Friday, April 13, 2012

Book Review: With a Name Like Love by Tess Hilmo (Whitney Finalist)

Title: With a Name Like Love
Author: Tess Hilmo
Enjoyment Rating: 8/10
Referral: Whitney Finalist
Source: Kindle for iPad
Books I've read this year: 46

I really liked With a Name Like Love, the story of the daughter of an itinerant preacher, whose family lands in a small Southern town, and who soon finds herself trying to save a young boy and his mother from a murder rap. Unfortunately, I don't have a lot to say about it in this review. I read it in China, in truth, I read most of it sitting on the bathroom floor in China while praying that my girls would stay asleep in the other room, so it's understandably a little bit of a blur in my mind. But I do remember great writing. This story is quite different from the others in the Youth Fiction General category because the rest of the stories are contemporary tales, and all of the other four have some element of romance in them (yes, it's a stretch to call Miles from Ordinary a romance, but I'm doing it anyway). This story, on the other hand, almost feels like it's for a younger audience (despite the fact that Ollie is fourteen). In fact, the place it occupies in the YFG category feels a lot like the Tuesdays at the Castle by Jessica Day George occupies in the Youth Fiction Speculative category. It's a quiet book, it doesn't try to hit you over the head with snappy dialogue or funny events. It meanders; it's earnest. It's also the book I'd most want my daughter to read.


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