Eat, Read, and Be Mommy

Because there’s plenty to write about, right? And I was (once again) too tired to do it last evening. So yes, it’s an even day, but I’ve got to start somewhere. AND I finished reading Elana K. Arnold’s The Question of Miracles to my 13-year-old last night, so I figure if I just review that today, it’ll be manageable AND I can return it to the library. Right?

Reviewing such a book, on the other hand, poses just a bit of a challenge. Is it a rumination on the titular question of miracles? A chronicle of Iris’s journey through grief? Or a story about friendship? Realistically, of course, it’s all three; Iris is grieving the death of her best friend when Boris enters her life, and even as their friendship develops, she is weighed down by what feels like the arbitrariness of life. Why did Boris live when the doctors were sure he wouldn’t? Why did Sarah die? And, on a practical level, is it okay to make new friends? How do you go on when someone’s death has left a hole in your life? And how do people in Oregon get used to ALL THAT RAIN?

The Question of Miracles develops unhurriedly–I think it took my girlie more than one reading session to fully engage–but it does develop, and we both found ourselves thoroughly caught up in Iris’s journey. I’d recommend this one to thoughtful readers, ones with big questions–or to anyone struggling to accept the sudden death of a loved one. It was quiet and surprising–that is to say, it developed differently than I was expecting it would–but lovely and thought-provoking; occasionally, it was laugh-out-loud funny.

Read it when you’re in a pondering sort of mood.