Snow Lane

Review of Josephine Angelini’s "Snow Lane"Josephine Angelini is my favorite author. I fell in love with her first published series, Starcrossed Trilogy, when I pulled the first book off a shelf at Barnes and Noble because the cover looked pretty. I don’t touch a book if the cover isn’t pretty. I’m one of those people that judges books by their covers. It’s worked well. Only a handful of books that I’ve judged on the cover have turned out to be awful.It took me way too long to read her second series, Worldwalker Trilogy. I want to blame the fact that I was in college at the time it originally came out. Of course, it wasn’t just Angelini’s writing that drew me to her as an author. I was impressed with her writing, don’t get me wrong, it captures emotions well and Angelini knows how to pull in her audience.One of the main reasons that I love Josephine Angelini is because of how she is as a person. She’s courteous and engaging with her fans. I can almost guarantee that if I ask her a question on her social media platforms that I will receive an answer. I’m impressed by this since a lot of authors tend to ignore their audience. When I first asked her a question, I was over the moon that I received a response since it felt like one in a million. Then I was able to have conversations with her and I saw that she, as an author, wanted to thank her fans for the support they show. Angelini is a welcoming woman that inspires me as a writer. If I could be even a quarter of the writer that she is, I would say that I’m successful. She’s amazing.It’s kind of funny. For some reason as you get older you have less and less time to read, or if you are reading, you’re reading because it’s an assignment. You no longer read for enjoyment. There’s so many books on my shelf that are never read, but whenever I pick up a book by Angelini, all of the time in the world becomes mine again. I find myself so enthralled in the stories that there’s time for what she has to say. The narrative is addicting and "Snow Lane" is no different to her other books in this regard."Snow Lane" is not my typical genre for reading, but I wanted to give it a try since Angelini is my favorite author (not many avid readers can claim this). I went into this story knowing that I’d have to give it more of a chance because of the genre, but once I hit that first page I fell in love.It’s a book that is impossible to put down. I should’ve known. Somehow I didn’t. The wit was classic and I realized that Angelini had placed another hit book in my hands. There wasn’t a page that went by that I didn’t laugh at because of some quip. One of my favorite’s was in chapter one. I’m an only child. I’ll let you guess which line I loved.I often pass books over to my mom once I’ve finished reading them, especially if they are good, so that she can enjoy them as well. I kept finding myself darting out of my room to share amazing gems of lines that the book provided, all the while hoping that they wouldn’t spoil the story. When something makes you laugh, you want to share it with the world."Snow Lane" has religion play a major theme in the book since the family is Catholic. I’m not Catholic, I practice a different religion under the broad scope of Christianity, but I found the ideas relatable and humorous. Some things carry over into every branch of Christianity. Others are stereotypes. Whether someone who is not religious could enjoy this book, is debatable. Though the same can be said for someone who is religious. If you’re not willing to laugh at yourself, this book isn’t for you.The story is from the point of view of a ten-year-old girl named Annie, who has a crappy “(five Hail Marys)” life. It shows the narrative of a family with a lot of children and parents that don’t make enough money to take care of all of them. The fascinating dichotomy and relationships that came out of this family of eleven (including the parents) reminds me of my mother’s family because they had ten children instead of nine, but even so—my mother’s family was richer than the Bianchis. Or at least, I’d like to think so. I know my mother would love this book because she was like a mother to her youngest sibling which is similar to the relationship between Annie and her oldest sister Miri."Snow Lane" helps to inspire people to do family history. That was what I took away from the book while reading the beginning. It’s important to know where you began and then you can write an ending for yourself. Annie, the little dyslexic girl from a family of nine, has a destiny and at ten-years-old, she has to find it.I can honestly say that I never expected to cry while reading this book, but before I knew it the tears were welling up and I knew that Angelini had written the characters in such a way that I couldn’t not feel for them. For a moment, I was Annie and all I wanted to do was cry because life is hard on her. I wanted to make it all better, but as the reader, I can’t. I think I cried hard enough to fix the California drought. I had to take off my glasses permanently while reading (I’m far sighted) because I couldn’t keep crying with them on. Those are some of the many moments that you realize you have an amazing book within your grasp.Josephine Angelini’s "Snow Lane" is one of those that makes you forget what time it is. When you’re reading, you’re reading and suddenly it’s late in the evening and you haven’t snacked on anything, you’ve forgotten to eat, but you don’t care because all you want to do is continue reading. Feasting on the story is more than enough to feed you for weeks. By the time you reach the end, you realize you don’t want the story to end. When the story ends, it’s like taking off your coat in the middle of a blizzard. You’re left freezing and wondering where to go next because you can’t just put your coat back on. That’s too simple.The characters are easy to fall in love with, except for a select handful. They surprise you when you least expect it and your personal, reader to character relationship changes in the blink of an eye.And I can tell you one thing. You’ll never see the ending coming from a mile away. It took me probably three hours tops to finish the book and it was as equally amazing as all of Angelini’s other works. I can’t wait to see what her next project will be.

Annie is the youngest of nine children -- 8 girls, 1 boy -- growing up in the 1980s. Annie's Irish-Italian family leans towards various kinds of brilliance that often leave her feeling distinctly in a space of "less than." Her father is a chemist, math teacher, and part-time farmer, while sister Miriam is a math genius who, at the age of 19, has already been attending college for three years. Dyslexic, Annie is often treated as sort of an afterthought by her mother. Several of the sisters can be quite mean to her as well, but Annie has good & patient friendships with sisters Nora, Gina, and Miriam (who practically raised Annie as her own). The sisters are also there to provide a little tough love from time to time.It's a complicated dynamic in this household, and not just by academic standards. The story makes several nods to a Catholic upbringing for the children, examples being "10 Hail Marys" for Annie whenever she curses, or how scars from a knife accident remind her of stigmata. Annie's father tends to baby her a lot and much of the outside world tends to act as if she is mentally challenged, even though her school places her in ACT ("Academically Creative & Talented) --- during my school days we just called it the "Gifted Program". There are also brief references to child abuse situations, as well as one of Annie's sisters dating an abusive man with a hot temper. Near the end of the story Annie also throws out the fact that she's been living in a hoarder's house this whole time. And it's the year of the Challenger Disaster...so yeah, a lot of stressors in this young one's life.The presentation of Snow Lane features a slight "stream of consciousness" style (in a very kid-like way). It can be problematic at times, because I was left feeling too distanced from this family. Lots of talking, but I didn't come away feeling like I knew any of these characters all that well.The tone alternates between some light humor --- Annie's confusion over the term "Irish Twins", as her parents call her siblings JP (John Paul) and Gina --- and some heavier moments such as discussions with or about Annie's mom that also reveal some possible disappointments the mother has in how her own life turned out.Oh, and there are also a number of Star Wars references in this little book. 👍Being dyslexic myself, I'm always appreciative of any book that encourages conversation on the topic, but I didn't always love how the condition was described here. Annie's dyslexia affects her ability to dress herself? She puts everything on backwards and then has to correct herself? What??! I don't know if I'm just lucky, but I never once had it affect how well I could clothe my body. Still, I recognized a similar appreciation for number patterns between Annie and myself, so that was cool (though I can't be sure whether to attribute that to my dyslexia or OCD lol). I also appreciate how this book in general addresses the point that different students have different methods for absorbing information and how that should be better appreciated within today's education system. The "one size fits all" format can be so stressful, and ultimately detrimental, to otherwise brilliant students who maybe just need a slightly altered approach to teaching certain subjects.

Really liked the books.