The Floor of the Sky

Joern, Pamela Carter. (2006). The Floor of the Sky. Nebraska: University of Nebraska Press.

Annotation: Toby’s sixteen year old granddaughter, Lila, comes to live with her in Nebraska the summer Lila is pregnant. Throughout the summer Lila finds out a lot about the history of her family and friends. She also does a lot of soul searching about what to do with the baby on the way – and finds interesting people to help her through it.

Justification for Rejection: I was so bored reading this book. It is an adult fiction book – and it showed. I do not really see it appealing to teenagers. Yes, one of the main characters is a teenager, but at least at the beginning the story is not mainly about her.

Once I got a little past halfway through this book it was not so bad, but I think most teen readers would not press on to that point.

I did like the close family ties that come through in this book. They are all quite closed off and cold-hearted at the beginning. But by the end their hearts have been softened and they find a new love and appreciation for each other. It was a very real transition and you can find an emotional connection with them through this.

Because I found myself bored reading this book, I feel like it took forever to read. It was not a quick read and I do not think teens would stick it out without being forced to read it to the end. Which is a bummer – because the end was pretty good.

This book was told from four people’s perspective. You heard from Toby, Lila, Gertie (Toby’s sister), and George (one of the hired hands). This was an interesting way to read a book and I actually found it confusing and hard to follow.

Genre: Alex Award Winner (2007)