Katherine Spencer Reviews

Added January 24, 2008

Saving Grace

Author: Katherine Spencer
Publisher: Harcourt Books Inc.
Available At: Bookstores Everywhere
Publishing Date: September 2007
Genre: Young Adult: Contemporary/Mainstream
Format: Trade Paperback
Price: $6.95
ISBN-13: 978:0-15-205740-4
Reviewer: Joyce Handzo
Rating: 9 Gargoyles

Saving Grace is all about losing and finding the greatest thing on earth -- love. When Grace Stanley's brother was killed in a car accident, she lost her own reason for living. Her depression set up a downward spiral of destructive behavior that isolated her from her family and friends. Yet, one girl persistently pursues Grace, in a desperate and last-ditch effort to save her from herself.

These pages resonant with the gritty emotions of a troubled teenaged girl. Written in the first-person, Grace's thoughts, anger and frustration are portrayed with a captivating sense of realism. As her mind wanders from memories of her brother to the daily routine of home and school life, readers will hear her whispered cries for help. As she enters into compromising social situations, her whispers become screams for deliverance, but those around her seem powerless to offer assistance. Until Philomena, a geek who is definitely outside the inner circle of "cool" steadfastly attaches herself to Grace, offering a quiet strength and wisdom much older than her years.

Author Katherine Spencer has a solid understanding of the teenage years, depicting situations that reverberate with reality. Through dynamic dialogue and familiar relationship issues, young adults will see through the mirror of Grace's mania to the underlying and common frustration of finding love and acceptance in today's world. Grace's attitude and aptitude for getting into trouble becomes more than a story line, it showcases this universal need that has become the mantra for a generation that seeks true meaning in life. As Grace struggles to find her new identity as the sister of her dead brother, she has to discover who she is --- and who she isn't.

Saving Grace mixes life, death, God and evil in a story that will stir your soul.

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This page was last updated on January 24, 2008

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