Skip to main content

Piecing Me Together

A couple years ago This Side of Home was one of my favorite reads so when I found out we were getting a new Renée Watson book this year it automatically became one of my most anticipated reads. Piecing Me Together lived up to all my expectations and then some.

Jade lives in north Portland but goes to the fancy private school St. Francis on a scholarship. She knows this is her greatest opportunity to go to school and get out of Oregon. It can make her feel like she is living a dual life though. Her first two years there were successful academically, but she didn't make many friends. As her junior year begins, Jade is asked to join a mentor/mentee program for "at risk" girls called Woman to Woman. She's not really sure she needs it. She doesn't feel at risk, and she definitely  doesn't feel like her mentor, Maxine, is going to be very helpful in teaching her about the real world. But as the year continues to go less the way Jade expected, the more she learns about the pieces of her life that make her everything she is.

Jade's voice is pitch perfect. As soon as I started reading, I was fully drawn into her world. Jade's favorite school subject is Spanish. She loves studying it and is looking forward to doing a stay abroad. Each chapter begins with a Spanish word and its translation. The chapters are short and each word and beat remains in form and step with Jade's character. Jade is also an artist who works in collage. She likes to make things people consider trash into things of beauty. Her most recent obsession is York, the slave of Clark (of Lewis and Clark fame) who helped with the expedition. She is creating work that involves him and also black women who have suffered at the hands of official brutality. Her art and her love of Spanish are integral parts of who she is and both morph over the book as her character changes and grows. The mentorship program Jade is not super excited about is helpful to her, helping her find her voice and become more of an activist.

The novel is episodic, moving quickly through the school year. This works really well and lends itself  well to the authenticity of the novel and Jade's character. When you think about it, life is episodic. Most of our days are routine, and there are pivotal points that stick out from the regularity of life.

The strength of the novel is in Jade herself and her journey, but also in all the relationships. This is a female centered story and it features incredible female relationships of all types. Jade finally makes a real friend at St. Francis her junior year. Sam is a new white girl who rides Jade's bus. Their relationship begins out of proximity and convenience but grows into one of true sharing. They have a lot of roadblocks because of their different ways of seeing the world, but the way they interact and work these is wonderful. Jade's best friend from her neighborhood is also a fabulous example of female friendship. Jade and Lee Lee are close like sisters. Their relationship is old and often doesn't need words or explanations. Despite going to different schools and spending long times apart, they have remained close and work hard at keeping their friendship going. I loved the way the three girls interacted with each other when they were together too. Lee Lee and Sam both recognize their individual importance in Jade's life and get along well together. I love books that feature strong female friendships, and Piecing Me Together excels at this. Jade's relationship with her mother is another important one. Jade's mother was a teen mom and she works long hours to pay rent and buy food. She doesn't see Jade as often as she wants but makes the most of the time they do share and has big dreams for her daughter. Her relationship with her mom is part of why Jade doesn't feel at risk. She knows she is loved, she gets good advice, and is given a chance to live her dreams. Her mother has mixed feelings about the program too. She knows it will help Jade get a scholarship to college, but she feels judged and is a bit resentful of Maxine at first. The relationship between Jade and Maxine is integral to the book and I loved what Watson did with this. Maxine is a recent college graduate so is not much older than Jade. Jade wonders exactly what Maxine could teach her and if maybe Maxine herself needs a mentor because her life seems kind of out of control. As Maxine and Jade grow closer, they actually teach each other a lot. The best part of this to me is that Jade's mom pulls Maxine into their world too and sort of becomes her mentor and it is a beautiful thing. All of these women are independent women with different strengths and weaknesses that balance each other out and combined they make Jade's life richer and are the center of the story.

The prose is truly excellent. There are whole sections of the books I would love to quote, but won't because I read an ARC. And if I quoted everything I loved loved, half the book would be here.

Who should read this book? I think everyone should. It is my favorite YA read of the year so far, and I'm going to be talking about it a lot.

I read an ARC obtained from the publisher, Bloomsbury Children's, at ALA Midwinter. Piecing Me Together goes on sale February 14th.

Comments

Charlotte said…
This sounds lovely!
Brandy said…
It is! I love that it focuses on girls and their relationships too.

