By Allie Condie
This is a poignant tale of heartbreak and the resilient spirit of an individual to overcome the loss of not only her father but a young sibling as well. Cedar comes to terms with her father and younger brother's death. Ben had been autistic, but Cedar was able to understand and loved him. It has been a year and her mother has decided to buy a summer home Iron Creek, near her family. It should be good for them to be surrounded by loved ones while they learn to handle their new normal. They quickly settle into a routine, but Cedar notices a young man riding by her home in a costume, and one day decides to follow to see where he goes.
His destination is the local Shakespear in the park festival where he works doing concessions. Even though Cedar is young, she is found a job at the festival and quickly becomes friends with Leo. In an effort to make as much money as possible that summer Leo has concocted a scheme and asks if Cedar would like to be his partner. The scheme is to give festival attendees a celebrity walk of Iron Creek's famed Lisette Chamberlain. Of course, this is accomplished without any of the adults being aware of their activity. Leo and Cedar are eventually caught and lose their jobs at the concession, yet Cedar continues to volunteer her time in the wardrobe department, where she has befriended Lisette's old friend. In the end, Cedar and her family have decided to commemorate the loss of their loved ones by keeping and collecting items that Ben would have kept near at hand... a toothbrush, a screwdriver etc.
This is a very enjoyable read, well crafted with some very strong figurative speech especially metaphor for example, "Sometimes I thought of the three of us as pencils with the erasers scrubbed down to the end, and the next swipe across the paper would tear through the page and make a scree sound" (Condie, 11). I am going to only give this book a 3.5 out of 5. Somehow the book fell flat and was anti-climatic, the developed story was not the conflict. If you are looking for a light easy read, however, this is a good book to pick up.
Links
Michigan's Shakespeare in the Park
William Shakespeare
Allie Condie
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