The Chosen One



 

 



 

My library is full of books that I'll never have time to read, but one book I have read and have repeatedly recommended to students is The Chosen One by Carol Lynch Williams.  This is the kind of book that you'll hold and read while you eat your meals and brush your teeth.  I honest to Pete could not put the book down. My stomach hurt just reading about the emotional turmoil that Kyra endures when she learns that she must become the seventh wife of her sixty-something uncle.  Perhaps I also like Kyra because she has learned of life beyond the walls of her "compound" via a bookmobile that visits just on the other side of the forbidden borders.  She risks all to spend a few precious moments reading a book about anything she can.  But that's not what will grab you if you opt to try this book.  You'll be shocked to read just how horrible the restrictions are on this girl and what she must risk to escape a life she knows just "isn't right."  You urge her on when she must make the choice to leave for a better life or stay with her young mother and siblings.   You hate the rules imposed on her and truly want to run in and save the day!  Williams will literally drag you through this book from beginning to end...trust me. You'll finish it in a day!  

Another book by Williams I have ripped through in the course of a few hours is Waiting.  From the beginning the reader knows London's older brother is dead, but you don't know why.  Using the style of verse to tell London's story, the reader must piece together the past to help realize the reasons behind London's feelings.  Her now dysfunctional family struggles to deal with Zach's sudden death, and London is caught in the middle.  When you finally realize the why and the how of the tragedy, you'll probably do what I did - cry a little, gasp and whip through the remainder of the book. 

I have two more of her books in my library - Glimpse and Miles from Ordinary both with subjects that will most likely keep me reading through the night.  I'll post something once I finish them all.  If you're looking for a page-turner that reads like a movie, check out her books...I'll make a bet you're back of another in under a week!