Description:
The warm fall day starts like any other at the Center—a women’s reproductive health services clinic—its staff offering care to anyone who passes through its doors. Then, in late morning, a desperate and distraught gunman bursts in and opens fire, taking all inside hostage.
After rushing to the scene, Hugh McElroy, a police hostage negotiator, sets up a perimeter and begins making a plan to communicate with the gunman. As his phone vibrates with incoming text messages he glances at it and, to his horror, finds out that his fifteen-year-old daughter, Wren, is inside the clinic.
But Wren is not alone. She will share the next and tensest few hours of her young life with a cast of unforgettable characters: A nurse who calms her own panic in order to save the life of a wounded woman. A doctor who does his work not in spite of his faith but because of it, and who will find that faith tested as never before. A pro-life protester, disguised as a patient, who now stands in the crosshairs of the same rage she herself has felt. A young woman who has come to terminate her pregnancy. And the disturbed individual himself, vowing to be heard.
Told in a daring and enthralling narrative structure that counts backward through the hours of the standoff, this is a story that traces its way back to what brought each of these very different individuals to the same place on this fateful day.
One of the most fearless writers of our time, Jodi Picoult tackles a complicated issue in this gripping and nuanced novel. How do we balance the rights of pregnant women with the rights of the unborn they carry? What does it mean to be a good parent? A Spark of Light will inspire debate, conversation . . . and, hopefully, understanding.
After rushing to the scene, Hugh McElroy, a police hostage negotiator, sets up a perimeter and begins making a plan to communicate with the gunman. As his phone vibrates with incoming text messages he glances at it and, to his horror, finds out that his fifteen-year-old daughter, Wren, is inside the clinic.
But Wren is not alone. She will share the next and tensest few hours of her young life with a cast of unforgettable characters: A nurse who calms her own panic in order to save the life of a wounded woman. A doctor who does his work not in spite of his faith but because of it, and who will find that faith tested as never before. A pro-life protester, disguised as a patient, who now stands in the crosshairs of the same rage she herself has felt. A young woman who has come to terminate her pregnancy. And the disturbed individual himself, vowing to be heard.
Told in a daring and enthralling narrative structure that counts backward through the hours of the standoff, this is a story that traces its way back to what brought each of these very different individuals to the same place on this fateful day.
One of the most fearless writers of our time, Jodi Picoult tackles a complicated issue in this gripping and nuanced novel. How do we balance the rights of pregnant women with the rights of the unborn they carry? What does it mean to be a good parent? A Spark of Light will inspire debate, conversation . . . and, hopefully, understanding.
My thoughts:
What I love: the cover. It is beautiful and continues to catch my eye.
What I like: the possibility of some very good anticipatory questions for pre reading:
How do we balance the rights of pregnant women with the rights of the unborn they carry? What does it mean to be a good parent?
What I did not enjoy: The topic and the way the chapters were organized. I am not saying that the topic of abortion, pro choice v. pro life are not important topics for young adults. The topic was just a frame for the real battle between two fathers trying to protect their daughters as best they could. It just was not my cup of tea right now.
Second. the chapters are organized such that the book starts near the falling action and hints at the climax that has already happened. 5 pm. It then proceeds to go back an hour every chapter, 4pm, 3 pm, 2 pm, (you get the gist) - back story, back story, back story until it hits the denouement titled epilogue 6 pm. Maybe because 5 pm was a really good start of the book, I found myself skipping and skimming and just missed a large chunk of the book so that I could get to 6 pm and then it was done. Because of that, I didn't feel anything for any of the characters, so no investment either way and the characters just felt like puppets to me.
Maybe if it alternated, starting at noon, going to 4, I may have been more invested. As it is now, I had it on my to read pile and all I can say is I read it. Moving on.
What I did not enjoy: The topic and the way the chapters were organized. I am not saying that the topic of abortion, pro choice v. pro life are not important topics for young adults. The topic was just a frame for the real battle between two fathers trying to protect their daughters as best they could. It just was not my cup of tea right now.
Second. the chapters are organized such that the book starts near the falling action and hints at the climax that has already happened. 5 pm. It then proceeds to go back an hour every chapter, 4pm, 3 pm, 2 pm, (you get the gist) - back story, back story, back story until it hits the denouement titled epilogue 6 pm. Maybe because 5 pm was a really good start of the book, I found myself skipping and skimming and just missed a large chunk of the book so that I could get to 6 pm and then it was done. Because of that, I didn't feel anything for any of the characters, so no investment either way and the characters just felt like puppets to me.
Maybe if it alternated, starting at noon, going to 4, I may have been more invested. As it is now, I had it on my to read pile and all I can say is I read it. Moving on.
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