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Janie McQueen is a career journalist and author of four nonfiction books, including Hanging On By My Fingernails: Surviving the New Divorce Gamesmanship, and How a Scratch Can Land You in Jail; and The Magic Bookshelf, which was featured as a series in the former Los Angeles Times Book Review, and which earned a Writer’s Digest publishing award. McQueen has a degree in English literature and writing from the University of South Carolina, and has been a reporter for newspapers including The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and the Greenville (SC) News. She blogs regularly on her own website, www.janiemcqueen.com, and writes for DivorceSupportCenter.com and Family Share.com, with Internet circulation of 6 million+. She will have endorsements from these websites as well as contributors to national blogs such as the Huffington Post.
Robin Karr’s varied career includes technical writing and customer service for INS (now the Department of Homeland Security), teaching high school English, and working for more than thirty years in retail management. She has worked as a writer and activist for mothers’ and children’s rights since 1990, and holds a degree in English and secondary teaching from Union College in Kentucky. Her son Christopher is a critically acclaimed playwright in New York. Robin lives in Cincinnati. This is her first book.
Reviewed by Carol Thompson for Readers' Favorite
I selected this book to review because the title grabbed me. My mother died when I was young (and so was she) so I was interested to learn what The Motherless Child Project was about. Authors Janie McQueen and Robin Karr have either experienced the loss of a mother, or they did thorough research. This book covered every emotion I've ever felt, from the questioning by friends to the notable and always present absence of mother.
The story is told from the POV of Emily, a motherless child. As part of a school assignment, she sets up a website and is surprised to have messages from others when the site's been up less than 24 hours. Among those messaging her is a boy called "Bright," who is in a distressing home situation. Instantly, the reader can see the connect between Emily and Bright; they share the same common denominator. It would be very easy to spoil the story because I could write an entire essay on it, but I won't. Instead, I'll focus on the plot and characters.
The plot is well written and executed in a realistic manner. There's no going off on unbelievable tangents. Keeping it real, even though it's fiction, really makes the story work. The characters are well developed and easy to connect with. The story is written as if a teen wrote it. The authors did an excellent job of keeping an "adult" voice out of the story. There are some parts that are overly descriptive, yet, I still feel this book deserves five stars. There are lessons learned.
