Review of SandPeople

[Black Jewel]

[Following is a volunteer review of "SandPeople" by Cheryl Kerr.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Lea is twelve years old and excitedly anticipating the newly arrived summer vacation stretching before her. Along with her best friend Laura, she plans to fill the days with outdoor activities while avoiding her baby brother, T.J. Lea’s life is about to change in an earth shattering way for her, however.

Lea’s parents are getting divorced, and due to her and her brother’s squabbling, T.J. is being sent to their grandmother’s house while she is being sent off to stay in Texas with her little known aunt in a sparsely populated beach town.

Lea is extremely unhappy with the situation and Meg, Lea’s aunt, is floundering in her attempt at caring for a young girl. As a result, Lea spends most of her time on the local beaches. It is there that she discovers the mystery of the sand people, and she is determined to get to the bottom of it all.

SandPeople by Cheryl Kerr is a rather unique young adult story. I really liked the message it sends to any young reader that they are not at fault if their parents decide to split. I also liked the cover on this book. The muted colors suggest an old time feel that really resonates when you discover the mystery taking place within the story. I only noticed one definable error during my read, and believe this book to be professionally edited in that regard.

However, I did struggle during my read of this book. I feel that the flow could be greatly improved. As it is, they story jumps and jerks roughly in several places. One example would be Lea and Aunt Meg taking a trip by plane. Three pages pass before the reader finds out a third character tagged along for the trip, and only because the character speaks. At first, I believed this to be a typo, but I was incorrect. This third character was intended to be along for the trip. It was merely a jolt to have the character speak up unexpectedly.

Due to this story being hard for me to follow, I am rating this book 3 out of 4 stars. As it stands, I do not believe that it is deserving of the fourth star. Were this book to be slightly more polished, I would gladly update my rating.

I think this story would be best suited to readers around the main character’s age of twelve. It has just enough of a mystery to keep a young reader’s mind engaged, and also has a good message. As there was no profanity or erotic scenes, there should be no reason for a reader to be offended by this book.

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SandPeople
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[Muna Chizzy]

I love the theme of this book. Most kids who their parents divorce, think that it's their fault and that lives them bitter and unhappy. Thanks for the great review.

[Dimi1]

It seems like a really complex story for the age group it addresses. I totally agree that the author needs to "polish" it if it doesn't seem to have a decent flow. Great review!

[Black Jewel]

It seems like a really complex story for the age group it addresses. I totally agree that the author needs to "polish" it if it doesn't seem to have a decent flow. Great review!

With a little more polishing, this story could easily reach that 4 out of 4 star range in my view. It was so close as it currently is.