At seventeen, Linda is pretty, captain of the tennis team, and she and Brian are very much in love. Life is exciting and full. Suddenly, she discovers that she has a fatal disease.
She rages against the knowledge that she is dying, inwardly shouting, "Why me?" Refusing to accept the truth, she clings to every speck of hope that she will live. Finally, she turns to Brian and with his help she faces the future with courage.
The book pictured is an earlier Scholastic edition not packaged for the Wishing Star set. Due to the use of stock photos online, this book is hard to locate in the Wishing Star version.
Linda is not told what is wrong with her until page 68. Her parents and boyfriend already know, and they don't tell her. I was so annoyed.
This book never interested me. I skimmed my way through it.
Honey wishes she could have a pretty home and a mother who really cares about her. Ever since her father left them, Honey has been taking care of everything! She wishes someone would worry about her for a change. If only she had a friend she could talk to...
Why does she feel so guilty about her mother? And why is she so mean to Danny when she knows how much he loves her? Suddenly Honey's world is coming apart—her father is coming back to live with them! Can she ever forgive him?
This book has an annoying prologue telling all about how Honey feels about various people, then the first chapter shares even more background information. Up through chapter 5 is background information, and the story does not reach the present until page 58.
Authors should always just get to the story. The background information is easier to digest when presented throughout the story when relevant.
On page 43, Honey tells the reader that the "only other Black people [she] knew were Mrs. Lance..." The word "Black" as a proper noun really jumped out at me. As of June 2020, the media have begun capitalizing "Black" when it refers to the race. This book was far ahead of its time in respect to that. Of course, it was probably just a mistake, but still, I found it interesting.
On page 44, Honey explains what she thinks of Van.
We thought she was romantic the way she dressed. She was our connection, we thought, to the awesomeness and mystery of deep, dark Africa.You tell her, Van!
I made the mistake of telling her that.
"Listen, little girl," she said angrily, "America is my home. This isn't the South and this isn't the olden days. The way I dress isn't far out. Dunham is just way behind the times, that's all. Go to New York sometimes, girls, or even just into Boston for the day. Don't you be thinking I'm some kind of freak. Women can dress any damn way they please today and I'm my own woman!"
On pages 157 and 158, Van explains about Mother-Pie.
"Okay, so Mama said: Imagine a pie. If you cut it up, it's still a pie; still good and nourishing. It can fill you up with goodness. Say your real mother is one piece of pie, Honey, and Mrs. Redfield is another. Your friend, the librarian, is another piece and the old lady who just died was one more. They all give you what they can give. And it sounds like your Danny might be a piece of that pie too, and maybe even your dad at one time." She grinned. "Men can be mothers too, you know."This book is good at the the beginning, although rather tedious. From page 58 on, the book is very good to excellent. Overall, the book is very good.
Then her dark eyes were boring into mine again.
"Ever consider I might be part of your Mother-Pie?"
I was floored. "You?" I gasped.
"Sure," she said. "I'm the mean Mom. The bossy one. The one who makes you wipe your feet and do your homework and wants you to look as good as the other kinds. Yeah, Honey-chile, call me Mother too."
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