Here’s my new favorite book so far this summer – a YA called The Girl in the Mirror by Meg Kearney.
It’s the story of Lizzie McLane who is about to graduate from high school. The Girl in the Mirror is actually the sequel to The Secret of Me, which introduced Lizzie McLane.
The Girl in the Mirror opens with an introduction, where Lizzie explains, “There was a time, not all that long ago, when I wouldn’t tell anyone this: four months after I was born, my mother gave me up for adoption.”
Then Lizzie goes on to tell how she came to live with her adoptive parents. And how they promised they would help her look for her birth parents when she was a senior in high school.
They keep their promise, and one day shortly before Lizzie graduates, a letter arrives from her adoption agency, but Lizzie doesn’t open it. She’s afraid to! Then later that day, her father dies suddenly and unexpectedly and Lizzie’s world starts to fall apart.
The strong honest voice of Lizzie – that comes through clearly in this novel written in poems and journal entries – hooked me from the very beginning. I had many of the same thoughts and questions that Lizzie had about her adoption. Just why did her mother give her up? What would her birth mother say to Lizzie if she ever found her?
Something else I really appreciated about this book (since I’m a writer) is the guide to the book’s poetics that’s included after the story. I’ve never been very comfortable writing in free verse. But now I just might give it a try!
This is a wonderful book and sure to become a favorite with many readers this summer!
