and irritating. Irritating in a good way, to clarify. In some ways it reminded me of Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. In light of recent events gone on in the news lately, I think this is a story that was much needed to be told, and it was written in such a realistic and relatable way that it is easy to connect with the characters in the story.
Powerful and dripping with emotion, this is a story will command your attention from the beginning. There's more than one issue going on, at the heart of this story. Rachele Alpine, tackles them both with a sensitivity and vulnerability that will leave your heart aching for Kate, her home life, the ordeal she goes through, and her brother. This is a beautifully written and truly compelling look at the inside of a girl who has to battle a long journey of self-discovery, in order to become stronger within her own skin to make the right choice for herself. Kate is a beautiful portrait of a realistic heroine that is to be admired for all of her courageous grace and beauty.
It is a hard book to get through, with so many different ways of looking at things such as enlisting in the military, the incident where Kate is assaulted, the fall out of the decision from that, among so many other things. However, I have to applaud Rachele Apline, for writing it in such a way that it was beautifully captivating and emotionally compelling. It will definitely hold your attention and parts of it may very well make you angry. There are just so many conflicting emotions throughout this novel, that make it so wonderfully realistic and definitely worth a read. I would definitely recommend giving it a chance.
Reading updates
-
Started reading
-
15 March, 2013:
Finished reading
-
15 March, 2013:
Reviewed