Shine by Lauren Myracle5/12/2023 ![]() ![]() I raise a pickle jar of sweetened ice tea to such fresh writing. Just one example: Patrick’s eyes are green “like a 7UP bottle shot through with light.” Ahhh. You’ll find yourself relishing not just a complex plot but phrases that shine with a sense of character and place. ![]() Chuck those in favor of Myracle’s remarkable novel. ![]() And if you think you can guess whodunit from this brief review, you’ve been reading the same tired Southern tales I have. A meth dealer (not uncommon in poverty-dazed regions) and a snobby college boy complicate matters. Even as this high-stakes mystery gains momentum, Cat flashes back frequently to her own past and slowly realizes the ways in which her secret intersects with Patrick’s victimization. When her best friend falls victim to a vicious hate crime, sixteen-year-old Cat sets out to discover the culprits. Gossip is rife, and the sheriff’s investigation stagnant, so Cat sets out herself to ask hard questions of her older brother and his “redneck posse.” Cat, though, has her own sad secret, which has distanced her from Patrick and her brother for three years. Available in National Library (Singapore). The “ ripped from the headlines” nature of this hate crime is emphasized by the novel’s opening: a newspaper account of the (fictional) incident. ‘’Shine’’ by Lauren Myracle (Mary Quattlebaum)Ĭat Robinson, 16, is determined to break the silence surrounding the violent beating of her former best friend, a gay schoolmate named Patrick. ![]()
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