One Old, One New: The Jennifer Longo Edition

One Old, One New features two books - one old, one new, which are connected in some way. Today, I am sharing two books by Jennifer Longo!

What I Carry
Jennifer Longo
Age/Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Random House
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

For readers of Robin Benway's Far From the Tree, a powerful and heartwarming look at a teen girl about to age out of the foster care system.

Growing up in foster care, Muir has lived in many houses. And if she's learned one thing, it is to Pack. Light.
Carry only what fits in a suitcase.
Toothbrush? Yes.
Socks? Yes.
Emotional attachment to friends? foster families? a boyfriend? Nope!
There's no room for any additional baggage.
Muir has just one year left before she ages out of the system. One year before she's free. One year to avoid anything--or anyone--that could get in her way.

Then she meets Francine. And Kira. And Sean.

And everything changes.

One more year. Muir just had to keep her head down for one more year, and then, freedom. What Muir wasn't planning on was being placed with Francine, or meeting Kira, or finding Sean. Attachments were never part of the plan, and now she must decide what her next steps will be.

Seriously! My heart just kept exploding, over and over, as I read this beautiful book. And, then when I read Longo's note at the end of the book, I was a hot mess of happy tears. I believe you should just read this book so you can feel all the feels, but I am going to share some other reasons why I loved it so much.

1. John Muir - You may have noticed the interesting spelling of Muiriel's name. The spelling is a nod to the naturalist, John Muir. Muiriel was very dedicated to John Muir's teachings, and cited him often when explaining her own beliefs and lifestyle choices. I loved the way Longo wove Muir into this story. It was fascinating and enlightening. 
2. Environmental Ethics - One of the things that Sean and Muiriel bonded over was their shared love of the environment. However, they had different idols, with very different philosophies. I enjoyed the arguments they got into, and loved how they challenged the established record and ideas of each naturalist. Between their discussions and getting to spend time at the wilderness camp, I learned a lot of new things. 
3. The Foster Care System - Longo is personally acquainted with the foster care system having served as a foster parent, and included a lot of information about the system in this story. It was also easy to see, that she considered being a foster parent a special privilege, and it shows in this story. Her thoughts come through in the most wonderful ways via Francine, Muir's foster mother, while we learn a lot of the stigmas associated with being a foster child from Muir. 
4. Found Family - I am trash for found family, and Muir lucked into a stupendous bunch of people. I already mentioned how Sean and Muir was tailor-made for each other, and how Francine was simply one of the best people ever! Then, there was Kira, who would become Muir's "person". I loved them all so much, and wait until you learn how Kira and Francine are linked. It's top-notch hankie sort of stuff.  I found myself rooting for these three to break Muir, because I wanted her hard shell to crack. I wanted her to let people love her, to let people in, and I believed these were the right people for her. 
5. Terry Johnson - Terry Johnson was Francine's dog, and I fell in love with him. First of all, he was always address by his full name, which never failed to make me smile. He also was a great source of joy for so many, especially Muir, and obviously, I fell in love with him too. 
6. The Things She Carried - Muir had a bag of items she ferried from placement to placement. Many of the items were small, and represented significant memories. Throughout the story, Muir digs these items out of the bag, and flashes back on the memory it holds. These were very telling moments, and many cracked my heart in half. I thought it was a fantastic way to help me, the reader, connect with and understand Muir on a deeper level. 

This was one of those books, which I feel I cannot fully explain my love for. All I know is that it made me so, so happy, and filled me with all sorts of joy. It was a such a beautiful story, and I just want everyone to experience it. 

Up to This Pointe
Jennifer Longo
Age/Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary
Publisher: Random House
Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
Goodreads

She had a plan. It went south.

Harper is a dancer. She and her best friend, Kate, have one goal: becoming professional ballerinas. And Harper won’t let anything—or anyone—get in the way of The Plan, not even the boy she and Kate are both drawn to.

Harper is a Scott. She’s related to Robert Falcon Scott, the explorer who died racing to the South Pole. So when Harper’s life takes an unexpected turn, she finagles (read: lies) her way to the icy dark of McMurdo Station . . . in Antarctica. Extreme, but somehow fitting—apparently she has always been in the dark, dancing on ice this whole time. And no one warned her. Not her family, not her best friend, not even the boy who has somehow found a way into her heart.

Harper and her best friend, Kate, had a plan to become professional dancers. In addition to practice, practice, practice, they would graduate early, and avoid romantic entanglements. But even the best laid plans can come undone, and Harper finds herself untethered. In an effort to get her life back on track, she weasels her way into a science program in Antartica, where she slowly comes to terms with the loss of her dream.

I was so captivated by Longo's latest release, What I Carry, that I ran to read more of her books. I picked this one, because, as a retired dance mom, I love stories about dancers. But, this book was an even better fit for me, because it's about grief and loss. No, no one died in this book, but Harper was still mourning a profound loss - the loss of her dream.

Harper lived for ballet. It was a life sustaining force for her, and here she was, so close to the future she dreamed of. The auditions were just a few short weeks away, when it all started to unravel. The idea, that if we dedicate ourselves and work hard, anything could be ours, but that's not always the case, and it was a hard truth for Harper to face. It was heartbreaking to hear her talk about the death of her ballet dream. There's one scene, where she described dance as a lover, who had rejected her. Her words were soaked in pain, and made my heart ache.

But, this book didn't just highlight Harper's failure, I also got to see her find a new, life-fulfilling dream. Along the way, I enjoyed so many wonderful, fun, and joyful events, and it was really interesting too.

Once again, Longo incorporated some historical figures. This time, I got to read a bit about the explorers, who raced to the South Pole. It was really beautiful how Longo was able to find a common thread between Harper and the explorers' journeys, and I loved that she was descended from one of the these intrepid explorers.

I was also a fan of the alternating narrative. It flipped between the present in Antartica and the past in San Francisco. The two timelines were lined up in such a wonderful way, that they fed off one another, with similar themes emerging at both points in time.

Although I was never a dancer, it was easy to relate to this story. It's quite a "growing up" moment, when you have to accept, that you cannot necessarily have everything you want. It also takes a lot of strength to use that pain, learn from it, and move forward. I think that's one of the biggest reasons I loved this book so much.

She was down, but never out, and it was easy to root for Harper as she properly grieved. Longo gave Harper a whole crew of amazing people to help her through this, and her new dream was even more magnificent, than the original.

Overall: A beautifully written story, which was full of hope.

Do you like to hike?
Let us know in the comments!