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IRISES

Page history last edited by RichiesPicks 12 years, 4 months ago

22 November 2011 IRISES by Francisco X. Stork, Arthur A. Levine/Scholastic, January 2012, 304p., ISBN: 978-0-545-15135-1

 

"Every night, before Kate went to sleep, she poured rubbing alcohol on her palms and massaged Mama's legs so they would not atrophy.  When she first started doing this, she kept expecting Mama to open her eyes, to sit up, say thank you, hug her.  But as time went on, the nightly hope gave way to a sense that the limbs she was touching were devoid of energy, that life would never come back to them.

"The bus passed a sign pointing toward Ascarate Park and she remembered suddenly her mother playing volleyball during a picnic game.  It was a school outing, and Mother had volunteered to serve as a chaperone.  The rest of the mothers sat together talking, but not Mama.  She saw that players were needed for a volleyball game and she jumped in uninvited.  Kate remembered her bare feet and how she ran to get the ball, laughing with all the joy of an eight-year-old lost at play. 

"'Mama, we need to let you go,' she whispered.

"But the thought that she wanted to let Mama go for her own convenience stuck in her head like a painful splinter she could not remove.  She's no longer alive.  Reverend Soto's words kept coming back to her.  Andy's words.  The images of her mother's limp legs as she massaged them and of her chasing a volleyball, full of life, whirled together in her head one after another.  And she saw Andy's soft hands, his fiery eyes and thick black hair.  She tried to shake the feelings that came with the thought of him, but then she remembered his sermon and the way he gave it, the emphasis he placed on certain words.  This is crazy, Kate kept telling herself, hoping she could regain her senses.  But it was no use.  She felt like a rock hit by a sledgehammer and now there were pieces of her scattered all over the place."

  

Kate Romero is a gifted student and her younger sister Mary is a gifted painter.  Their repressive but well-meaning father is the pastor of El Paso's Church of God. 

 

Years ago, before the automobile accident that left Mama lying at home in a permanent vegetative state, Kate and Mama had traveled to northern California to visit Mama's sister, Aunt Julia.  During that trip they also visited nearby Stanford University.  Mama's hope for Kate was that after high school Kate will have the opportunity to study at the notable institution and fulfill her childhood dream of becoming an M.D. 

 

Now, with Kate's dream possibly becoming real, their father dies suddenly and the girls are alone, needing to care for Mama, needing to soon move out of the church-owned parsonage, needing to figure out how to stay afloat.

   

In contrast to those breezy young adult romps about teens at home without parental supervision, IRISES is a dramatic home-alone story about love and dreams and reaching for one's real potential.

 

"Claim denied

misrepresentation

false statements

medical records

preexisting cardiac condition

not disclosed at time of application

Fraud"

 

During this time of crisis, Kate and Mary will each be affected by young men who come into their lives.  For Kate, it is the handsome and ambitious young minister who is chosen to replace their father.  For Mary, it is Marcos, a young gang member from school who has a kind heart and budding artistic talent. 

 

It is the often laugh-out-loud interaction between Mary and Marcos that makes this book a winner for me.  I would love to read a couple of hundred more pages so I could learn all about this young man and his challenging life.  

 

Given the tenuous circumstances of Kate and Mary's situation, is it possible for each of the sisters to achieve their respective individual goals?  How might faith, hope, and love help them solve their problems?     

 

Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.com
BudNotBuddy@aol.com
Moderator http://groups.yahoo.com/group/middle_school_lit/
http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/people/faculty/partingtonr/partingtonr.php

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