Love can overcome any obstacle

This is my SHINY SHINY SHINY book

 

While I really enjoyed Echo’s Sister by Paul Moiser, the writing is in a “debut author” style (meaning it can be a little “unsmooth” at times) even though this is his second book. It is also overly optimistic and “sweet” while dealing with a tough subject. With all that said, it is aimed perfectly at the audience of ages (high reader or concept understanding) 8 or 9-year-old up to about 10 years old. However, a slightly older reader (eleven and twelve) could get something out of it as well. Therefore, it is one of those odd books that are ages 8 to 12 (with a young 13 being okay with it as well).

(Spoiler) The whole story is about hope. And Echo is okay at the end. However, it is an open ending therefore, anything could happen. You can tell the authors own opinions about life are brought in (the family is “uber hipster” and “artists”) by eating extremely healthy, they live in a small New York apartment and they are super-duper “positive” about how things should be and how everything now revolves around Echo. I think he is writing from his own experiences due to some information at the end of the book. But since I read a reader copy, I am not 100% sure about this.

Laughter, or El as she prefers, takes on the “mothering role” in some ways even though she is very young. She also thinks she has to hide this information from everyone. She does not want to “stand out.” This part of the story is realistic. Perhaps it is to idealistic (spoiler) at the end when everyone becomes “Team Echo” but overall, that is a nice touch. There is not a lot of the usual middle school drama, but just enough to keep it real.

I highly recommend this book to almost anyone. Even though it deals with cancer it is not a downer book.