Theories about DNA propel interesting novel
Published on Wed, Sep 9, 2009 by Mary BurnsRead More Arts & Entertainment
The Visibles
By Sara Shepard
($24.00, Simon & Schuster)
Summer Davis becomes fascinated by DNA and how this defines her life when a substitute teacher emphasizes its importance just before he is removed from her classroom by the principal, presumably for drawing a spaceship above the double helix on the blackboard. This idea of DNA is the thread that is a constant in her life and throughout the novel.
When her mother abandons the family, Summer knows she'll return because "She left her clothes ... and her cat ... [and] other things, too," as though Summer were just one of those things that her mother might want to come back for at some time. Her father cannot bear this loss and waivers in and out of clinical depression. Because of that one-time substitute teacher, Summer studies DNA to determine how deeply her parents' genetic makeup might affect her future abilities, her relationships and her life.
Throughout "The Visibles," Sara Shepard is clear about which of her characters you need to pay particular attention to by specific details and inferences. But when she comes to what seems to be a secondary character, we read the explicit detail that "Her blond hair stretched down her back, nearly to her coccyx." This would vie for one of the strangest descriptions I've ever encountered in a book. As this is a work of fiction, it would be more probable for the author to substitute "waist" or "hip" for the length of this character's hair. The technical term for tailbone seems ludicrous in a novel not involving anatomy students or forensics. That said, I suggest you get off your coccyx and read this book.
Mary Burns is the owner of The BookWORKS, located at 1510 Third Street, downtown Marysville, 360.659.4997, or online at www.marysvillebookworks.com. Comments or requests are welcome at aim.
By Sara Shepard
($24.00, Simon & Schuster)
Summer Davis becomes fascinated by DNA and how this defines her life when a substitute teacher emphasizes its importance just before he is removed from her classroom by the principal, presumably for drawing a spaceship above the double helix on the blackboard. This idea of DNA is the thread that is a constant in her life and throughout the novel.
When her mother abandons the family, Summer knows she'll return because "She left her clothes ... and her cat ... [and] other things, too," as though Summer were just one of those things that her mother might want to come back for at some time. Her father cannot bear this loss and waivers in and out of clinical depression. Because of that one-time substitute teacher, Summer studies DNA to determine how deeply her parents' genetic makeup might affect her future abilities, her relationships and her life.
Throughout "The Visibles," Sara Shepard is clear about which of her characters you need to pay particular attention to by specific details and inferences. But when she comes to what seems to be a secondary character, we read the explicit detail that "Her blond hair stretched down her back, nearly to her coccyx." This would vie for one of the strangest descriptions I've ever encountered in a book. As this is a work of fiction, it would be more probable for the author to substitute "waist" or "hip" for the length of this character's hair. The technical term for tailbone seems ludicrous in a novel not involving anatomy students or forensics. That said, I suggest you get off your coccyx and read this book.
Mary Burns is the owner of The BookWORKS, located at 1510 Third Street, downtown Marysville, 360.659.4997, or online at www.marysvillebookworks.com. Comments or requests are welcome at aim.