Okay, I’ve just finished reading Daphne Grab’s debut novel, and the tears still aren’t quite dry. Seriously, I gulped down the entirety of Alive and Well in Prague, New York in a single sitting, and I was crying for pretty much the entire second half.
Which is a good thing. I mean yes, there were some major tearjerker elements (the story is about a high school sophomore, Matisse, whose family moves from Manhattan to a tiny town upstate after her father’s Parkinson’s Disease progresses to the point where he can no longer work) but the novel is also warm and funny and a little romantic. It hurts to read, just a bit, the way a great story often does. But it’s that very pain that means you can’t take your eyes off it.
Alive and Well came out in May, but I didn’t snag a copy of my own until my discovery of the Strand’s YA review copy section. And I’m so glad that someone else parted with this book, because it meant I got to read it.
Which is why I am posting a short and hasty review at 3 a.m. on a Saturday night/Sunday morning. Because it’s so good that I just want you to go out and read it right now. This instant. Yes, at 3 a.m. And hurry back to tell me what you thought. I’ll respond when I’m a bit more coherent and less (a) teary-eyed and (b) bleary-eyed.
Buy Alive and Well in Prague, New York
Loved this book, though I didn’t cry as much as you, lol. I did tear up, which is a quite a feat when it comes to me and especially from a book because I really don’t cry all that much. Like REALLY cry. I’ll tear up, but that’s as far as it goes.
Glad you enjoyed it too!
Still haven’t read, but has been on my wishlist forever. Blah.
This one is coming to me in the mail from my mother, who bought a signed copy at her local bookstore where Daphne was reading! Can’t wait!!
Leigh — let me know what you think, yeah? I really enjoyed it. And it is indeed a tearjerker, though I admit I’m one of those leaky faucet types who cries whenever anything vaguely emotional happens. Dude, I cry when I watch Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory (the original) or Empire Records. Seriously, I do.
It sure sounds like a beautiful read – I’ll definitely have to check it out sometime!