Published April 27, 2011 by Amulet Books5 Stars
Goodreads Review
When her best guy friend falls victim to a vicious hate crime, sixteen-year-old Cat sets out to discover who in her small town did it. Richly atmospheric, this daring mystery mines the secrets of a tightly knit Southern community and examines the strength of will it takes to go against everyone you know in the name of justice.
Against a backdrop of poverty, clannishness, drugs, and intolerance, Myracle has crafted a harrowing coming-of-age tale couched in a deeply intelligent mystery. Smart, fearless, and compassionate, this is an unforgettable work from a beloved author.
Review: Shine is a very important book that covers the topics of homosexuality, drug use, and small town mentality. It's about how ignorance can breed fear and hate. But Shine is also about overcoming social expectations to do what is right.
I really liked how Shine handled such a wide variety of problems without ever feeling forced. The main story is about a gay hate crime, but as the motivations behind that crime unfold we get to see the fronts put up by everyone in the town fall away. We see that everyone has things about themselves that they are ashamed about. Instead of putting things out in the open where they can be resolved and get help they shove it down where it never gets dealt with and just festers and gets worse. I think this creates a sense of isolation and helplessness.
However I did find parts of the story very predictable. There would be times where I figured out something way before Cat and I would just sit there thinking 'Come on girl, figure it out so we can move on." Eventually she'd figure it out and we'd move on. There were also times where my imagination was way worse that what actually happened. I think that because it was a YA book parts of the story were toned down a bit. I don't have a problem with that but when I was expecting an ocean of hurt and only got a medium sized pond of hurt I felt a little underwhelmed (if that analogy makes any sense at all).
Beyond the who-done-it aspect of the story, I think the most important part is the commentary on how fear causes us to be selfish and act with a fight for survival mentality. We forsake other's well being for our own when fear takes us over. And ignorance and misunderstanding cause fear. We have to all be more tolerate and take an active role to understand each other and people who are different in order ot overcome that fear.
After the cluster that was the WSJ Article of Doom and the more recent National Book Award mess I can only hope that people will continue to read books and make up their own minds about the merits of a book. Shine is a dark book that covers dark topics yes, but overall it has a message of hope and that even the most prejudice of people can learn to accept and love.
Review: Shine is a very important book that covers the topics of homosexuality, drug use, and small town mentality. It's about how ignorance can breed fear and hate. But Shine is also about overcoming social expectations to do what is right.
I really liked how Shine handled such a wide variety of problems without ever feeling forced. The main story is about a gay hate crime, but as the motivations behind that crime unfold we get to see the fronts put up by everyone in the town fall away. We see that everyone has things about themselves that they are ashamed about. Instead of putting things out in the open where they can be resolved and get help they shove it down where it never gets dealt with and just festers and gets worse. I think this creates a sense of isolation and helplessness.
However I did find parts of the story very predictable. There would be times where I figured out something way before Cat and I would just sit there thinking 'Come on girl, figure it out so we can move on." Eventually she'd figure it out and we'd move on. There were also times where my imagination was way worse that what actually happened. I think that because it was a YA book parts of the story were toned down a bit. I don't have a problem with that but when I was expecting an ocean of hurt and only got a medium sized pond of hurt I felt a little underwhelmed (if that analogy makes any sense at all).
Beyond the who-done-it aspect of the story, I think the most important part is the commentary on how fear causes us to be selfish and act with a fight for survival mentality. We forsake other's well being for our own when fear takes us over. And ignorance and misunderstanding cause fear. We have to all be more tolerate and take an active role to understand each other and people who are different in order ot overcome that fear.
After the cluster that was the WSJ Article of Doom and the more recent National Book Award mess I can only hope that people will continue to read books and make up their own minds about the merits of a book. Shine is a dark book that covers dark topics yes, but overall it has a message of hope and that even the most prejudice of people can learn to accept and love.
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