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Not the best book on the 1916 New Jersey shark attacks but still a decent fictionalized read

The tale ended up dragging on too long with characters you don‘t much care about but the details on the time period were the best part: coming WWI with evil German u-boot Deutschland (Maybe GERMAN SHARKS! 😟), scandalous flapper bobs, scary polio epidemic, etc etc

It is much layed out like what Jaws is with ppl panicking & killing any shark they find…

Judy Blume was an eighth grader in Elizabeth, New Jersey, when 3 airplanes crashed into her town over the course of 2 months. In this book, she tells a fictionalized version of the residents living (& some dying) in these unfathomable events. She conveys the very traumatic experience for young adults and teenagers. while told from a young teenager‘s perspective, it is an adult novel. At the end of each chapter, she includes narrative from the ⬇️

I finally googled it to confirm that the events in the book are based on true events. Yep. 3 plane crashes in December 1951-January 1952 in Elizabeth, New Jersey. #authoramonth @Soubhiville

Parts of this book were great. Unfortunately, the excessive number of POVs was confusing and distracting. As a person who has grown up in a family of pilots, I did find the multiple crashes rather terrifying. I really wanted to like this book because I loved Judy Blume as a kid, but it was a miss. #authoramonth @Soubhiville

My next audiobook for #authoramonth @Soubhiville

I read Are You There God… when I was much closer to the demographic target, so this looked like an interesting change of pace. I snapped it up when it was offered in my free cycle group.

It was a compelling story of coming of age amidst tragedy. For the most part I was pulled along and wanted to know how the story turned out, but some of the plot verged melodrama with characters that got on my nerves. #authoramonth

Ballgame on TV, leftovers for dinner, and a compelling story for #hyggehourreadathon

Well written and well researched, filled with facts and true stories, this historical fiction novel is steeped in a strong sense of time and place. I loved it! Palisades Amusement Park in New Jersey no longer exists, but it comes to life in rich detail in this story. The main character‘s pursuit of a daring career in an age where women were not encouraged to do such things deftly ties the book‘s many narratives together.

#ReadOrDonate for July

My July choice for #ReadOrDonate is Palisades Park, historical fiction about a legendary amusement park near where I grew up in New Jersey. What will everyone else be reading and/or donating?