Title: First Light
Author: Rebecca Stead
Category: Fiction, Middle Grade
Rating: 2.5/5
Why I Read It: Becky at Becky’s Book Reviews enjoyed this one, so I decided to check it out.

Summary: This is a story of two kids from completely different worlds: 12-year-old Peter goes to Greenland with his parents on a research expedition, but his mom is teetering on the edge of another bout of depression. 14-year-old Thea lives in an isolated settlement called Gracehope, where they’re running out of space but no one will let her explore new areas.

Review: The premise created immediate mystery in my mind and kept me reading to find out how the worlds might intersect. Here’s the opening that grabbed me:

Most boys his age had never touched paper. There was little left. Paper was reserved for fine drawing and important documents. Mattias knew even before he could skate that if he were to harm any of it, if he were to crease one corner of one sheet, the consequences would be serious. But Mattias could not resist his mother’s drawing table.

In the end, the story came together well.

But I didn’t always enjoy the writing, namely:

  • Too much telling—After a piece of dialogue, oftentimes a statement reiterated what we just learned in the dialogue. The quote below is an example of this.
  • Exclamation heavy—I know, I’m being petty. But exclamation points seem silly in most cases.
  • Sappy—The story got overly sentimental at times, especially near the end.

This isn’t the most compelling quote, but it’s a good example of the first issue listed above:

It was cold. At the steepest parts, they gave up walking and scooted along the tunnel floor in a sitting position, bracing themselves with their heels. This meant sitting in the icy stream that still rushed down the tunnel; their furs kept them dry, but couldn’t entirely protect them from the chill.

“Is it, uh, usually like this?” Peter asked. He was breathing hard. “With the water?”

“No,” Thea said fiercely, so that he wouldn’t ask more. She couldn’t help feeling a bit mean.

Borrow: Your local library | Swap
Buy: Your local bookstore | Powell’s | Amazon

Related Posts