Paper hearts: the name of a wonderful book I am currently reading.
I was strolling through the bookshelves of my local library, waiting for a book title to catch my eye. As I was about to turn the corner of one of the shelves, an image of a heart drew my attention like none of the other novels were able to. Heck, I suppose I did judge this book by its cover. The front cover contains snapshots of a young teenage girl and a person out in their garden. I had no way of knowing how much richness and quality this book contains until I decided to take it home with me.
In all fairness to you, my reader, I will provide you with a brief synopsis of this novel. Without directly quoting the back cover of Paper Hearts, I will draw upon my memory bank on this one. The main protagonist of the story goes by the name, Chancy Deel. The author, Debrah Williamson, uses a clever play on words with her character. She is a "chancy deal" in more ways then one. Chancy is a fifteen-year-old and a runaway at that. From an outsider's perspective, she comes across as a drowned rat, and, even further, trouble waiting to happen. She hitchhiked a thousand miles from a group home in Pennsylvania all the way to a small town in Wenonah, Oklahoma.
The leading lady of Paper Hearts had to steal food on her journey to Oklahoma as a means for survival. From newspaper scraps, she constructed paper hearts as she traveled farther and farther from home. Every morsel of food she pilfered was replaced with one of these tokens as if she was bartering a fair trade.
Thanks to a few strangers' kindness, she ended up staying in town. She found shelter in an old man's garage and spent the night in his ancient Lincoln rust bucket of a car. Max Boyle allows her to stay at his place for the summer in order to escape the clutches of those who want to hand him a one-way ticket to an early grave otherwise known as a nursing home.
What could Chancy have been running from? She fled not only her group home, but also from her birth mother who was heavily involved with drugs and seedy men. Chancy had grown up in a physically and verbally abusive environment in which she was taught her life was not worth squat. She discovered silence was her best defense again the cruel hand that life had dealt her. Part of the struggle she had to overcome was one of her own making. Her self-defense mechanism involved shutting others out, and relying only on herself.
The majority of this book goes on to express the joy and love that can be found in the unlikeliest of circumstances. Chancy fills a void in elderly Max's broken heart for he suffered the recent loss of the love of his life, Hanna. Max gave Chancy a chance to learn how to love and let go of her painful past.
Chancy and Max are in completely different points in their lives. Chancy is just beginning to blossom into a young woman while Max is living his life to the fullest with the remaining time he has left. By the end of this novel, she turns over a new leaf, and she understands that she has found people who love her fully and unconditionally.
As a changed girl, she used her artistic talent to brighten the hearts of some elderly folk in a local retirement community. The simple things in life seem to foster the sincerest of smiles from a person. You cannot fully grasp the mystery and magic of this story until you immerse your senses it this book first-hand.
This is ironic that i am writing a book review because one of my favorite YouTube videos to poke fun at involves an overzealous spinster praising the greatness of another one of my favorites, the Blue Castle by Lucy Maud Montgomery.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p73usrWTjHg
My tired eyes are giving out on me. Tomorrow, or whenever I get the chance, I will tie in a scriptural reference, and articulate what I have learned from this book.
