So B. It: A Touching Coming-of-Age Novel About a Mother's Mystery and a Girl's Journey of Discovery for Kids (Ages 8-12)

This is an extremely well-crafted novel for "young adult" readers. Yet, it never feels "crafted," at all, and this senior, senior reader enjoyed it greatly. In retrospect, I've recognized there has not been a person, an incident, a thought, a clue in 12-year-old heroine Heidi's life and search for her roots that was not prelude to and in someway causative of what she finally learns. Learns after her brave, long trek by bus across much of the nation to satisfy her curiosity about her "bum-brained" mother's mysterious past -- and, therefore, about herself -- all to be uncovered in "Liberty, NY." However, it never seems that those incidents, those persons, those clues are planted by author Sarah Weeks to tie all the aspects of her novel into the seamless whole she provides. Not a hint of it! The reader instead hurries forward, taken on and on by the incessancy of the story and the child's quest -- this is a true "page turner." It hardly allows a rest stop for a late-night reader's, "Have mercy: somewhere, 'Lights Out' for tonight!" The first time I could more than briefly set aside this little book, at least for a night or two, came when Heidi finally reaches her destination -- an old, by this time to her, fabled building on a hilltop at Liberty. There, she encounters an angered older man; a liar, Heidi realizes. Ah, ha, an adult reader understands; I know what this child will learn next; and it will be life-changing -- but not in any way our innocent has anticipated. Too, as Heidi makes several forays to and from that "liberty" hilltop, one finally begins to recognize how importantly, how gently, carefully, quietly, how tellingly, Ms. Weeks has had Heidi learn throughout all of her treks about the entrapments of lies and lying -- and, therefore, about truth. Yes, this is a novel directed at "young adults;" but, I promise, when this child recognizes her saddening, saddening losses of her only known, biological family members -- as it seems to her, "both on the same day," readers of every age will feel those losses almost as greatly as she does. Finally, the novel lifts Heidi, a so-special remnant of her "always" family, two persons Heidi blesses, to everyone's surprise, and Ms. Weeks' readers to cheerful outcomes and expectations. So B. It is a "comedy" in the classical sense -- it has a happy, well, a bitter-sweetly happy ending. It is and has been an often, often highly recommended comedy. One that young people for several decades now have loved and shared -- for good reasons. (Incidentally, "So B. It," the movie -- with a stellar, vibrant cast -- is to be released in late 2017. "Informed, reliable sources" say it is a moving, family film, because of extraordinarily fine acting perhaps even more engaging than the novel -- !! "It will be well worth seeing, and a worthwhile addition to a family's libraries of films.")

This is a wonderful book for youth. It is very engaging, has a very touching story plot, and looks at topics that are valuable for young children to think about. The main character is the daughter of a woman with major brain dysfunction and she is on a search for her family ties that can't be explained by her mother. When she finds an old camera and has the photos developed, she decides to follow the clues that the photos give her to answer her questions about the rest of her family. Discovering the meaning of the word "soof," one of the few words in her mother's vocabulary, is the main purpose of her quest. I read this book to a class of 6th graders and they begged me to read it daily. They were very involved in the journey and the search for answers. It is a delightful book dealing with family connections, relating to those with special needs, innocence of youth, observing and learning from the environment, and the meaning of life and love.

I'm a mom who enjoys reading some juvenile fiction (it tends to be emotionally lighter) and also previews many novels for her precocious, gifted nine-year-old child. Another reviewer's comments about how the book handles the conception of a child by a mentally disabled character convinced me that I needed to preview this one for my son. I didn't need to worry. This book is completely appropriate for its late-intermediate/early-young-adult audience. There is nothing in it (of a moral nature) that I would struggle to explain to my child. He does understand the birds and the bees, in a scientific way, and this book does not nudge a young reader to think past the most basic biology to the complexities of adult sexual relationships. If you have an extremely sensitive child, the most challenging thing to explain/work through in this book is actually a death, not the conception of the heroine. I liked this book. The characters were interesting and less cookie-cutter than many other novels (children's and adult!) The protagonist is a good person, admittedly defying her adult guardians to undertake her quest, but not rebellious simply to rebel. The unorthodox family in this book makes a fine role model of a loving modern family. I really appreciate the lesson herein that we all have limitations, but we have to step up with whatever we've been given and do our best to contribute. The agoraphobic caregiver, for example, who can manage a household without ever going outside. It is also fun to see Heidi develop socially as she moves through the outside world for the first time on her adventure. Because she is older but never went to school, she analyzes and interprets her new social skills (lying, behaviors that people do or don't want to tolerate) in an interesting way, and there may be kids who really learn from this. I'm glad I read it, and not just to preview for my child.

Excellent work by the writer

I started this book about 4 pages in and thought. This is silly. I put it down and started another book. For some reason I couldnt get it out of my head. I preserved. So glad I did.... This book isn't for everyone but it touched me on so many levels. Thank you Sarah Weeks for giving me some life lessons in a book full of strength and hope and the belief in people. A strange review and not detailed but it is a review which hopefully will leave the reader to find out for themselves what the book is about and I know it will touch you on some level.

Happy to have found this book available on amazon. Have been looking for it for years

久しぶりに、良い本を見つけました。先が気になって最後まで夢中で読みました。英語も簡単なので難しい単語でつっかえることもなく、内容にフォーカスできます。

Excellent book for young readers