Hello Bookworks and welcome back,
I hope everyone is doing well since we last got together. With the holidays now over we can begin to settle back into our normal routines without the extra traffic on the roads and the extra people in the stores. At least that’s the case in my area. In retrospect I will say this time of year does cause me to stay home more and read which brings us to this next book review.
Today’s book review is called, Starting Over by, Sheri Levy. I had never heard of this book or the author before. I happened to walk past this book on the shelf of the college bookstore I work for. I stopped and picked it up. One of the first things I realized was that it was a young adult book. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to read a book that was written for teenagers. I wasn’t sure because I didn’t want any judgements from my co-workers that would have to check me out. I reread the description on the back of the book. I felt silly for wanting to read it because it’s geared towards teenagers but it sounded interesting. I put the book back down as it was when I picked it up originally, on its side in a diagonal position. I just stood there staring at it. I picked it up for a second time and turned it over. When I turned it over this time I saw something I didn’t see the first time. I saw a yellow clearance price tag for 1.99. “Wow!” I decided to buy it.
I took the book home and started reading it right away. The main character is a 14-year old girl named Trina Ryan. Trina has a unique job where she trains service dogs. In addition to that responsibility she also gets a job at a barn taking care of horses. One day she meets an unruledly girl about the same age named, Morgan, who started boarding her horse at the barn Trina works at. Trina being an animal lover noticed the mistreatment in how Morgan cared for her horse.
As I read this book I fell in love with the simplicity of the story line and the innocence of it all. The reader learns about Trina’s personality, her values, and her love for animals and people. Starting Over is a clean, wholesome book, and overall a great family read.
In the book, Trina dislikes Morgan because of how Morgan neglects her horse. Trina begins to care for Morgan’s horse in secret. The thing about the rivery these two girls have is that there’s no violence. They don’t see eye to eye yet they both handled the disagreements better than some adults seem to in real life. Seriously! We see a lot of violence around us and in the news that it felt good to read a book about two young ladies that didn’t get along, yet had a healthy way of handling it. There was no fist fighting or other physical acts of harm. It’s not too far fetched to hear about teenage violence in the news or through social media posts. Levy reminds readers of how dislikes and disagreements should be handled.
As an adult reading a young adult book I felt the book was a refresher and a reminder to how humans should be treating each other in general. If we get along or not, there are certain ways to handle situations when we do not agree with each other. We don’t have to result to violence. I would recommend this book to any young adult as well as any adults. It’s an easy clean read that’s focused on doing the right thing; love of family, friends, and their community. If you haven’t already I say give this book a try whether you’re a young adult or a full blown adult.
Until next time Bookworms, stay safe and stay positive.
M.C. Addington 