I do not believe I have ever read a book written in the point of view of a teenager. What a great experience! I could feel what she was feeling as I am a mother to a teenager.
This book shows the intimate story of a family whose father is called to active duty in a time of war. Laura Harrington amazing book, Alice Bliss, tells the life story of a teenage “Daddy’s Girl”, Alice Bliss, struggling with her father, Matt, being shipped out of upstate New York with his National Guard unit to Iraq. She misses all the time they spent playing baseball, working in the garden, and helping him with an occasional working job. She realizes life does go on even if her dad isn’t there to witness it. Alice joins the track team, attends her first dance, and falls in love, all while missing her dad terribly. The change from tomboy to young woman was very poignant. Alice, while trying to remain strong, finds that she has to take care of her sister and her mother. The mother, Angie, seems to drop the ball a few times I found I could not blame her. Ellie, Alice’s younger sister, appears to not be as affected but definitely feels the loss of her dad and becomes closer to her mother.
In this book you hear and feel the ups and downs that a family goes through when the father is called to active duty in a time of war. I was in tears reading Alice Bliss. Trying to imagine ho w I would react and keep my life going in I was put in this position tugged at my heart. Alice Bliss tells the story of what many families in America are going through. It opened my eyes and made me appreciate the families of military persons.
If you manage to make it through the book without tears you can still feel all the fear, loneliness, and losses of the Bliss Family. You can also feel the love and the hope they have for each other.
Reviewed by: Charlotte
Great Review
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