Mothers Book

At first I felt the author spent too much time on descriptions - everything was mulled over in great, artistic detail. For a small boy to be the narrator, this was a little overdone. But as I got farther in, I found that I liked the story told from this point of view, even if it was a little unrealistic. There was an incredible depth to this book, with characters who were fully realized. It was also long enough that I spent several days reading it, thinking about it, and looking forward to more, but at the end I felt satisfied.

In some ways, I am always looking for books with gay characters where being gay is not an issue (or at least the major plot focus). This was strangely true and at the same time false. The story wasn't really about a pair of lesbian mothers so much as it was about how society changes both our inner and outer lives, and how family can mean many different things.

My only disappointment was in the way that the narrator never goes back to find Shorty and either return the pin or at least make sure he is constantly fed. It seemed the least he could do, and while I guess it makes the boy more human, it also made me think just a little less of him.