Light and Air. Mindy Nichols Wendell. 2024. [January] 218 pages. [Source: Library] [J Historical; MG Historical; 1930s; tuberculosis; coming of age]
First sentence: The doors of the small white schoolhouse burst open. Children spilled out into the golden afternoon like bees whose hive had been disturbed.
Premise/plot: Hallelujah Grace Newton (aka "Glory") struggles after tuberculosis tears their family apart. Her mom has a life-threatening active case of tuberculosis (they were clueless until she started coughing up blood). Her and her dad both test positive for the disease, but both have clear lungs and are deemed "safe" to go about their lives. But how can you go on with your life when everyone knows you have TB? when you miss your mother so much you actually ache? when your always-distant father seems a million miles away instead of a hundred? Halle risks everything to go and see her mother...even her own life....
My thoughts: This historical coming of age novel is set in 1935/1936 in New York. Most of the book is set at a sanitarium--a special hospital where tuberculosis patients received special care and attention.
This was a quick read. I enjoyed it. Liked meeting the cast of characters. There was plenty of heart to be found. Halle definitely ached: she missed her mother whose life was in danger and her father who was seemingly choosing to be absent literally and emotionally. This one is a little heavy. (I'm not sure how I would have handled this one as a kid. If I would have been too anxious about the characters--with good reason--or if I would have had to "put it in the freezer."
© 2024 Becky Laney of Becky's Book Reviews
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