my take: We had a lively and long discussion at book chicks … and enjoyed a particularly wonderful lemon cake. Much of the discussion was on the subject of parental favorites. A current topic, as it was recently on the cover of Time, and something we could all relate to as children & parents.

With such a title, you can imagine some found the book particularly sad. I thought the narrator had a darkly humorous and slightly hopeful tone … but maybe I read that into it. To me, it has a tone similar to Jeannette Walls in The Glass Castle… a weird childhood told in an optimistic manner.

Some at book chicks thought the author strayed too far from reality. I say, it’s fiction – we suspend beliefs when we open a book. But that makes for a read that isn’t necessarily “get lost into” fiction … we are aware that it’s not real when characters have special powers.

One aspect I particularly enjoyed was the commentary on modern food production … through the narrator’s taste buds the coldness of factory made food or the plight of fruit pickers is brought to the table.

my source: Book Chicks

my verdict: good read, great discussion. something out of the ordinary.