Belong to Me by Marisa de los Santos

"It was my cue. Don't you think I know that? It was my moment to rally, to grin and say, "You bet he is, kid!" I should have risen up in glory, lip stiff, head high, Jean Arthur wisecracks tripping off my tongue, arrow straight and backed by a radiant sky, and believe me, I have wanted to be the scrappy heroine as much as anyone. But when the occassion presented itself...I did not rise to it. I did not shine or seize the day or set an example for others. I remained on my sofa, broken and small, sadness pulling me down and down and down." -Cornelia Brown

Why is change so hard? Why is it, that when faced with it, we are at a crossroads of either making it through with grace and charm or running away stubborn and scared? I don't think any of us knows the answer to this question until we are forced to deal with it. And often, our anticipated response does not measure to our true feelings. Sometimes, we just don't rise triumphantly to those occassions.

For Cornelia Brown, a "devoted city dweller", the change of moving from the fast paced, high energy life of living in the city, to the quiet and seemingly contrived existence of perfectly manicured lawns and gossiping stay-at-home mothers in the suburbs, the change is unbearable. She struggles to fit in, can't seem to find any place decent to eat, and does not contain any sort of natural capacity to have the appropriate foliage in her front lawn-much to the disapproval of her new neighbor Piper.

But soon Cornelia forges a friendship with an outspoken mother of one, Lake, who appears to be the perfect distraction (and opposition) to her new life in the suburbs. She doesn't care too much for prestige, has no interest in socializing with the "proper" decorum, nor does she fit the mold of anyone's idea of who she should be-not even Cornelia's. This brings forth a possibility that the change that once appeared to be unendurable might not be so bad after all... Or so Cornelia thinks.

Will it all get better? Will it all ease into place and become normal? Or does this change from gritty pavement and taxi cabs to hydrangea bushes and carpool vans only dim in comparison to what she and no one else could even begin to imagine? Oh how change can be a tricky thing.

Once again, well done Marisa de los Santos. Well done! <---may I suggest her first novel, Love Walked In? I won't say much, but I HIGHLY recommend reading that one before you read this.

Happy reading,
Lauren