Saving Cicadas by Nicole Seitz is the fictional story of Priscilla Macy and her family as they seek to reveal hidden truths and find their ways home.
Priscilla Macy is a single mom with two girls. seventeen-year-old Rainey Dae, a special-needs child, and eight-year-old Janie Doe. Priscilla finds herself pregnant and without support, and she takes the girls and her mother and father on a road trip in search of … something. Home? Roots? Redemption? Or all three?
Seitz chose to tell this story using the voices of eight-year-old Janie and her grandma, Mona. I thought Janie’s voice was totally believable, and the story worked with her telling it. I didn’t think Mona worked as well, mostly because of her reserve. Mona carried information that was important to the story, but her character was harsh and jarring, a stark contrast to Janie’s. I see why Seitz used Mona as a narrator, but the only justification I could come up with for the harshness of the transition was that some of the story matter itself was harsh and Mona was the one who revealed it. Although I believe Seitz’s story was well worth the telling, I didn’t find myself believing the book, and that made it a less enjoyable read.
You can buy the book here.
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