Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Debbie--have you seen Sara Biren's THE LAST THING YOU SAID?

A reader wrote to ask if I've seen
Sara Biren's The Last Thing You Said. 

Biren's young adult novel is due out on
April 4, 2017 from Amulet Books
(which is part of Abrams Books).

Here's the description:
Last summer, Lucy’s and Ben’s lives changed in an instant. One moment, they were shyly flirting on a lake raft, finally about to admit their feelings to each other after years of yearning. In the next, Trixie—Lucy’s best friend and Ben’s sister—was gone, her heart giving out during a routine swim. And just like that, the idyllic world they knew turned upside down, and the would-be couple drifted apart, swallowed up by their grief. Now it’s a year later in their small lake town, and as the anniversary of Trixie’s death looms, Lucy and Ben’s undeniable connection pulls them back together. They can’t change what happened the day they lost Trixie, but the summer might finally bring them closer to healing—and to each other.
The Last Thing You Said got a starred review from Kirkus, but the reader who wrote to me noted these two lines from School Library Journal's review:
However, the appropriation of an Inuit cultural practice, inuksuk, as a symbol for the two white teens' relationship is a poor choice. VERDICT Cultural appropriation mars an otherwise promising debut that's recommended for libraries with a high demand for romance.
Both Kirkus and SLJ note that the book is set in Minnesota. Inuksuk in Minnesota? Are there inuksuk there? And if so, why? From what I am able to glean online, tourists started making them...  

I'll look for a copy and be back with a review.

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