The How & The Why

A poignant exploration of family and the ties that bind. 

Today Melly had us writing letters to our babies…

Cassandra McMurtrey has the best parents a girl could ask for. They’ve given Cass a life she wouldn’t trade for the world. She has everything she needs—except maybe the one thing she wants. Like, to know who she is. Where she came from. Questions her adoptive parents can’t answer, no matter how much they love her.

But eighteen years ago, someone wrote Cass a series of letters. And they may just hold the answers Cass has been searching for.

Alternating between Cass’s search for answers and letters from the pregnant teen who gave her up for adoption, this voice-driven narrative is the perfect read for fans of Nina LaCour and Jandy Nelson.

First of all, trigger warnings for this book: family life, adoption, abortion, illness, LGBTQIA, racism and teen pregnancy. Some are more prominent then others, but all are touched on, at least. I think all of the issues were addressed very tactfully and honestly. I think I would be comfortable with my teenagers reading this.

 

I've been putting off reading this book because I didn't want to cry. While that didn't happen (me not crying) it wasn't nearly as sad as I expected. I love how real everything felt. Considering the author herself was adopted, I think many of Cass' questions probably were ones that Hand had to answer for herself as well. The characters are all so real, and some of the issues that come up are so hard but it completed an amazing story. 

I really enjoyed that Hand used a Boise local school for the setting. The birth mom is a student at the Booth School for Pregnant and Parenting Teens. This is a real program that is in partnership with my church, The Salvation Army. The program is still running today, in partnership with Cardinal Academy. It is no longer a live in school though. I actually saw the building from the cover weekly for over a year. You can see more about the school building here and the charter school that is now in our NEW building here.