I had high hopes for this book. It is fiction based on historical events in the early 1950's, written by someone who is well known for her children's books.

The historical events were three commercial plane crashes that occurred in the same neighborhood in less than a six month period in the early 1950's.

The main character is 15 year old Miri Ammermann and it is told mostly from her perspective. At the same point in time she learns who her father is, meets him and falls in love with a boy who cheats on her.

So, besides the plane crashes it is an eventful time in her life and she comes back 35 years later in 1987 to mark the 35th anniversary of all that happened that Winter in Elizabeth New Jersey.

I was off to a good start with my reading goals this year, until this book. I kept running into stopping places where I had little to no interest in continuing. I had to force myself to read.

In the end, it was okay in some parts, but seemed incomplete in others. Miri's life is summed up hurriedly in the end and I didn't really get a feeling for why all the adults did what they did back in the 1950's.

What I liked was the interaction between Miri and her boyfriend and her father and mother. That was the best part of the book. The father and his family acted as if there were no plane crashes at all, but Miri ( who witnessed the actual crashes and knew victims on the planes and on the ground) was quite preoccupied with the whole business. Families split up and moved away because of the result of the planes crashing into the suburban neighborhoods.

really had a good idea, but somehow it didn't quite do it for me. I wouldn't recommend as the whole thing was a very slow reading slog.

I was very disappointed, having purchased the hardback new, relying on the writer's reputation. She just didn't pull it all together for me as a reader. There wasn't enough emphasis on the planes crashing and the aftermaths, it was more like a backdrop for Miri's story than anything else.

If I had it to do over again, I'd skip this one.

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Created Mar 12, 2016 at 11:34am • Submit your own review...