Named One of the Best 2019 Winter Books by PopSugar and Chosen as One of 9 Books to Read (or Gift!) This February by Instyle!From the #1 international bestselling author of The Lost Wife and The Velvet Hours comes an emotionally charged story about a mother’s love, a teacher’s promise, and a child’s heart…. Katya, a rising ballerina, and Sasha, a graduate student, are young and in love when … ballerina, and Sasha, a graduate student, are young and in love when an unexpected tragedy befalls their native Kiev. Years later, after the couple has safely emigrated to America the consequences of this incident cause their son, Yuri, to be born with a rare health condition that isolates him from other children. Maggie, a passionate and dedicated teacher agrees to tutor Yuri at his home, even though she is haunted by her own painful childhood memories. As the two forge a deep and soulful connection, Yuri’s boundless curiosity and unique wisdom inspires Maggie to make difficult changes in her own life. And she’ll never realize just how strong Yuri has made her—until she needs that strength the most….
A novel that will make readers examine what it means to live life with a full heart.
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Lindas Book Obsession Reviews “The Secrets of Clouds” by Alyson Richman , Berkley, February, 2019
WOW!! I loved everything about Alyson Richman’s novel “The Secret of Clouds”, and I feel that she has absolutely outdone herself. Alyson Richman is an amazing storyteller, and I appreciate the way that she vividly describes her colorful cast of characters, and her landscape. Noted is the unique and fantastic way that the author appeals to our senses through Music, Art, Literature, Song and Dance.
The Genres for this story are Fiction, and Contemporary Fiction. There is also some Historical background from the Ukraine. The author describes her characters as complex, and complicated perhaps due to the circumstances. Alyson Richman pays full tribute and thanks to all teachers in the profession that have touched the lives of so many children, and children who have touched the hearts and lives of their teachers. As a retired teacher with over 36 years of experience, I just wanted to jump into the book and have a discussion about Journal Writing with the characters, and visit with the children.
Katya , a ballerina and Sasha, a scientist fall in love in Kiev. When a tragedy occurs, there is an opportunity for both to come to the United States. As a result of the incident, their son Yuri is born with an illness that forces him to stay at home. Maggie, a motivated and eager young teacher is asked by her administration to tutor Yuri in her subject matter which is English. Maggie often finds that Yuri will look outside longingly, at the birds and sky. Yuri, although a child has wisdom beyond his years, and has a love of baseball.
Katya is a protective mom, and want to keep her son safe. Maggie wants to give Yuri the opportunity to experience and grow, and Yuri wants the freedom to be able to live.
I highly recommend this intriguing, intense, emotional, captivating, riveting and amazing book to all readers who enjoy a fantastic story. Bravo to Alyson Richman for a wonderful novel that discusses, dreams, love, and hope. I received an ARC from NetGalley for my honest review.
The cover of this book is beautiful and the great news is that the story within this cover is even more beautiful. It’s a wonderful story with characters that I quickly loved and cheered for while I was reading. It’s an emotional and heartwarming story about teachers and how they strive to teach and encourage their students. As I read it, I thought about several teachers who did the same for me.
This novel is about the lives of two main characters – Maggie a 6th grade language arts teacher whose goal as a teacher is to help her students get excited about learning. She is asked by the principal at her school to tutor a student who is unable to attend school due to a heart problem. She agrees and starts visiting Yuri two days per week. At first he is very resistant to her but she begins to connect with him through his love of the NY Yankees and they have a wonderful relationship. The other story line is about Katya, Yuri’s mother. The family has emigrated from Kiev where Katya was a ballet dancer but now her main focus is on her son’s health. As she tells her story, we learn about how much Katya has given up in her life but she realizes that she has gained more than she gave up.
The story is not just about a teacher’s love of teaching but also about teachers realizing that they can learn from their students if they just listen. It’s a story about hope and love and family. It’s a wonderful story with characters that will stay in my mind long after the last page.
Thanks to the publisher for a copy of this book to read and review. All opinions are my own.