I wasn't sure what I was getting into when I began this book, but I liked it. Steph Harper is a teenager living in Tahlequah, Oklahoma--the Capital of the Cherokee Nation, with her mother and younger sister, Kayla. Steph is obsessed with everything space and her one goal in life is to become an astronaut. Steph is not interested in her Cherokee roots and wants more than anything to get to a fancy boarding school in order to begin her long road to space.
Steph's sister, Kayla, has fully embraced her Cherokee roots and is much more involved in the community. Steph's mother, Hannah, views Tahlequah as a safe place for her and her daughters to grow up and stay. Neither one understands Steph's obsession, but her mother dutifully creates a Cherokee culture and space camp, when she can't afford to send Steph to the real Space Camp.
As she gets older, Steph begins to explore her sexuality--primarily in college when she meets Della Owens. Della was made infamous in the Cherokee community as a young girl. Della was adopted by a Mormon couple in Utah, but her father and the tribe challenged the adoption under the Indian Child Welfare Act. Della was torn from her father and grandmother as a young child when she was given back to her original adoptive family. Now as an adult, she is more interested in exploring her Cherokee heritage.
This story is told in many different ways. It begins simply from Steph's point of view as she grows up in Tahlequah. Then there are some intermittent chapters from Della's perspective as she visits her father and continues on to college. After college, there are texts, emails, and even dating profiles. I thought it was a unique and interesting way to tell a story.
What sticks with me most about this story was how well Ramage did in showing real, flawed characters. She described where they were coming from and what motivated them, and they always felt real. More than once, I was so frustrated with Steph and how she treated other people in her life. But I could also see how much she was struggling. That is also true with Kayla and her mother. They felt like a real family with a truckload of baggage who cared about each other and were doing the best they could--even when they unintentionally hurt each other.
***SPOILERS*** Two chaotic scenes were some of the best in the book, in my opinion. The first was when Steph discovers that her mother kept her acceptance letter from Exeter from her. At this point in the book, we know how desperate Steph is to get into Exeter as a stepping stone to NASA. She's planned her whole future around it. To find that acceptance letter and know it was too late was gutting, and Steph's reaction was understandable. But there were layers on top of it, too, because they are at a public climbing gym, Kayla is upset because she thinks Steph is talking to her mother about something else. There is pandemonium on the climbing wall, and a nearby birthday party is watching the whole thing with judgment of the Cherokee kids.
The second scene that was so memorable is the graduation dinner. Steph's family and her conservative Mormon girlfriend's parents are all going out to dinner to celebrate. Steph's mother is nervous and accommodating. Kayla is defiant and provocative. Della's parents are trying, but are disapproving on a number of levels. Della is keeping quiet, and Steph is missing a lot of important information. It was spiraling and funny on a number of levels, even though serious things were happening. ***END SPOILERS***
No comments:
Post a Comment