Tolan, Stephanie. Listen

[Mary]

Here is a suggestion I received via email:

Listen by Stephanie S. Tolan is a wonderful book. A young girl is recovering from a car accident one summer. There are many growing up issues handled compassionately but my favorite theme is appreciation of the natural world. I have never read a young people's book that makes such an impact about the interconnectivity of our world.

[DianeB]

Absolutely loved it. The accident was just a catalyst for why she needed to walk. I expected more about the crash, but was not disappointed. There were many fundamental stories inside this one book. Charley’s determination to tame a wild dog, love and understanding of nature, best friend separation, rediscovering the memory of a deceased mother, and a father reconnecting with his daughter. These stories all connected into one overall heartwarming novel. I hope it wins, it is truly worth it.

[lisarenea]

SPOILERS***

Okay, I'm going to have to admit that this book confused me a little. I loved the basic story-- the connection with nature was a theme I really enjoyed. The character of Charlie was interesting and well developed and if I had any idea that the setting was a real place I would be determined to go see Tree! Plus, I loved the story of the dog's taming and how it was so different from the normal adoption of a stray dog. I even liked how she began to deal with her mother's death.

BUT --
WHAT in the world was up with the visions she was having?? Was she really seeing what was happening to coyote? It seemed so until he disappeared -- but her vision didn't turn out to be true. Either way, I felt the visions were distracting from the story and basically not necessary -- unless I missed the point entirely. Plus, I didn't fully understand her feelings about her friend. We didn't see enough of the relationship to know how close they were before and I did not really feel (or understand) the anger. This part of the storyline felt much weaker.

Did anyone else feel this way?

[DianeB]

The visions were a distraction (and unrealistic), and I wanted more about her feelings about her friend who “walked away” from the car crash (caused by her reckless brother). I just felt the main story was about Charlie reconnecting with the memory of her mother, and, at the end, with her father (that‘s just my impression). Sometimes the other things got in the way, and other times it added to my image of Charlie.

[DiannaB]

I just finished "Listen" and I loved it. It gave a great display of reconnecting. Charley, Dad & Sarita characters were all very well developed. I didn't think of the 'visions' as visions, I thought they were more like daydreaming. I can vividly remember that at one time I thought that what I thought could make things happen, or not. The feelings of grief and allowing life to open up again sounded true. Charley's gradual acceptance about the changes in life in this time of her life did happen over the summer, and we could follow along, it didn't just happen overnite. That change rang true for me. And I loved the whole connection with nature. It's a story that really had me imagining what could happen next, Charley taking up photography, following in her mother's footsteps, Coyote eventually sleeping in the house. You could even get a little glimpse of Dad starting to come back to life too. It's high on my list.