Described as: A young girl trying to find out the secret of her sister's death. Well - that wasn't exactly true. It was the story of a very disturbed young girl in a totally dysfunctional family. It was confusing to follow her when she had so demented she didn't know where or why. She pushes everybody too far and lies to someone who deserves better. She never found out the truth about the death - instead choosing to blame herself. Nothing was resolved in the end - she is left more demented than when the book started. This was our February book club choice, and until we met tonight, I intended to give this book a 2.5 star rating. However, I decided that any book that could engender that much discussion probably deserved 3 stars. Questions we batted around the table: Is this really a fair representation of teen-age girls, even those under psychological distress? Is Mathilda psychologically unbalanced because of the events that have taken place in her family before the book begins, or was she crazy to start with? (I know "crazy" is not a politically correct word, but Mathilda is anything but politically correct herself, so I have decided to use it.) 13-years-old or not, how could a child of two very well-educated parents be so woefully ignorant of world events and cultures? As parents,would we have attempted to keep our children away from the influence of this girl? (Answer: You bet!) WHAT did the author of the review we based our book choice on find FUNNY in this book? (None of us "laughed out loud," as the review suggested.) And, lastly, WHAT MAKES A MIDDLE-AGED MAN DECIDE TO WRITE A COMING-OF-AGE TALE ABOUT A 13-YEAR-OLD GIRL? With all due respect, Mr. Lodato, we think you got most of it wrong.
What do You think about Mathilda Savitch (2009)?
Just finished and still thinking . . .
—hameanssummer
