Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Book Review: God is in the Pancakes by Robin Epstein


God Is in the Pancakes 
God is in the Pancakes by Robin Epstein
Publisher: Dial
Publish Date: May 13, 2010
Hardcover, 272 pages
Young Adult



My Review:
Why I read this: The title was very intriguing as well as the write-up about what the book was about.  It seemed more serious than a lot of books I've been reading lately and I wanted to read it.


How is the novel driven:  Character.  This is about Grace and decisions she has to make and how she learns more about life as a 15-year-old.


My thoughts: I really enjoyed this book.  Ms. Epstein took an interesting premise and way able to pull off centering the book around that premise while adding more layers and not becoming confusing.  Grace is a wonderful 15-year-old and she's a typical 15-year-old.  She's trying to figure herself out and when Mr. Sands asks her to help him die, she really goes through a thought process on whether to do it.  The book is thought-provoking.  Grace doesn't simply have this problem, she has others as well.  She meets Mrs. Sands and likes her as well and then there is her own personal life.

The book is amazing, it's uplifting and it deals with the serious subject of watching a loved one with a debilitating disease suffer and change.  This is heady stuff and Ms. Epstein handles it in a marvelous way.  The novel never really becomes depressing as it could dealing with this subject.  There is appropriate humor throughout the book that helps with the seriousness of the subject-matter.  Through the whole book Grace amazed me, I love her character and I really enjoyed this book.


In the end I liked it because I didn't feel like Ms. Epstein as an author was trying to shove an agenda down the readers throats.  It's not like that at all, she's just writing a story dealing with a somewhat controversial subject but in the end she leaves the decision of what is truly right and wrong up to you.  She doesn't deliver a definite statement, but presents facts and feelings through the book that work through this.  I loved it, it's marvelous and a great book for teens and adults as well to read.

My Rating: 4.75/5.0

About the Book:
Fifteen-year-old Grace Manning is a candy striper in a nursing home, and Mr. Sands is the one patient who makes the job bearable. He keeps up with her sarcasm, teaches her to play poker . . . and one day cheerfully asks her to help him die. At first Grace says no way, but as Mr. Sands’s disease progresses, she’s not so sure. Grace tries to avoid the wrenching decision by praying for a miracle, stuffing herself with pancakes, and running away from all feelings, including the new ones she has for her best friend Eric. But Mr. Sands is getting worse, and she can’t avoid him forever.

Robin Epstein has delivered an incredibly engaging, thought-provoking debut YA novel, with all the snappy dialogue and attitude of the movie Juno.

About the Author:
Robin Epstein is a former sitcom writer who lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Her Website



FTC Information: I received this book through 1-ARC Tours for review.  I have Amazon links on my review pages but I do not make any money from these because of NC laws.  I put them solely for people to check out the books on a retail site.

Guest Post: Author Daisy Jordan

Today I have author Daisy Jordan with me here at My Reading Room.  Daisy is the author of Love Means Zero which I will be reviewing next week.  So please welcome Daisy!





Love Means Zero – Meet the Roommates

In my novel Love Means Zero, Hilton, Jill, Todd, and Luke are roommates, best friends, and, essentially, their own little family. Here are 4 things you may not know about each member of this Fab 4.

Hilton

1)      I’m an only child. I like to think it’s made me a strong person because I spent a lot of time alone growing up and I got to know myself really well.
2)      I was named after the hotel where I was conceived – I don’t know which Hilton it was and I don’t intend to ask!
3)      I was in one serious relationship before Luke. It (not just the guy, but the situation too) totally broke my heart. It took me over a year to recover.
4)      I want everything I can get out of life. There’s no reason to stop going after more!

Jill

1)      I was pretty shy in high school, but I loved every minute of it. I had great friends and a great time. But it’s been over the last few years and the end of college that I’ve really become “me,” the person I am today, where I’m not shy anymore and I can always just act like myself and not hide any of my feelings. I love it, and I love my life!
2)      I am fascinated by the 1920s and kind of wish I’d been young in that decade.
3)      Todd and I have a messed-up history, some people might say. But I wouldn’t trade it for anything, and I’m really happy about where we are now. J
4)      I am obsessed with the show Friends. I still try to watch at least one episode a day, and I can tell you within 30 seconds of it coming on which episode it is.

Todd

1)      I am a joker and love to mess with people. Watch out. ;)
2)      I need to travel more; I haven’t been that many cool places. I think it’d be fun to live somewhere else someday.
3)      I have a dog Scrappy who lives with my mom. Jill got him for me as a present in high school when she worked at the humane shelter. Best present ever. I wanna bring him back to live w/ us now that we live together.
4)      I have crazy hair. It’s why Jill first liked me. Now…well…she loves everything. Who wouldn’t? Okay, just joking…I warned you.

Luke

1)      I’m in law school but have no idea what kind of law I really want to practice, so I went with corporate stuff as my focus.
2)      I am really dreading the bar exam. I try not to think about it too much, but it’s this annoying nagging thing in the back of my head every day.
3)      Hilton is the only girl I can say I’ve loved.
4)      I’m 100% happy. Love my girlfriend, love my roommates, even love all the law school pressure…especially complaining about it. J


Daisy Jordan is an obsessive tennis fan and wrote Love Means Zero, in which Hilton gets a job as a photographer for a tennis magazine, so she could live out her dream-job fantasy through Hilton. But don’t worry If you’re not a tennis fan; Love Means Zero still has all the drama and suspense of Daisy’s previous books! Those books include Everything Happens for a Reason…, the Spin the Bottle series, and All That Sparkles Isn’t Real Sapphire. Before she published her first book, Daisy grew up in Indiana watching tennis all summer every summer on TV and having her own fair share of high school and college boy drama, much like her characters. She now lives in Denver and religiously fills out brackets for every Grand Slam with her brother Josh, while still managing to find time for boy drama. Daisy can be found online at: