Sign in with Facebook
Germany's Reviews > Silver Stars
Silver Stars (Front Lines, #2)
by
by
Authors who write non YA books really need to take a page (several pages actually) from Mr. Grant's books. Why? Because he gives us great female protagonists!! "But he writes YA books" you yell kicking and screaming because no worthwhile adult spends their time reading YA books. Right? Wrong!!
If you are thinking teen angst, sappy love stories, and characters an adult cannot identity with, you're so wrong.
I first started reading Mr. Grant years ago when I was browsing an indy bookstore for a good read. I wandered into the YA section and was struck by the brightness of the book "Gone". It is a bit like "Under the Dome" by King, but with much more memorable characters. I finished that series and moved on to something else, but the characters stayed with me.
After reading "Front Lines", in my review I mentioned that I wish there had been more Rainy and more Frangie. Well, with SS he has done just that. What's amazing about all of the women in the book is that they're just kids really - 18-19 years of age. The other outstanding thing he did was make these kids strong, intelligent and passionate about the work that they are doing. One of my biggest complaints about thrillers, chick lit, and fiction is the exorbitant amount of violence against women and violence that is used in a gratuitous manner. None of that occurs in SS. There is violence in the book, it's about war and of course there are going to some violent deaths, but it's necessary to move the plot point. It is not done just for the sake of blood and guts.
The women have changed and grown since we last saw them in "Front Lines". As a black woman, I identify with Frangie the most and it was nice to see that by the end of the book, she started to think of herself as a person of worth. She had to suffer through the name calling and general disrespect that the white soldiers had for her. I think she accepted this treatment because that's how things were at that period in history. What I find most interesting and sad about WWII for the black soldiers is that they were fighting a war on foreign soil, putting their lives in jeopardy and dying just like the white soldiers, only to arrive back in the states and have to use a different faucet, were not allowed to eat at counters with whites, and were not getting the same recognition on their return as their fellow white soldiers received.
The authors note in the back of the book was especially touching for me. It's very rare that a white author can truly relay the pain of being black in America, but he did an excellent job with Frangie. She is by far one of my favorite characters ever written. There are NO other Frangies out there in fiction today. Well, there may be but I certainly have not found another one.
If you are thinking teen angst, sappy love stories, and characters an adult cannot identity with, you're so wrong.
I first started reading Mr. Grant years ago when I was browsing an indy bookstore for a good read. I wandered into the YA section and was struck by the brightness of the book "Gone". It is a bit like "Under the Dome" by King, but with much more memorable characters. I finished that series and moved on to something else, but the characters stayed with me.
After reading "Front Lines", in my review I mentioned that I wish there had been more Rainy and more Frangie. Well, with SS he has done just that. What's amazing about all of the women in the book is that they're just kids really - 18-19 years of age. The other outstanding thing he did was make these kids strong, intelligent and passionate about the work that they are doing. One of my biggest complaints about thrillers, chick lit, and fiction is the exorbitant amount of violence against women and violence that is used in a gratuitous manner. None of that occurs in SS. There is violence in the book, it's about war and of course there are going to some violent deaths, but it's necessary to move the plot point. It is not done just for the sake of blood and guts.
The women have changed and grown since we last saw them in "Front Lines". As a black woman, I identify with Frangie the most and it was nice to see that by the end of the book, she started to think of herself as a person of worth. She had to suffer through the name calling and general disrespect that the white soldiers had for her. I think she accepted this treatment because that's how things were at that period in history. What I find most interesting and sad about WWII for the black soldiers is that they were fighting a war on foreign soil, putting their lives in jeopardy and dying just like the white soldiers, only to arrive back in the states and have to use a different faucet, were not allowed to eat at counters with whites, and were not getting the same recognition on their return as their fellow white soldiers received.
The authors note in the back of the book was especially touching for me. It's very rare that a white author can truly relay the pain of being black in America, but he did an excellent job with Frangie. She is by far one of my favorite characters ever written. There are NO other Frangies out there in fiction today. Well, there may be but I certainly have not found another one.
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read
Silver Stars.
Sign In »
Reading Progress
February 21, 2017
–
Started Reading
February 21, 2017
– Shelved
February 23, 2017
–
Finished Reading
