My Never Ending List

Leigh spends three days a week working for her father at the cemetery. No, not a mortuary but a cemetery which is totally different but still not a happy place to be working when you’re fourteen-years old. It was her father’s idea to pack up and leave the beach behind and live among the dead. Leigh doesn’t seem to fit in at school and work, although she dreads it, is her only escape. Time alone, she catches up on homework and reminisces about her best friend Emily and how much she misses her. When customers arrive, Leigh tries to quickly assess their needs based on their appearance, as their desires will change the course of the exchange. Such an interesting concept that I never really thought about it until I read this book. The whole concept of pre-need vs. at need was something I never really thought much about. People who buy ahead vs. people who buy because of an unexpected loss then add in all the notions that go with these individual plans. It really got me thinking, not about my own death but how people deal with loss. Leigh has it all down and with her supply of York Patties for when it just gets too hard inside the small office, she does a great job. Elanor, who helps deliver flowers to the cemetery, tries to befriend Leigh but Leigh cannot let go of her past. I felt helpless as Elanor tried to work her way into Leigh’s world as Leigh shuts the door on her. Leigh feels too responsible to let go of things she has no control over and yet she’s so alone. Leigh’s reaction when her dad hires Dario was not what I expected. Dario is from Mexico, but he was not what Leigh expected. Leigh feels as if her world is surrounded by heartache yet it is only the burdens that she carries on her back that will not allow her to see the world as it is.

I loved the story of Leigh and Kai’s summer at their gramma and grandpa’s in Pixley. I was totally cracking up as she talking about her backseat gramma, the nightly prayers and carrying the wood. I remember spending summers with my grandparents and the chores they would give me and my cousins, thinking it would be fun, yeah free child-labor but oh, the memories of those visits now. The sarcasm and the details that the author described, it really made me relive those memories again. Leigh learned about herself in this book and she learned about people in general. I learned about myself while reading this too and how I viewed the world. I enjoyed the honesty of the characters as they didn’t know all the answers but they felt with their hearts and they moved forward, when they could.