How do I begin this post? Do I start by profiling and detailing my love for Carrie Arcos’ We Are All That’s Left and go from there? Or do I start by sharing a bit about the students that I work with every day and then talk about her book? Or third, start with a chapter of my husband’s story and then talk about her book? Better yet, let’s talk about all three.
Years ago I ran a “Warring Worlds” book club at our high school library that was in direct response to having read a senior’s common app essay about escaping the war in Bosnia when she was a child and I was stopped in my tracks thinking that my husband, an Army veteran who spent time in Bosnia with the 10th Mountain Division could have been close by. It dawned on me how interconnected we all are. And even though some of our students had been born in the United States, we were sill embroiled in a war in Iraq and Afghanistan at the time, so everyone experienced war, just in different ways.
Every day I get to listen to our refugee students whose experiences are so different from my own. They know what it is like to be in fear for their life, they know what hatred looks like, they know how important education is when it’s often denied to them in their native land before coming to the United States.
So when I began reading Arcos’ book and the first flashback chapter told from Zara’s mom, Nadja’s point of view in 1992 in Visegrad I knew there was something special. It took a little bit to build as there was an uncertainty between the dysfunction of Zara and Nadja’s mother-daughter relationship, but it ballooned once readers began to connect Nadja’s war-torn young adulthood and Zara’s discovery of Nadja’s hardships as Nadja lays comatose after a bomb detonates at the farmers market they were visiting. Zara is wounded and suffering from post-traumatic stress while again, her mother is hospitalized unable to communicate. It becomes less about the present day and more about Nadja’s survival against the atrocities of war while trying to hold on while the trauma of murder and rape burns through their family, neighborhood, and country.
Arcos eloquently details these dark times that keep from being morose because we know that Nadja survived and has a family, though her daughter is now just coming to realize what her mother experienced. It’s a powerful emotional tool to foil Zara’s life and Nadja’s and set against the backdrop of the Bosnian War delights me in that this event is rarely detailed in young adult literature. While it was neither here nor there that Arcos was not born or raised in Bosnia, her extensive research demonstrates command of the events and a powerful need to share it with others by connecting the generations. It’s masterful. And reminiscent of other titles like Erika L. Sanchez’s I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter and any of Ruta Sepetys’ historical fiction that shed light on imperfect times in our past. And heartbreaking the way Ashley Hope Perez’s Out of Darkness was. It belongs on the shelf with these pillars of historical fiction because of it’s profile of the darkness (and light) of humanity when all light seems to have been lost.
So I advise young adults and adults to savor this gem of historical fiction that brings the present and past together with heart and tenacity among the darkness.
What was I thinking? Plenty of us avid readers have felt sadness in the last book of a beloved series and this one was no different. Reynolds is the GOAT, period. Whoever designed the covers needs a raise. Reynolds’ ability to create deep characters with authentic middle grade voices has been spotlighted in this series and shines again with Lu, another track star under Coach’s tutelage who is helping his father right his wrongs while hopefully looking toward a future with a baby sister when his mother should have never even been able to have him. Rich with inspiration and motivation, it’s the power of our human experience through Lu whose Albinism hasn’t changed his perspective much, in fact his newest job as big brother has allowed him to grow as he passes through the awkwardness of youth.
And the commentary Zentner provides about life is precisely why his books are Post-it material as evidenced by my initial tweet: within the first chapter, I already earmarked a quote to return to. So while it’s hard to pick just one, a memorable quote that sets up Delia for her eventual critical decision to seek out her dad: “I’ve come to believe that everyone gets five or six perfect days in their life. Days with not a single wrong note or thorn, days that ripen like a peach in your memory as years pass. Every time you go to bite it, it’s juicy and sweet.” Won’t every reader stop and think about whether they’ve already lived a perfect day and what it was like and then savor the thought of a few more ahead of them?
I can’t, nor would I want to give away too much about the ending, but a picture is worth a thousand words and this was my Instagram post just minutes after finishing the book… a tear-stained page that other than the saccharine visit to Lawson’s house by Josie post-fight is the most memorable scene. Delia is struggling hard because abandonment seems to be a trend from people in her life and it’s the most critical one that comes through for her. Like memorable names such as Beyonce or Ruth Bader Ginsburg, you only needs to say “Dolores Darkwood” and I will be putty in your hands.
I began on July 20th not for any reason other than I was ready. I finished on August 7th. With some dedicated reading time, a few late nights, and encouragement from my elementary-aged kids (one who has finished the series and one who is on book five), I met that goal. What did I do on August 8th? I borrowed my kids’ Gryffindor robe, Potter glasses and tie, used eyeliner to make my scar, and took a picture to commemorate this feat. As was done when said child finished the series back in March and I will do when other said child finishes. 
And she’s quicker to point out, not a lady doctor “No sir… I’m determined to become a doctor. The matter of my sex I would prefer to be incidental rather than an amendment.” And so relevant now as Serena Williams is set to dominate again in a major competition who has always said she wants to be remembered as the greatest tennis player of all time, not the greatest female tennis player of all time (I think most would agree). And Felicity also reminds herself and thus readers “Your beauty’s not a tax you are required to pay in order to take up space in this world… You deserve to be here,” –another timely commentary. These are just two of the memorable quotes throughout the adventure that showcase the power of a persevering attitude and interminable spirit after abandoning a weak marriage proposal from a baker (though how difficult it was to give up the sweets and escape to see Monty and Percy).
Readers Be Advised 