Popular posts from this blog

Serafina and the Black Cloak

Serafina and the Black Cloak  by Robert Beatty is a thrilling tale of mystery and adventure set at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, NC in 1899. Having lived in Asheville and visited the house several times, there was no way I was going to pass up a chance to read this. (Also it's MG fantasy, always a bonus for me.) Serafina lives in secret in the basement of the Vanderbilt's spacious vacation home. She has lived there most of her life. Her father worked on the house as it was being built and is the mechanic who runs the massive generator and keeps the electricity going. Serafina is the chief rat catcher, slipping through the halls of her massive home secretly and quietly. She is light on her feet, sees well in the dark, and is quick enough to catch the vermin and keep them out. Serafina knows she if different and strange. Her father insists she stay hidden. But all that changes when one night Serafina witnesses a horrible crime. A little girl, a guest in the house, is fleein

Shorter Musings MG Fantasy

Here are some shorter musings on recent MG fantasy reads. Anya and the Dragon   by Sofiya Pasternack This book is fun. It is a book full of adventure, an obvious bad guy, some more complicated morally gray area characters, and a strong, brave heroine. It is also a book about friendships, community, and fighting for what is right. All things that usually work for me really well. While I enjoyed this, I did feel it was a little overlong and there were certain plot points at the end I didn't love. However, there were things I thought were done really well, such as Anya's Jewish faith and the idea that power needs to be challenged. In the end it was a middle of the road read for me, but it is one I will certainly be recommending to dragon and fantasy adventure lovers I know! R is for Rebel   by J. Anderson Coats This is tough because I usually really like Coats's books. I had such a hard time with this one though on so many levels. It's difficult to get into because t

Favorite Kissing Scenes

When thinking of a favorite things post I could do for February I decided it would have to be kissing. I've already done couples and I was feeling in the mood to do something fluffy and Valentine's related. So kisses it is. I read more MG than YA, and the YA I read tends to not focus on romance so this was actually harder than I expected it to be though a few jumped into my head right away. (And one of my choices does actually come from a MG book. One is adult. Gasp!) The actual scene from the book is quoted followed by my thoughts. The king lifted a hand to her cheek and kissed her. It was not a kiss between strangers, not even a kiss between a bride and a groom. It was a kiss between a man and his wife, and when it was over, the king closed his eyes and rested his forehead against the hollow of the queen's shoulder, like a man seeking respite, like a man reaching home at the end of the day . - The King of Attolia by Megan Whalen Turner Turner doesn't write the

Shadowshaper

Shadowshaper  by Daniel José Older is everywhere. Best of lists. Award buzz. Blogs everywhere. It's one of those books everyone is reading and talking about. I had it on my TBR but decided I definitely needed to read it before the year was out just so I could weigh in on one of the most talked about books of 2015 if asked. It is deserving of every good thing said about it. Every. One. Sierra was looking forward to a relaxing summer break. Her plans involved hanging out with her friends and painting. They did not involve being chased by zombie like creatures and threatened by a magical power connected to her family's heritage she has never heard of. When murals begin fading all over her Brooklyn neighborhood, Sierra is perplexed. When her grandfather, who had a stroke, begins to apologize and starts repeating strange phases and insisting Sierra get the help of a boy she barely knows to help her finish her mural, Sierra is concerned but mostly about her grandfather. Then at a

The Field Guide to the North American Teeanager

The Field Guide to the North American Teenager by Ben Philippe is a book I picked up on a whim at the bookstore when it first came out. I liked the cover. I thought it had an engaging premise. I went into it with a healthy does of trepidation because the execution could have gone so terribly wrong. Fortunately, Philippe is an excellent character writer, and I thoroughly enjoyed my time spent reading about Norris's adventures in Texas and high school. High school junior Norris Kaplan's life is ruined by his mother when she takes a job that requires them to leave the only home he has ever known in Montreal, Quebec. Moving is always hard, but Norris knows for him it will be harder than it's ever been for anyone else. Norris is moving to Texas. He will be a Canadian living in Texas. Not just a Canadian. A French Canadian who speaks fluent French. And not just your average run-of-the-mill French Canadian. A black son of Haitian immigrant parents French Canadian. If Norris has