Book Stop Corner

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

“Don't forget who you are and where you come from."
----F Scott Fitzgerald

It is becoming hard for Lily to move ahead without getting any idea about her real mother or father or her real roots. Without the raging war between America, Japan and Communist Party in China and for Lily, who happens to have a "chink" face and living with her adopted American family in the Kansas City, it is getting harder to survive her high school days without any mockery or racial teasing.

Barbara Stuber's protagonist, Lily, in her new book, Girl in Reverse is a meek, confused and curious young teenager, who's life suddenly takes on the reverse gear to find out about her past, that happens to haunt her almost every day! Girl in Reverse is not any kind of cheesy YA tale, instead it weaves a tale about finding your real roots and how to not forget them and exploring the bright dimension of art, antiques and cartoons!!


Synopsis:
In the blurb, we see that, Lily has been left by her real mother in a lonely orphanage, in Kansas City at the age of three, for adoption, and her mother vanished into thin air. Fast forward to the 1950s, we see Lily as a teenager, attending high school and dreading the social science periods. But with all the taunting and racial remarks about her originality, Lily gets determined to find her real roots, whether she is Japanese or Chinese. Her determination not only opens a wide world of new relationships but also make her identify her real-shelf. Imagine while finding roots, the whole experience changes your view on the outer world as well as on your inner shelf, then such a journey is worth experiencing. Although, she was not alone in finding the clues of her past life, her half-brother, Ralph, helps her find her about her real mother, when he stumbles upon an old box in her home's attic, under the nose of their parents. To find clues, they investigate in the local city museum, where Lily comes across the art genius, Elliot James, who used to make Lily very nervous and would make her heart beat faster. But with so much happening and so many revelations about her past so will Lily be able to accept the truth and be able to trace her oriental originality?

Following F. Scott Fitzgerald’s remarkable quote, it is quite evident that Lily is an epitome who is not only curious but also determined never to forget about her roots. Lily is someone, who you can easily relate to. Girl in Reverse will be a guide book for all those adopted kids who are really clueless about their originality. The author has tried to instilled one strong point among us that no matter what, you must figure out your real roots, origin, birth place, culture, religion and respect them. Yes, although adopted kids are supposed to wipe out of any memories of their previous life, but still, it is very important to know about their origin, since it'll teach them to know themselves better.

We see the unfolding of the plot with the eyes of Lily, who not only fall for a young art student, but also develops an interest for Chinese art and culture from their nearby Chinese restaurant. The characters are very spectacular, especially, Ralph and Mr. Howard, who stand beside Lily through thick and thin, and Ralph, not only wins your heart but also his sweet demeanor sparks up the whole book! I so want my brother to be like Ralph, who loved her adopted elder sister, Lily like crazily and always protected her no matter what and his obsession with the local Scouts team is quite impressionable. Mr. Howard makes everyone see the right from wrong with his wisdom and knowledge. The chemistry between Lily and Elliot is quite innocently narrated by the author and more than lust or love, they had a solid friendship. The book not only gripped me with the author's prose and flow of narration, but also enlightened me about lot of things- mostly racism!

Verdict: Don't miss out to read this compelling and enticing novel of Barbara Stuber, who takes you on a journey from oriental Chinese antique Bodhisattva to finding one's true-shelf!

Courtesy: I'd like to thank the author, Barbara Stuber, for giving me this opportunity to read and review her historical novel.
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Author Info: 
In the fourth grade Barbara Stuber co-authored her first book – a "Diotionary" (sic)of nonsense words. Early spelling challenges resolved she now weaves those words into short stories and novels. When not writing, Barbara is an art museum docent, drawing inspiration for her characters and honing details of setting and plot from the museum’s vast resource of portraits, landscapes and sculpture. 
Barbara lives in Kansas City with her family, about two hours from the good folks of Wellsford, Missouri. Crossing the Tracks is her first novel. 
Visit her here

Book Purchase Links:

• Amazon US 
• Amazon India 

 
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