Reviews for Tending to Grace

The average rating for Tending to Grace based on 2 reviews is 4 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2010-09-20 00:00:00 James McIntyre I read a book this morning; a wonderful, short, evocative, uplifting book called Tending to Grace. It’s a young adult novel, and I have to admit, I love the way so many young adult books are so lyrically written, tightly edited and refreshingly focused. It made a lovely way to center my thoughts at the beginning of the day. Tending to Grace is written from the point of view of a high school sophomore whose mother leaves for Vegas with the boyfriend, dropping daughter off with an elderly eccentric aunt in the countryside. The short scenes never revel in the young girl’s thoughts, simply placing them there to be read on the page. Take it or leave it. This is who she is. But slowly the hard shell round Cornelia begins to crack. And the wounded space at the center of Aunt Agatha’s heart breaks open. Lives and futures are changed, while a wooden outhouse surprisingly fails to tip open and the spiders’ webs get cleaned. I love the way Cornelia’s story expands to encompass her aunt’s, her mother’s, the little girl’s whose father is out of work, the librarian’s, and even the teachers’. I love the way Cornelia’s entry into other people’s lives through books becomes a door opening to her own. And I love the feel of different worlds colliding when city girl meets country home, when silent rebel begins to confess the delight of reveling in words. Most of all, I love the way the author pulled me into a young girl’s pain, through her shell, into her heart, and showed the space that each of us can make if we open our minds.

Review # 2 was written on 2011-07-22 00:00:00 Dwayne Coleman C-C-C-C-Cornelia Thornhill stutters uncontrollably and is a neglected child that has been forced to take on the role of an adult. She keeps things straight. Her mother is completely irresponsible. Her mother runs off to Las Vegas with a loser boyfriend after she dumps Cornelia with Aunt Agatha, a virtual stranger. Cornelia stuffs her feelings of hurt inside and refuses to speak most of the time, because of her stutter. When she’s forced to live with the eccentric old woman she finds she’s smarter than she knew. She meets a young girl with an ogre for a father. He refuses to let her go to summer school and learn to read. Cornelia takes it upon herself to teach her and discovers her Aunt Agatha can’t read either. She teaches her to read as well.Bo’s father shows up at Agatha’s house and is angry when he finds Cornelia teaching Bo to read. Cornelia lifts her head and argues with him. The silence she hides behind shatters as she defends the young girl. The strength she found when defending Bo she begins to exert and use to stand up for herself. Fusco’s book tugs at the heartstrings and wakens the cheerleader for the underdog in everyone. A message of strength and courage is exhibited in Cornelia’s growth. She is wounded, yet strong and a shining example of how to be one’s own advocate.