Sarah Dunster

Mile 21 is a poignant story that follows a young widow's journey of healing and learning to move forward with her life.

Twenty-one year old widow Abish is still grieving the loss of her husband a year after his death. She is having a hard time adjusting to life without her husband, she is unable to let go of the past and move forward with her life. Abish's life is on a downward spiral when she is evicted from her apartment and has to move into the student housing at BYU-Idaho, almost loses her job, and is suddenly thrown back into the "singles" scene. Abish has lost her hope and faith, the only thing that keeps her sane is running, which becomes a therapeutic way of dealing with the trials and tribulations in her life. Her husband had been in training for a marathon before his death, so she decides to follow his lead and train for the marathon. Can training for the marathon help Abish overcome the difficult obstacles in her life, provide a healing source, and help her move forward with her life?

Author Sarah Dunster weaves an emotional tale of heartbreak and redemption that simply tugs at your heartstrings. You can't help but feel compassion for Abish and the traumatic loss that she endured at her young age. I can relate to and understand her hard, abrasive and sarcastic personality, it was a mask to hide the pain and grief that she was living with. As she struggles with her faith and how to pick up the pieces of her life, it makes a reader wonder if they would be able to go on with life if they were in Abish's shoes. As Abish's story unfolds, you can't help but cheer her on as her journey to healing and rebuilding her life is buoyed with a renewal of hope and faith as she trains for the marathon. I enjoyed watching Abish grow and change throughout her journey, and while there is a subtle romance in the story, the main focus is clearly on Abish's journey to healing.

The author evokes a mixture of emotions in Mile 21 that is simply breathtaking. Her thoughtful message to her readers comes shining through in Abish's story: remain strong, have hope, and keep your faith as you heal and learn to come to terms with changes in your life.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of the book from the author / publisher in exchange for my honest review.

http://jerseygirlbookreviews.blogspot.com/2013/10/mile-21-by-sarah-dunster-book-...… (plus d'informations)

middle school & up

Maggie & her sister Giovanna have lived with the Aldens even since their parents died after crossing the prairie and there was no one else to take them in. Maggie is mostly content to accept the benign neglect of Ma Alden as normal. This begins to change when Maggie starts to have dreams of Ma Alden smothering a baby. Maggie soon is convinced that the baby is the baby sister she'd forgotten. She is desperate to know (and afraid to find out) what really happened to her baby sister Noemie.

My first thought on starting this book: Where the hell is the punctuation? There were no periods, no question marks, no exclamation points and not nearly as many commas as there should have been. There were also some random capital thrown in for good measure. All of which made it a bit confusing at times to correctly read sentences. This was probably just because I was reading an ARC. Hopefully, they punctuated before publishing.

My first thought on finishing this book: "That's it?" I have no quibbles with the story. I enjoyed it. But the story didn't end. It just stopped. Not stopped like it was setting up a sequel either. Although, it made me want one anyway.

Maggie is a good character. She's hard-working but still got some spunk to her. We meet Maggie just at the point in her life when it is becoming clear that she and her sister are treated differently than Ma Alden's "real" daughters. They are fed and clothed but not taught or educated even as much as the other girls. (Which wasn't all that much to begin with; we're talking about 1857-ish here.)
As Maggie's suspicions grow, I really admired the way she was determined to protect her little sister (she originally had two little sisters- the living one, Giovanna and the dead one, Noemie.) You definitely can't accuse Maggie of sitting around and waiting to be rescued.

As I think about the story, it seems almost like a morality tale to me. Which could explain, or at least justify, the ending. Well, the stopping point anyhow. There isn't really much resolution but if you learn from the moral of the story you may be able to discern what should happen next.

The stopping is actually what would make this great for a writing class. The assignment? Finish Maggie's story. What happened next? And I can't ask any more leading questions because of my vow to remain spoiler free.

Verdict: get it. Give a copy to every writing teacher in your school.
Warning: it is about Mormons so it is probably going to piss off somebody. Either the Mormons because it alludes to some historical events they'd probably rather forget or others because it mentions Mormons. There is one tiny mention of multiple wives although really it is barely noticeable.

**oh-- the book isn't available for Kindle on Amazon. Which is really funny considering the ARC I read was on my Kindle. I wonder why publishers make eARCs available to reviewers but don't make it available for purchase? Plainly, they had the ebook or they couldn't have sent it to me for review. **
http://www.lifeisbetterwithbooks.com/2012/06/lightning-tree.html… (plus d'informations)

Maggie has had a hard life. While crossing the plains traveling to Utah, she lost her parents. Soon, she was also separated from her brother. Now she lives with the Aldens, and life isn't that grand. Maggie feels like she is treated as second-class when compared to her adopted sisters. After happening upon an old possession of her mother's, Maggie begins having dreams about a strange baby. She also has dreams about what happened to her adopted father while he was a away for a while. Strange rumors abound, but Maggie's dreams are stranger. If that's not enough, Maggie is getting older and everything is changing between her and some of her best friends (who happen to be boys). Secrets will be spilled and truths will come out, but Maggie may not be ready for it all.

This book was so interesting! I felt drawn into it immediately. I found Maggie to be a particularly interesting character. She wanted so badly to feel grateful to the Aldens for taking her in, but she couldn't help but feel that things just weren't right. The author did a fantastic job of creating a sense of suspense. There were times I think I was really worried for Maggie's well-being. Discovering the secrets people had been hiding was very surprising. I felt so badly for Maggie, and I couldn't help but be very happy that she was able to find so many people willing to help her. The dynamics between Maggie and her adopted family were fascinating. I also really enjoyed the Hosters. They were definitely a great example of doing the best they could with what they had.

I also really liked the historical aspects of the story. There were a lot of things going on in that time, and this book made me want to grab a history book to read more about those things. I sped through this book. It really keeps you wanting to read it to find out what happens. You may even stay on the edge of your seat for some parts. I highly recommend this book for people who enjoy mysteries and history. It will keep you guessing and entertained until the end.

Galley provided for review.… (plus d'informations)