The Friday56 is hosted at Freda's Voice. Find a quote from page 56.
Summary of the book and a review to follow---
Book Beginning:
Friday 56:
Summary: Sadie and her younger sister, Mattie, are growing up in a small town, Cold Creek, alone. Their mother abandoned them to her drug addiction and there has never been a father in the picture. Sadie looks after her young sister as best she can, even dropping out of school to do so. But her best isn't enough to protect her sister from getting into a car with a stranger. When Mattie is found dead, Sadie's life crumbles and she goes on a mission to find her sister's killer. Sadie is sure she knows who did it based on what this man did to her when she was a young girl. When Sadie's car is found with her backpack inside, the police are sure she is just a runaway. Their surrogate grandmother doesn't believe that so after the police stop searching for Sadie, she contacts West McCray and asks him to continue to investigation for his podcast on life in small towns. The book beginning is West McCray setting the scene. The Friday56 quote is Sadie as narrator. The book uses different fonts to help the reader know who is talking. At this point in the story Sadie is on her search for her sister's killer in another small town which is a lot like her hometown.
Review: Sadie should come with a trigger-warning to teen readers since the man who Sadie is searching for is a pedophile. As the search progresses Sadie's story of survival opens up for the readers. Her reality is the stuff of nightmares. I was deeply moved by the book and was horrified that children have to live with such realities. This is not an easy book to read or to digest but it is a very important story. It is also well-written. I liked the way the book was formatted. West McCray interviews people as he searches for Sadie and those interviews are in transcript form. Sadie's side of the story is told in first person narrative making it even more impactful.
I listened to the audio version of Sadie and found myself completely wrapped up in the story, cheering Sadie on at every step and misstep. The book does not end as I wanted but the ambiguous ending left me with a sense of hope, if not for Sadie, then at least for other little girls in the future.
-ANNE
