The Year We Fell From Space
This is an important novel that addresses divorce and depression for children, that speaks their language. Addressing the promises, the hopes, the disappointments, the stresses, the anger, the blame, and just about every emotion that a child feels as their parents separate and divorce, this book confronts them directly. A.S. King delivers another great book.
The arguing the occurs between Liberty’s parents has reached its limit and now, her dad was moving out. He was making promises to Liberty and her sister, Jilly to smooth out the situation but nothing he could say would ever make this move easy. Liberty and her dad were close. They spent a lot of time together, they loved to unravel the night sky together.
Liberty’s world begins to fall apart when her father moves out of the house yet she keeps everything inside her. She continues to try to find comfort in the night sky but like everything else in her world, it just isn’t there anymore. Wishing upon stars, asking for guidance, Liberty calls upon the night to help restore her balance. Liberty is spiraling.
I liked the difference between the two sisters. Liberty was the older sister and she tried to keep her emotions inside and in-control. Her younger sister, Jilly made me smile and laugh numerous times, as she’s young, carefree and she’d let’s go with what’s on her mind, when given the chance. Liberty couldn’t talk openly so what she really needed was to talk privately with some individuals throughout the book but she just couldn’t.
I enjoyed how the book dealt with all the different emotions that occur during a divorce. Children are a major part of a divorce yet some parents feel that they’re not, forget to include them, or just don’t want to get them involved. Children need to be able to talk about their feelings, ask questions and get a truthful (as truthful as they can handle) response to their questions. Children need to feel valued and respected during this time. I think this book addressed these topics very well.
I really enjoyed this book and I highly recommend it. Another fantastic book by A.S. King!
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